#passblue

Every day in some provinces of Vietnam, the simple act of walking can be deadly, as people risk stepping on unexploded ordnances, remnants from America’s war there that ended more than 40 years ago. The United States dropped 14 million tons of explosive devices during the war in Vietnam as well as in Laos and Cambodia, and a significant number of them have not exploded and been cleared.

In 2016 alone, 971 people died around the world of injuries related to cluster munitions, according to a report by the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, a watchdog organization that covers the elimination of such weapons. This number is likely to be higher, however, the report says.

A cluster munition is generally used to describe a weapon launched, dropped or fired from the ground, air or sea that disperses or releases submunitions, or bomblets. Although the US has spent $3.2 billion in weapon-destruction programs since 1993, removing unexploded ordnances from war zones, Washington still hasn’t committed to banning cluster munitions.