Fatal Footprint: The Global Human Impact of Cluster Munitions.Fatal Footprint: The Global Human Impact of Cluster Munitions mu·ni·tion n. War materiel, especially weapons and ammunition. Often used in the plural. tr.v. mu·ni·tioned, mu·ni·tion·ing, mu·ni·tions To supply with munitions. , Handicap International Handicap International is a non-governmental organization created in 1982 to provide help in refugee camps in Cambodia and Thailand. Based in Belgium and France, it has since opened branches in six other countries : Switzerland, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and the , November 2006. This report and related documents are available online in various languages at http://www.handicapinternational.be. Fatal Footprint is the first comprehensive study to systematically analyze the impact of cluster munitions on civilian populations. Using information on casualties of cluster submunitions, it tracks the human impact in 24 countries and areas from the initial cluster munitions strikes, over the short-term emergency phase, to the post-conflict period, which can affect the lives of individuals, families, and communities for generations. Cluster munitions scatter small, highly lethal submunitions, creating a 'footprint' within which they indiscriminately kill and injure To interfere with the legally protected interest of another or to inflict harm on someone, for which an action may be brought. To damage or impair. The term injure is comprehensive and can apply to an injury to a person or property. Cross-references Tort Law. military targets and civilians. Yet, unlike during the initial blast, the effects of unexploded submunitions remaining after the strike do seem more discriminate--killing civilians almost exclusively. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Fatal Footprint, civilians constitute 98 percent of all recorded cluster submunitions casualties, many of them injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. or killed while carrying out their normal, daily livelihood activities in places they go to every day. Males are most at risk, representing 84 percent of casualties--40 percent of these are boys under 18. In many countries, such as Kosovo and Cambodia, boys constitute the largest group. The report acknowledges that much information about the use and effects of cluster bombs cluster bomb n. A projectile that, when dropped from an aircraft or fired through the air, releases explosive fragments over a wide area. Noun 1. is missing or has been pieced together from available public sources. Users of cluster bombs rarely provided any information, "even though it is alleged that, in many cases, this type of information was recorded." So, the full extent of the destruction will almost certainly never be known. Fatal Footprint is a timely report, not only because of the recent use of cluster munitions in Lebanon, but because Protocol V of the Convention of Certain Conventional Weapons, on Explosive Remnants of War Explosive remnants of war is a term used in the humanitarian aid industry to describe the explosive threats remaining in post-war society. This includes landmines, cluster bombs, IEDs and other unexploded ordnance. , became law in November. |
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