Worldwide, 219 people were killed or injured by cluster bombs, a significant decrease compared to the previous year. In nine countries, including Azerbaijan, Iraq, Myanmar and Syria, new victims were reported in 2023. Ukraine has counted over 1,000 victims since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. 93% of victims in 2023 were civilians, almost half of them children (47%).

Since 2008, States Parties have destroyed their entire declared stockpiles of cluster bombs; in 2023, Bulgaria, Slovakia, South Africa and Peru reported the complete destruction of their stockpiles.

28 countries and territories remain contaminated or potentially contaminated with cluster munitions. In 2023, 83.91 km² of land was cleared of cluster bombs. Bosnia and Herzegovina cleared all cluster bomb remnants in August 2023

17 countries continue to produce cluster bombs, including India, Russia, South Korea and now also Myanmar.

Cluster bombs were used by Russian and Ukrainian armed forces in Ukraine in 2023 and until July 2024. New use of cluster bombs was also recorded in Myanmar and Syria. In contrast, there have been no reports of the use of cluster bombs by States Parties since the Convention was adopted in May 2008.

In December 2023, 148 states, including 37 non-signatory states, adopted a resolution in the UN General Assembly to promote the convention. Russia was the only country to vote against the resolution.

In July 2024, Lithuania passed a law to withdraw from the Convention against Cluster Munitions, the so-called Oslo Convention. Read more in the Monitor.