Explosive remnants of war erw has addressed the issue of international humanitarian law ihl as it applies to erw. Nato has confirmed that, in total, 1,392 cluster bombs containing 289,536 bomblets were targeted against 333 strike sites inside kosovo. The protocol on explosive remnants of war is not an international treaty concluded in geneva in 2003 that aims to limit the impact of cluster bombs and other unexploded devices on civilian populations after a conflict ends. Also included in the definition are unexploded ordnance uxo or explosive remnants of war. Convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of antipersonnel mines and on their destruction.
The human and financial costs of the explosive remnants of war. Reducing the impact of explosive remnants of war and landmines through field activities in august 2007. In the first three months of 2017, once again children comprised the vast majority 81 per. The full version of the policy paper is available on skillweb. Weapon contamination manual reducing the impact of explosive. The increasing threat by ieds led to further additions in the present chapters. Responses to the ihl and erw questionnaire and the mccormack.
In 2003, the international community adopted a treaty to reduce the suffering caused by erw and to help affected communities. The effect of explosive remnants of war on global public health. The term explosive remnants of war refers to unexploded ordnance uxo and abandoned explosive ordnance. Three landmine accidents were reported in unity state in may and june, while teams repeatedly surveyed. Landmines dont distinguish between soldier and civilian, farmers at work or children at play. This report is based on a questionnaire circulated to the clearance community in march and april 2003 to ascertain their information requirements for dealing with erw. Itself a product of the humanitarian advocacy framing promoted by the civil societyled campaign against antipersonnel landmines. Report of the secretarygeneral to the general assembly on assistance in mine action a58260 and a58260add. It states that participants in an armed conflict bear responsibility of all explosive remnants of war in territory under their control. This handbook is not an instruction manual for working with landmines and explosive hazards. As before, the guide addresses best practice in all. Pdf explosive remnants of war and mines other than anti. Protocol on explosive remnants of war 6 additionally places an obligation to mark and clear, remove or destroy explosive remnants of war article 3.
Landmine monitor and cluster munition monitor maps are provided in pdf format. For countries recovering from conflict, these devices impede socioeconomic development and the achievement of the sustainable development goals. It is intended to provide guidance in a complex area and does not attempt to serve as or replace operating procedures for ammunition storage. The final report offers suggestions as to how the european union might deploy the full range of its capabilities to enhance overall effectiveness in actions relating to small arms and explosive remnants of war. Marking explosive remnants of war erw battle area bac. The 2006 conflict, in which israel bombarded southern leba non with 4 million cluster munitions in the space of 2 months resulted in 14 of lebanons arable land.
An overview of the guide to mine action and explosive remnants of war a guide to mine action and explosive remnants of waris not an operational handbook, rather it is an information resource on mine action that can assist in decisionmaking, programme planning and research. Explosive remnants of war often found in waraffected areas include artillery shells, hand grenades, mortar shells, clusterbomb submuni tions, airdropped bombs, missiles and other similar weapons. The formal name of the international treaty is the convention on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have. In march 2004, the coordinator proposed a threestep approach that would. Sep 28, 2012 raising awareness about explosive remnants of war unicef. The international committee of the red crosswhich has had an important role in the global effort to eradicate and ease the impact of landmines and explosive remnants of warreleased its weapon contamination manual. Explosive remnants of war include hand grenades, land and sea mines, cluster bombs. Explosive remnants of war and mines other than antipersonnel mines. It is the fifth protocol to the convention on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of certain conventional weapons the protocol came into effect on 12 november 2006.
Nato forces made extensive use of cluster bombs during the conflict in kosovo, beginning in early april 1999. Pdf the effect of explosive remnants of war on global public. Like antipersonnel landmines, explosive remnants of war have been a seri ous humanitarian problem in internal wars, killing and injuring scores of civilians. This report has been prepared thanks to funding from the netherlands, which is gratefully acknowledged.
Impact of mines, booby traps and explosive remnants of war on civilians in northern syria 9 the incidents documented by msf in this report are mainly linked to detonations of unexploded ordnance and of victimoperated improvised. According to the 2019 humanitarian needs overview hno, 20 percent of victims of explosive hazard accidents were children, and. See protocol v of the convention on certain conventional weapons ccw. The term explosive remnants of war erw has its origins in international humanitarian law. In 1999, the states agreed to a common format to facilitate reporting.
Explosive remnants of war group in the context of the convention on certain conventional weapons. Impacts of explosive remnants of war the effect of explosive remnants of war on global public health. Explosive remnants of war draws attention to the terrible unexploded remnants of mines and other highexplosive munitions that remain hidden in former theatres of war and which claim so many innocent victimsoften childrenfor so many years. Jul 18, 20 in palau, the threat posed to human safety and the environment is clear, as is the impact on development. Explosive remnants of war means unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance. The six countries with the highest landmine and erw casualties in 2011 afghanistan, cambodia, colombia. Protocol v on explosive remnants of war entered into force in 2006, three years after it was agreed at during the meeting of states parties of the convention on conventional weapons ccw in geneva. Victim assistance in the context of mines and explosive.
