Reports of deaths and injuries from unexploded cluster munitions used by Israel in the recent fighting in Lebanon underline the need for all governments to declare an immediate moratorium on the use of cluster munitions.

Early in the conflict, the New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines (CALM) alerted government ministers to the use of cluster munitions and urged them to call for use of the weapons to stop. CALM joined international calls for Israel to refrain from using cluster munitions due to the unacceptable risk to civilians both during and after attacks. Israel has refused to heed the calls.

Israeli cluster munitions killed and injured civilians during attacks, as Human Rights Watch reported in the village of Blida last month, and now people devastated by war are being killed and injured as they return to their homes only to find unexploded cluster submunitions littering their houses and their land.

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A team of staff from Write Group Limited in Wellington recently chose to support a landmine survivors’ project based in Thailand. The project, which is managed by Handicap International, will assist people in the provinces of Sisaket and Ubonrachtani in the North Eastern region of Thailand. This region shares a border with Cambodia, so people living here face the ever-present danger of landmines laid during historical border disputes with the Khmer Rouge.

The team sent $1000 (New Zealand) to Handicap International to support self-help groups for landmine survivors and disabled children. The project has been running for about 18 months, but still needs more support to make sure they are well managed and able to operate independently. This on-going activity equips participants with vocational ideas and suggestions on how to improve accessibility in their living environment. A significant part of the project is community education aimed to reduce the stigma experienced by people injured by landmines. It is hoped this will improve the level of their acceptance, and increase their participation in the local community.

The Write Group team selected the project after their director decided to fund a company sponsorship programme. Staff teams selected for themselves a project or agency they could build an ongoing connection with during the year. The team said, ‘when there are so many projects to choose from it is important to know that our contribution will make a real and practical difference for the people we want to help. We have regular contact with the programme coordinator and there by with the people the project is funded to assist.’

Details of this project, and others managed by Handicap International in Thailand can be seen on http://www.handicap-international.or.th.