Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform (GFN-SSR)

The Humanitarian Impact of Cluster Munitions

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What is the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions on civilian populations? How does cluster munition contamination affect local economies? This report from United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research highlights how post-conflict recovery and development processes can be impeded by cluster munition contamination. It shows how different groups in a population are affected physically and psychologically. The problems caused by the contamination vary according to prevailing socio-economic conditions. Poverty adds to the difficulty of trying to address the threat of the contamination effectively.

There is currently no universally accepted definition of cluster munitions. Nevertheless, it is generally considered that submunitions are the dangerous component of cluster munitions that cause casualties through blast, incendiary effects and fragmentation. Cluster munitions have a humanitarian impact on civilian populations at the time of use and after conflict. The impact is dependent on the degree to which people are brought into contact with them. Thus, the impact in one country, or even one area of a country, will not be the same as in another. It depends, among other things, on the level of contamination, the terrain, land use, population density, common economic activities and resources, and the level of development. Impact also varies over time as these factors change.

The impacts of cluster munitions on individuals, communities and societies are immediate and the resulting contamination makes these impacts long lasting and deep.

• Infrastructure, property and resources are rendered unusable or unsafe.
• Livelihoods are threatened, with effects felt throughout the economy.
• The poor are most exposed to the threat of cluster munition contamination, in that they have fewer options for housing and income generating opportunities.
• Even when people are aware of the mortal danger posed by submunitions, some have little choice but to come into contact with them.
• The poor are less able to carry the burden of medical costs. Survivors must also contend with disability, which can result in social and economic exclusion, adding pain to poverty.
• Clearance operations cost millions of dollars and can require years of effort.

The humanitarian impact of munitions use can spread through communities, and then throughout societies. In dealing with the ongoing challenges of contamination, the following points should be borne in mind:

• Clearance and risk education are not sufficient in themselves.
• If the livelihood activities in which people engage expose them to risk from contamination, then alternatives must be developed to sustain them while the contamination itself is addressed.
• An economic approach to managing the effects of contamination, which reduces the need for people to interact with contamination, can work when economic conditions improve or when employment alternatives can be found.

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