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AfricaFiles
Here is a positive evaluation of the results of the recently concluded Convention on Cluster Bombs that analyses Africa’s role, and what African countries need to do to implement the ban and gain benefit from it. The new Convention completely bans production and requires the destruction (of stockpiles) of cluster munitions. June 2008.
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In the Oscar-winning Bosnian film No man's land, a man lies on a landmine while a United Nations official tries to resolve the situation. But his attempts run into bureaucratic red-tape and other difficulties, and the film ends with the desolate image of the man, abandoned to his fate on the landmine, which will explode under his body if he tries to get up.
Millions of civilians find themselves today in similar situations: living on a time-bomb that could explode at any moment, in any place.
What makes antipersonnel mines so abhorrent is the indiscriminate destruction they cause. Mines recognize no cease-fire and long after the fighting has stopped they continue to maim or kill. They lie dormant until a person or animal triggers their detonating mechanism. Antipersonnel mines cannot distinguish between the footfall of a soldier and that of a child. Those who survive the initial blast usually require amputations, long hospital stays, and extensive rehabilitative services. In Cambodia alone there are over 35,000 amputees injured by landmines--and they are the survivors.
Landmines are now a daily threat in Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia, Cambodia, Chechnya, Croatia, Iraq, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Somalia, and dozens of other countries. More than 50 countries have manufactured as many as 200 million antipersonnel landmines –there are more than 350 different types- in the last 25 years. Leading producers and exporters include China, Italy, the former Soviet Union, and the United States.
In the course of 1991, several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals began simultaneously to discuss the necessity of coordinating initiatives and calls for a ban on antipersonnel landmines. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (a network of more than 1.400 NGOs in 90 countries) was formalized in October 1992. And the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (also known as Mine Ban Treaty) was adopted in Oslo, Norway, in 1997. As of 11 March 2008, the Treaty has been ratified by 156 countries. It entered into force on 1 March 1999.
Among the 39 countries that have not signed the Mine Ban Treaty (as of 11 March 2008) are China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Korea (North and South), Russia, and United States of America.
The Nairobi Summit on a mine-free world was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 29 November-3 December 2004. Parties reviewed progress made to date, and adopted an Action Plan that aimed to combat antipersonnel mines over the next five years.
Convention on the Prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of antipersonnel mines and on their destruction, as approved at Oslo, Norway, on 18 September 1997. The text is available either as a HTML document to view or as compressed RTF document, and Adobe PDF format for print.
Information on landmine awareness, clearance and eradication programmes worldwide; and countries responsible for the production and dissemination of anti-personnel mines.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is involved in mine action programmes in a number of countries. UNDP is also involved in a number of other programmes and partnerships relating to mine action activities around the world.
The World Health Organization, in conjunction with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), stimulated the endorsement of a concerted public health strategy regarding mine victim assistance within the international agenda.
Human Rights Watch was a central participant in the treaty negotiations, known as the Ottawa Process, and is now working to universalize, ratify and monitor the implementation of this historic agreement.
The Geneva Centre supports Humanitarian Mine Action through research, operational assistance and contributions to the implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. It is an independent Foundation supported by 18 governments, including Cambodia, Canada, France, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, United Kingdom, and United States of America.
Humanitarian and development NGOs increasingly recognise the benefits of enhanced coordination with mine action organisations when working in areas and communities affected by mine/ERW contamination, particularly in the immediate post-conflict period. As well, an increasing number are beginning to integrate mine action activities within their programmes, to ensure a more coherent response to community safety and livelihood promotion. November 2008 (pdf).
Information on landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO); related reports from Northern Iraq, Kosovo, Cambodia, and Angola; and description of different types of landmines.
This site was the official conference-site of the Oslo NGO-Conference on Landmines (September 1997). It is no longer in use but will be kept as some have claimed its historical value.
IMSMA is an information management system that improves capabilities for decision-making, coordination, and information policy related to humanitarian de-mining (Mine action). IMSMA is developed by the Center for Security Studies and Conflict Research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) on behalf of the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).
The LMAE program is a place for the worldwide experts to exchange ideas, discuss their work experiences, and collaborate in order to enhance the ways of dealing with this issues.
Time is running short for 29 countries with treaty-mandated clearance deadlines in 2009 or 2010. Despite a treaty provision allowing 10 years to complete mine clearance, 14 states are almost certain not meet their 2009 deadlines: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chad, Croatia, Mozambique, Niger, Peru, Senegal, Tajikistan, Thailand, the United Kingdom (for clearance of the Falkland Islands/Malvinas), Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. Even more seriously, despite having almost eight years to initiate clearance, France, Niger, the United Kingdom and Venezuela have failed to even begin clearance operations. November 2007.
More than 100 nongovernmental organizations, national authorities and United Nations agencies face a funding shortfall of $317.5 million for their efforts to tackle problems of landmines and explosive remnants of war in 29 countries or territories in 2007, according to the Portfolio of Mine Action Projects 2007, released on 14 November 2006. The Portfolio is a collection of mine action project proposals published jointly by the United Nations Mine Action Service in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the UN Development Programme, and UNICEF. November 2006 (pdf version).
More land was demined in 2005 than ever before, but global funding for mine action decreased for the first time, raising concerns about future progress in eradicating mines and efforts to meet the needs of the increasing number of survivors, according to Landmine Monitor Report 2006: Toward a Mine-Free World. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) released the 1,230-page report at the United Nations on 13 September 2006.
This year's edition shows that international rejection of antipersonnel mines has increased. Howeber, forty countries, with a combined stockpile of some 160 million antipersonnel mines, still remain outside of the Treaty while non-state armed groups continue using antipersonnel mines. November 2005.
