More than 100 nations are meeting in Dublin, Ireland to work on a global treaty to ban cluster bombs.

The United States, Russia and China — the three biggest producers of cluster bombs — as well as India, Israel and Pakistan are not attending the conference.

Soraj Ghulam Habib, an Afghani teen whose legs were blown off by a cluster bomb, was one of many campaigners pushing for a ban.

At the age of 10, Habib’s childhood curiosity led him to pick up a small yellow can on the sidewalk — the same color as emergency food parcels dropped by U.S. planes. As he tossed the can to the ground, it exploded, sending deadly shrapnel into his body, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported.

“Let’s let him die,” doctors told his father, as they prepared to administer a lethal injection. “It’s not good for his future life to be like this.”

But his father refused and advocated for the intensive care his injuries required. Habib’s uncle pushed for him to be allowed to go back to school. There, Habib discovered the social and emotional effects of his wounds.

“I had a lot of dreams, to do for my friends, my family, my community and my country; it destroyed all my dreams and all my wishes,” he told AFP.

Cluster bombs leave dozens of soda-can-sized ‘bomblets’ that are meant to detonate upon ground impact. Many do not. A Human Rights Watch report lists failure rates averaging up to 30 to 40 percent, even 70 to 90 percent in some areas.

One human rights organization said 60 percent of casualties from unexploded bomblets are civilians. Thousands of confirmed casualties have resulted around the world, the majority of which are in Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon, according to the UN Development Program.

Stephen Mull, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, said a ban would “have very grave implications.” The United States decided not to attend the conference because the proposed ban would harm world security and threaten U.S. humanitarian work with countries that signed the agreements, The Associated Press reported.

In response, Human Rights Watch published a report that refuted claims that such a ban would harm humanitarian interests, further accusing the United States of “trying to win dangerous loopholes” in the treaty by pressuring allies and lobbying for exemptions, despite not attending.

“If the United States was really very concerned about it, they’d be here in Dublin standing up for their interests; they’re not,” said Mark Hiznay, a researcher with Human Rights Watch.

Last September, Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein and Patrick Leahy introduced a bill that would prohibit the export of cluster bombs with a failure rate higher than 1 percent.

Thomas Nash of the Cluster Munitions Coalition told a reporter outside the conference that although the United States, Russia and China are not attending, they will be influenced by the 128 countries that are present.

“We know from history that when a weapon is stigmatized by the general moral consensus of the international community, it just doesn’t get used,” Nash said. “The U.S. hasn’t banned land mines, but they don’t use them.”

Now 17 years old and working with the Afghan Landmine Survivors’ Organization in Kabul, Habib told AFP that he is trying to bring back his dreams of helping his people and country in order to save future lives.

“I’m calling on all the states, especially those here, to stop it,” Habib said. “Join with us and let the children have peace and a life without cluster munitions.”