For more than a decade, civil society and international organisations have documented the patterns of harm from the use of explosive weapons, in which civilians overwhelmingly bear the brunt of their use in populated areas. This report shows that in 2021 and 2022, the patterns of harm remain much the same – when explosive weapons are used in cities, towns and other populated areas, civilians suffer disproportionally.

In ‘Two Years of Global Harm to Civilians from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (2021-2022), the Explosive Weapons Monitor identifies patterns of harm from the use of explosive weapons around the globe and, in doing so, demonstrates a clear need to mitigate risk to civilians, take steps to prevent the harm to civilians caused by the use of explosive weapons, and to provide necessary and lifesaving assistance to victims and survivors. As a result, the report supports both ongoing understandings of civilian harm and efforts to address it, including through implementation of the commitments in the recently adopted Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences arising from the use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas. The documentation of these harms fulfills a moral obligation to understand and recognize victims of armed conflict and provides an evidential basis for harm reduction that can inform operational changes and responses.

The Explosive Weapons Monitor presents in this report its findings on the patterns of harm to civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, as shown in its first two years of data collection on incidents of explosive weapon use and casualties, including deaths and injuries, recorded by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), and incidents of explosive weapon use affecting aid access, education, and healthcare, recorded by Insecurity Insight in 2021. The findings of this report are supplemented with incident reports compiled from open sources from Ukraine, Myanmar, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Syria, and Ethiopia. These incidents illustrate the complexity of identifying the full scope of harm to civilians and the ways in which different patterns of harm overlap.

The data presented in this report does not aim to capture every casualty or incident of explosive weapon use that occurred in 2021 and 2022, recognising that the impact of explosive weapon use is much greater than is presented here. Instead, this report aims to identify patterns of harm from the use of explosive weapons around the globe and to demonstrate a clear need to mitigate risk to civilians, take steps to prevent the harm to civilians caused by the use of explosive weapons, and to provide necessary and lifesaving assistance to victims and survivors.

Download the report here

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