Overview of the devastating effects of explosive remnants of war and cluster munitions. Summary of the rules contained in the Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War (Protocol V to the 1980 Convention), 28 November 2003

Fact sheet describing the obligations of States regarding the national implementation of the norms contained in this particular instrument of international humanitarian law.

Link to the IHL Treaty database

The guns may stop firing and the soldiers return to base, but for many civilians the legacy of war will haunt them long after the conflict has ended. Millions of unexploded munitions in all shapes and sizes are left behind and all too often these Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) claim the lives or the limbs of innocent civilians.This film highlights the recent developments which have been made by the international community to reduce this suffering. It provides a detailed explanation of both the ERW issue and the new Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War adopted by States Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).

This publication is a summary report of the ICRC Expert Meeting on the Humanitarian, Military, Technical and Legal Challenges of Cluster Munitions, held 18 to 20 April 2007 in Montreux, Switzerland. This event was organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to examine the cluster munitions problem and to consider all possible means of reducing their negative impact on civilian populations.

A concise brochure which highlights the deadly risks that unexploded and abandoned ordnance pose to civilians and war affected countries long after the conflict is over. In addition to the human and social costs inflicted by these weapons, the brochure outlines the work being done at the international level to address the problem. The brochure is intended to increase awareness about explosive remnants of war and to urge comprehensive action by the international community to prevent and reduce the impact of these weapons on civilian populations.

Statement of the International Committee of the Red Cross to the First Meeting of States Parties to the Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War, 5 November 2007

United Nations, General Assembly, 61st session, First Committee, item 90, 94 and 97 of the agenda, Statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), New York, 9 October 2006

This report provides a unique overview of the human and social costs of unexploded mines, cluster bomb submunitions and other ordnance to the civilian population of Kosovo during the one-year period from June 1999 to May 2000.