Explosive weapons – the problem

Armed conflicts are increasingly conducted among civilian populations and with weapon systems designed for open battlefields, presenting serious challenges to the protection of civilians in armed conflicts today. Tens of thousands of women, men and children are killed, injured and traumatised each year by the use of explosive weapons in the neighbourhoods where they live and work: when explosive weapons are used in populated areas, around 90% of those directly killed or injured are civilians. Record numbers of people are displaced, fleeing in search of safety. Vital power, water and sanitation infrastructure is destroyed, shutting down essential services including health care and education. Schools and hospitals are damaged or destroyed, food supplies disrupted, communities and areas contaminated with unexploded ordnance are rendered unsafe, and homes uninhabitable.

States to adopt new international Declaration to protect civilians from use of explosive weapons in populated areas 

• A new international Declaration on the Protection of Civilians from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas opens for states to endorse it at a conference in Dublin on 18 November 2022.
• The use of explosive weapons in populated areas is the leading cause of civilian casualties in contemporary armed conflicts, and the Declaration is the first formal international recognition that this must be addressed urgently and directly.
• INEW calls on all states to endorse the Declaration which aims to reduce civilian harm and strengthen the protection of civilians, by imposing limits on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, and by assisting victims and affected communities during and after conflict.

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