Forty-five Cambodian children with disabilities will be running the Angkor Wat Half-Marathon on December 7 to call for the ban of cluster munitions. The children are from the Arrupe Karuna Welcome Centre, a foster home for poor children with disabilities, many caused by these explosive weapons.
The run is part of a campaign to raise awareness of the issues around land mines and cluster munitions, which is promoted in coordination with the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines (ICBL), the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and other international and local associations.
“Students from Arrupe Welcome Center want to send an inspirational message of courage and determination to those who suffer, as well as demand that the Government of Cambodia, and many other countries, join the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM),” said the centre in its IndieGoGo funding campaign page. Some of the centre’s staff also have disabilities caused by cluster munitions and land mines.
The run is the main activity of the centre’s ongoing campaign to “Ban Land Mines and Cluster Munitions”. In 2011 they held the “Push for Progress” campaign and in 2012, the “Make It Happen Campaign”.
They see the Angkor Wat Half-Marathon as “the perfect scenario from where to share [their] message” because its 6,000 participants will come from 50 different countries, its guests will include the local government, and it will receive international media coverage. In addition to the run, the Centre plans to distribute t-shirts, wristbands and other promotional materials during the week before the event.
The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs has said that “Cluster munitions have a ‘wide-area effect’, which makes them inherently inaccurate when used. Moreover, unexploded duds lying around form a life-threatening hazard for civilians long after conflict.”
More than 100 countries have signed the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), and the Holy See signed and ratified the CCM on March 12, 2008.
Cambodia has not signed the convention, and according to the centre, the country is one of six countries considered to have the largest number of cluster munition victims, with the challenge of the responsibility to address the needs of several thousands of survivors. However, the centre says, Cambodia has recognized the need for victim assistance and has provided information to Convention on Cluster Munition States Parties on their efforts in this regard. The country has also reported on its implementation efforts in accordance with the convention’s specific requirements of planning, coordination and the integration of victim assistance into rights-based frameworks.
The fundraising campaign on IndieGoGo ends on December 7. As of November 27, the centre has raised approximately 70 percent of its goal of USD12,500.
To learn more about the Arrupe Karuna Welcome Centre, its campaign to ban cluster munitions, and DONATE, go to https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/campaign-to-stop-cluster-munitions-make-it-happen.