Two-week negotiation on cluster munitions ends

Foreign Service Officers Jeraldine Tudong  and Marvin Ngirutang represented Palau in the conference which was attended by more than 100 government diplomats and representatives of civil societies in Dublin, Ireland.Ngirutang in a press release said even survivors of cluster bombs participated and said that this new treaty to be the most significant humanitarian and disarmament treaty since the ban on antipersonnel landmines over a decade ago.Ngirutang said that cluster munitions are weapons that, when launched via artillery or dropped from an aircraft, scatter smaller bombs, called ‘sub-munitions’, over a wide area of land as large as a football field.  They have been used in a least 30 countries and territories since World War II.  They kill and injure civilians not only during attacks but also for years after the conflict has ended.“Because so many of the sub-munitions fail to explode as intended, these weapons continue to affect families and communities even after the fighting has ceased.  They kill innocent civilians and their presence prevents safe farming, creates health and hygiene problems by blocking access to water sanitation and hinders economic development-a major block for the realization of the UN Millennium Development Goals,’ said Senior Foreign Service Officer Tudong said.Ngirutang added that the treaty bans the use, production, and trade of cluster munitions, and establishes a deadline for the destruction of all existing stocks of the weapons..’The treaty process was launched in Oslo, Norway, in February 2007, when 46 countries agreed to conclude a treaty prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians in 2008. He added that the  treaty text was developed during international meetings in Peru, Austria, and New Zealand, with more than 140 countries taking part of the process, including Palau.  Other members of the Pacific Islands Forum present at the Dublin International Diplomatic Conference were Australia, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and New Zealand.  “This treaty, once it enters into force, will make it safer for Palauans taking part in UN Peacekeeping Operations.  It would also make it harder for illicit small arms dealers to conduct their business within Palau’s maritime boundary.  This is Palau’s fulfillment under the UN Charter to maintain international peace, and like the Anti-Personnel Landmine Treaty, Palau will also be able to access technical assistance from this Convention to see if there is link between the food we eat from areas contaminated during World War II and cancer,”  Ngirutang.