According to the landmine and cluster munition monitor, in 2017 alone, 7,239 people became casualties of landmines or explosive remnants of war erw, of which at least 2,793 were killed. Under the international legal definition, erw consist of unexploded ordnance uxo and abandoned explosive. They include unexploded artillery shells, grenades, mortars, rockets, airdropped bombs, and cluster munitions. This report, explosive remnants of war erw undesired explosive events in ammunition storage areas, is a contribution to the efforts of the international community to address this important issue. A guide to mine action and explosive remnants of war. These are explosive weapons that remain unexploded either through malfunction or design, and continue to affect children even after conflict has ended. Methods for visualizing the explosive remnants of war. This policy brief is an introduction tothe policy paper on victim assistance in the context of mines and explosive remnants of war. It also seeks to establish when this information would be required, in what form it should be provided, and through which line of communication it should be passed. Raising awareness about explosive remnants of war unicef. Unexploded ordnance and other explosive remnants of war erw continue to have a detrimental effect on communities long after the wars have ended. Landmines and explosive remnants of war erw continued to threaten hundreds of communities and endanger the safety of humanitarian workers, peacekeeping forces and development actors. Weapon contamination manual reducing the impact of.
The 2003 protocol on explosive remnants of war recognizes the serious postconflict humanitarian impacts of explosive remnants of war erw and addresses measures to clear, remove, or destroy unexploded ordnance uxo and abandoned exploded ordnance axo. Various documents on cambodia, laos, kosovo, bosnia. Unexploded ordnance means explosive ordnance that has been primed, fused, armed, or otherwise prepared for use and used in an armed conflict. A major threat to civilians in darfur the writer, salah mohammed, talks about the armed confl ict between rebel movements and sudan armed forces, along with intercommunal clashes, which have left a vast number of explosive remnants of war erw across darfur. Although the majority of reported casualties are male, women and girls may be disproportionally disadvantaged as a result of mineerw incidents and suffer multiple forms of discrimination as survivors. Explosive remnants of war erw, working group on explosive remnants of war, ccwggeiv wg. Assistance to victims of landmines and explosive remnants of war. A health threat not to be ignored find, read and cite all. Mar 01, 20 landmines and explosive remnants of war erw continue to kill, injure and destroy lives and livelihoods. According to the united nations mine action service unmas, erw affect over 70 countries, and thousands of casualties are. This volume is the third major product of the sipriunep programme on military activities and the human environment. In laos, for instance, erw have injured or killed more than 50 000 people since the end of the. Explosive remnants of war erw are explosive munitions left behind after a conflict has ended. In palau, the threat posed to human safety and the environment is clear, as is the impact on development.
Explosive remnants of war in the pacific the diplomat. The human and financial costs of the explosive remnants of. Every year, large numbers of civilians are killed and injured by explosive remnants of war unexploded shells, grenades, bombs, etc. While the term has not been specifically defined, it is understood by the icrc to correspond to the term unexploded ordnance uxo which has been defined in several. Explosive remnants of war erw undesired explosive events in ammunition storage areas, gichd, geneva, november 2002. A guide to mine action and explosive remnants of war global. While countries in the east asia and pacific region, such as cambodia, viet nam and lao pdr, suffer the most severe and widespread impact of mines and other explosive remnants of war erw, other countries such as china, the two koreas, the philippines and thailand are also affected, mostly in confined areas and along the borders. Explosive remnants of war includes landmines, uxo and axo direct and reverberating impacts 54 studies from 22 countries evidence is context specific the effects of remnants of war erw. In addition to raising awareness of the impact and legacy of conflict pollution, the process has helped to reverse the historical decoupling of explosive remnants of war from other physical and toxic war remnants. The presence of massive quantities of explosive remnants of war erw in wartorn countries is a serious threat to the civilian population and a real burden to the humanitarian actors. Isbn 2884870067 the geneva international centre for humanitarian demining gichd supports the efforts of the international community in reducing the impact of mines and unexploded ordnance uxo.
The berlin conference on explosive remnants of war challenges for victim assistance, held on the 4th of november 2009, brought together representatives from civil society, government officials, politicians and students, in order to hear presentations on victim assistance and to discuss different views and approaches on what has to be. From 2001 through 2018, the afghanistan government reported 20,5 total civilian casualties 14,693 injured and 5,442 killed from these three categories of explosive devices. While syria is not a party to the protocol, a number of states militarily involved in the syrian conflict. Assistance to victims of landmines and explosive remnants. Unexploded ordnance uxo, sometimes abbreviated as uo, unexploded bombs uxbs, or explosive remnants of war erw are explosive weapons bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, etc. Pdf on mar 1, 20, antony duttine and others published landmines and explosive remnants of war.
The impact of mines and explosive remnants of war on. It complements the previous report in the series, explosive remnants of war erw a threat analysis. Responses to the ihl and erw questionnaire and the. The year 2017 was the third in a row of an exceptionally high number of mine victims. Existing explosive remnants of war means unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance that existed prior to the entry into force of this protocol for the high contracting party on whose territory it exists. Explosive remnants of war erwlandmines, unexploded ordnance uxo, and abandoned explosive ordnance axohave been. What is the impact of landmines, explosive remnants of war. Landmines and explosive remnants of war erw continue to kill, injure and destroy lives and livelihoods. They cause an estimated 11 to 12 casualties daily and are not confined to a single part of the world. Vietnam war remnants museumsaigon ho chi minh city duration. The impact of mines and explosive remnants of war on gender. Protocol on explosive remnants of war protocol v the high contracting parties, recognising the serious postconflict humanitarian problems caused by explosive remnants of war, conscious of the need to conclude a protocol on postconflict remedial measures of a generic nature in order to minimise the risks and effects of explosive. The impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war on. It consists of three parts, or books, and is designed to.
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