The United Nations has announced that a 30th country had signed on to the international convention banning cluster bombs, paving the way for the document to come into force on August 1. <br/><br/>In a press statement on Convention on Cluster Munition Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed this major advance on the global disarmament agenda, and said that the Convention's entry into force just two years after its adoption demonstrates the world's collective revulsion at the impact of these terrible weapons. <br/><br/>The statement sad, cluster munitions are unreliable and inaccurate. During conflict and long after it has ended, they maim and kill scores of civilians, including many children. Burkina Faso and Moldova were the 29th and 30th countries to sign on for ratification after the Convention was opened for signature in Oslo in December 2008.<br/><br/>The UN says that an international treaty banning cluster bombs will come into force in August after it was ratified by a 30th country. Burkina Faso and Moldova became the latest states to ratify the treaty. <br/><br/>The treaty is binding only on countries that have signed and ratified it. Since the convention opened for signature in Oslo in 2008, 104 countries have signed on but only 30 have ratified. Some of the biggest stockpilers – including the US, Russia, China and Israel – are not among the signatories. <br/><br/>France, Germany and Spain – have ratified the convention while the UK and Italy have signed, but not ratified. The convention bans the production and use of cluster munitions and obliges states to compensate victims.