Survivors of cluster bombs will speak out today on whether an international conference to outlaw the weapons will make a difference to affected communities on the ground.
A week into negotiations to ban cluster bombs, the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) will report on the Dublin Diplomatic Conference.
Hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs, the conference will produce a treaty which campaigners hope will explicitly ban all use, sale and production of cluster munitions.
Cluster bomb victims at a Cluster Munitions Coalition protest in Dublin yesterday
People from Afghanistan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Lebanon, Serbia, Tajikistan and Vietnam will share their thoughts on the controversial weapons.
Cluster munitions are launched by aircraft and scatter smaller explosive devices over large areas. Although they are meant to explode on impact with the ground, some can remain intact for several decades, until disturbed.
Delegates from 109 countries are aiming to reach agreement to outlaw the weapons during the 12-day summit taking place in Croke Park.
The US position on cluster bombs will also be analysed by Nobel Prize Laureate Jody Williams, Steve Goose from Human Rights Watch and landmine survivor Ken Rutherford who hosted Princess Diana in Bosnia in 1997.
Senator Patrick Leahy, who introduced an amendment restricting the use of cluster munitions in the American Senate on March 29th, 2007, will join the discussion.
About 200 people took part in a march in Dublin city centre yesteday calling for cluster bombs to be banned.