Bangkok, 7 September 2012 (JRS) — The  2012 Cluster Munition Report for the Monitor, a research initiative that tracks the implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Mine Ban treaty, was released on 6 September 2012, in London.

The report is the third annual cluster munition report ever released by the Monitor, and documents notable developments in 2011, including: eighteen state accessions and ratifications of  the Convention, the destruction of more than 107,000 stockpiled cluster munitions, and improved victim assistance programs worldwide.

Destroyed stockpiles since the treaty entered into force in 2010 now up to 68 percent of all declared munitions worldwide, cites the report.

Meanwhile, only twelve countries in the Asia Pacific, out of a total of 108 signatories, are party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and zero have signed the Ban treaty. Some, such as Cambodia and Vietnam, remain heavily contaminated by unexploded munitions.

The report estimates that in 2011 there may have been upwards of 42,500 people hurt or killed in Asia due to cluster munitions.

However, victim assistance programs are improving in Asia Pacific, according to Sermsiri Ingavanija, JRS’ former Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions Campaign Coordinator.

“Victim assistance is much better than before, especially in Thailand where free medical care and the Emergency Medical System has benefited land mine survivors,” said Ingavanija. “But we still need to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” she added.

A copy of the report can be find here.