A global treaty banning cluster munitions has entered into force.

Cluster bombs, which are dropped from airplanes or fired by mortars, open in mid-air and disperse smaller bomblets over a wide area. Many bomblets fail to detonate on impact, however, leaving broad swathes of hazardous land.

The treaty requires all signatories to destroy stockpiled munitions within eight years, clear contaminated areas within ten years, and help affected communities and survivors.

Thomas Nash of the Cluster Munition Coalition lauded the ban:

[Thomas Nash, Cluster Munition Coalition Co-ordinator]:
"This is the most significant piece of international humanitarian law to enter into force since the land mine ban ten years ago. From this moment on, countries have a legal obligation to assist the victims."

While many countries immediately embraced the treaty, there remain countries unwilling to sign.
Signatories include Britain, France, Germany, and Japan, while China, Israel, Russia, and the United States have shunned the treaty.

Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch thinks that support for the treaty will help to universally stigmatise the use of cluster munitions:

[Steve Goose, Arms Division Director, Human Rights Watch]:
"We're convinced that this convention will have a big impact, even on those states that have not yet joined. There are some big powers out there who've not yet joined up to the convention - the US, Russian, and Israel - states that have used the weapon extensively in the past. We think that they are going to feel the power of this new convention. We think that the convention is stigmatising the weapon all around the world and that states will be reluctant to ever use it again."

As the ban on cluster bombs becomes international law, the Cluster Munition Coalition says it is still essential to persuade more states to sign the treaty.