The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Ethiopia has warned that the lives of children and farmers are at risk from unexploded weapons. ‘It’s an absolute tragedy for someone to be killed or to lose a limb due to the detonation of unexploded weapons, even more so after the end of a conflict’, ICRC’s weapon contamination specialist in Ethiopia, Vasanth Kanags, said in a statement. ‘It’s urgent that we inform communities of this danger, especially children who naturally want to play with new, interesting-looking objects’. According to international humanitarian law, civilians exposed to unexploded ordnance must be protected and assisted. Development Diaries calls on the government of Ethiopia to sign, ratify and implement the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its fifth protocol on explosive remnants of war.

Source: Ethiopian News October 06, 2023 16:30 UTC