Since the international treaty prohibiting antipersonnel landmines took effect in 1999, use of the weapon around the world has fallen dramatically, global funding for mine action programs has increased more than 80 percent, more than 1,100 square kilometers of land has been cleared, and the number of new mine victims each year has decreased markedly. November 2004.
In June 1998, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines established "Landmine Monitor," a unique and unprecedented civil society based reporting network to systematically monitor and document nations' compliance with the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and the humanitarian response to the global landmine crisis. The Landmine Monitor produces a Global Reporting Network, an independent online Database, and an Annual Report.
Global use of antipersonnel mines fell dramatically in the past year, while funding for mine clearance increased 30 percent, according to the latest annual report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) released on 9 September 2003.
CCMAT was established in 1998 to develop low cost, sustainable technologies for mine action and to work towards their successful deployment to the field.
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) was formed in October 1997 to serve as the UN focal point for mine action. At the global level, it is responsible for coordinating all aspects of mine action within the UN system. At the field level, it is responsible for providing mine action assistance in the context of humanitarian emergencies and peacekeeping operations.
Throughout the 1990's, the ICRC and Red Crescent Movement, international organizations and NGOs worked relentlessly to achieve a prohibition on anti-personnel mines, and to bring relief to mine victims and mine affected communities.
MAG is an international not-for-profit NGO that assists people affected by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO - bombs, mortars, grenades). Based in Manchester, United Kingdom, MAG clears and destroys the landmines and left-over weapons that make areas unsafe after war.
A coalition of Canadian non-governmental organizations that came together in 1994. The coalition's primary concern is the human and socio-economic impact of landmines.
AJA -The Young Apprentice's Organization- is an NGO based in Brasilia. It participates in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and does research and writes reports for the Landmine Monitor, an annual publication that monitors landmines worldwide.
ICBL is a network of more than 1.400 non-governmental organizations in 90 countries, working for a global ban on Landmines. In 1997, the ICBL and its coordinator, Jody Williams, received the Nobel Peace Prize. The web site is available in English, Arabic, Deutsch, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Russian.
Created by survivors for survivors, LSN works directly with those whose lives have been devastated by landmines. LSN helps landmine survivors find the assistance they need so that they can lead fuller, more productive lives.
Land-mines represent "an insidious and persistent danger" to children affected by war, says a United Nations report on the impact of armed conflict on children, by Graça Machel, the UN Secretary-General's Expert on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children.
On 30 May 2008, 111 governments participating in the Dublin Diplomatic Conference formally adopted the text of a new Convention on Cluster Munitions. The Convention is the culmination of what has become known as the Oslo Process. Similar to the process that resulted in the 1997 Convention on Anti-Personnel Mines, the Oslo Process involved like-minded states in co-operation with global civil society negotiating a new disarmament treaty outside of the United Nations’ usual structures and processes. June 2008.
The international community has become increasingly aware of the need to deal with the hazards that all explosive remnants of war (ERW) pose to civilian populations. The recent entry into force of Protocol V on ERW of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, on 12 November 2006, and the worldwide expansion of explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) projects are indicative of this concern. Cluster munitions, which by design deliver submunitions over a wide area, are a specific and often significant post-conflict hazard to settled communities and returnees alike. November 2007 (pdf version).
New casualties from antipersonnel landmines in Colombia have skyrocketed in recent years, to such a degree that Colombia now has some of the highest annual reported casualty rates in the world. The biggest users of antipersonnel landmines in Colombia, as well as other indiscriminate weapons such as gas cylinder bombs, are Colombia's two largest guerrilla groups: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) and the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN). Guerrillas' frequent use of antipersonnel landmines, improvised out of cheap, readily available materials, leaves hundreds of civilians maimed, blind, deaf, or dead every year. July 2007.
In 2004, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) was asked by the United States (US) Department of State to conduct a scoping study on synergies between mine action and efforts to mitigate harmful effects of small arms and light weapons (SALW). While mine action has been an established humanitarian activity since the late 1980s, large-scale programmes to address the humanitarian and developmental impacts of SALW only started in the mid-1990s. To date, there has been little strategic exchange between the two sectors, despite some apparent similarities in both the problem and the determined responses. October 2006 (pdf version).
Civilians constitute 98 % of all recorded cluster submunitions casualties, according to Fatal Footprint: The Global Human Impact of Cluster Munitions. This groundbreaking preliminary report by Handicap International is the first to document the impact of cluster munitions on the lives of people in all 24 countries and regions which are known to be affected by these weapons. November 2006.
There is growing awareness within the international community that what has come to be known as the 'global landmine crisis' has far-reaching consequences and requires a multi-faceted and integrated response.
Government’s efforts to reconstruct the railway lines destroyed by landmines at the height of the civil war in 1983 are being impeded by heavy presence of the mines along the lines.
Although the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is well known internationally, the problem of landmines and UXO has been ignored, as has the plight of the people affected.
CMAC aims to achieve a state within Cambodia where people can go about their lives free from the threat of mines and unexploded ordnance so that reconstruction and development activities can take place in a safe environment.
The human cost to civilians residing in border areas has been largely ignored, despite the fact that landmines laid by the army and targeted at the enemy have claimed many innocent lives.
The United States, which has not manufactured antipersonnel mines since 1997, will make a decision in December whether to begin production of a new antipersonnel mine called Spider. The Pentagon has requested a total of $1.3 billion for development and production activities for another new antipersonnel mine called the Intelligent Munitions System, with a full production decision expected in 2008. August 2005.
