Huge campaign victory as cluster bomb ban agreed

Last week in Dublin, more than 110 countries reached agreement on a groundbreaking treaty to ban cluster bombs.

Oxfam's head of arms control Anna Macdonald campaigned throughout the cluster munitions conference in Dublin where the agreeement was reached. Here, Anna shares her thoughts on the Treaty and it what means for ordinary people.

Cluster bombs are nasty, indiscriminate weapons. They disperse many small bomblets, over a wide area, making it impossible to pinpoint a target accurately, and like landmines, they often stay unexploded on the ground for years, even decades after.

Children are especially vulnerable, as naturally curious; they are attracted to their bright colour and interesting shape.

On 29 May, after two intense weeks of negotiations in Dublin, 100 countries have put aside their differences, and agreed a Treaty that will ban all cluster bombs from now on.

And that's not all. Countries will have to destroy all their stockpiles of cluster bombs within 8 years, take action to clear cluster contaminated areas, and to provide wide-ranging assistance to victims.

Not bad for a two week conference.

The UK turned up trumps too. After months of claiming they needed to hang on to certain essential types of weapons, and have a transition period in which to get rid of others, the Prime Minister announced this week that the UK would immediately get rid of all its cluster bombs, and work for the strongest possible Treaty.

It had a big effect. The last days of the conference were incredibly exciting. Government after government lined up to declare their support for the Treaty. Those who had fought for changes to the text on all sides compromised, and suddenly we were there.

And the US, the world's biggest cluster bomb user? They weren't there. And neither were Russia or China. But we're not too worried about this.

The political message that such a strong treaty sends out means that it will be very hard for any governments to use cluster bombs in the future. The same thing happened in 1997, when the US did not sign on to Landmines Treaty, and yet has not used landmines since that time.

Of course this had not just happened in two weeks, campaigners have worked for 5 years to get to this point. Many cluster bomb survivors have been active campaigners, communicating their powerful stories direct to decision-makers.

Campaigners and diplomats are celebrating that common sense and basic humanity have won out over narrow political interests, and we have together achieved a Treaty that will save thousands of lives in the future.

Tun Channereth (pictured far right), from Cambodia, celebrates with other cluster bombs survivors and campaigners as the Treaty to ban cluster bombs is announced in Dublin.