Demining to save lives is an initiative the global community needs, and has been successfully demonstrated by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and International Road Transport Union (IRU):
In Afghanistan, the UNMAS-IRU Demining Project, which ran for 10 months starting from April 14th 2011, educated local villagers for manual demining and enhancing trade roads.
During this time, 86 hazardous areas were cleared of landmines, which included the detonation of 1,877 anti-personnel mines and 3000 families in 42 communities had landmine-free land for the first time in decades. Employment opportunities were created for 320 civilians from these communities. The trade route Silk Road, which runs from Kabul to North and North-Eastern provinces, is 700 kilometres in length. Within 100 metres of the road on either side, teams of villagers worked with metal detectors to remove landmines. This will improve the safety of travellers on this road, and increase the economy for the impoverished in the districts of Parwan, Baghlan, Kunduz, Samangan, Jowzjan and Balkh. The final result was the restoration of 4000 000 square metres of land for agricultural uses, according to the UNMAS-IRU official website, http://demining-afghanistan.org/. They could achieve this through funding from The HALO Trust and the Afghanistan Technical Consultants (ATC).
During this time, 86 hazardous areas were cleared of landmines, which included the detonation of 1,877 anti-personnel mines and 3000 families in 42 communities had landmine-free land for the first time in decades. Employment opportunities were created for 320 civilians from these communities. The trade route Silk Road, which runs from Kabul to North and North-Eastern provinces, is 700 kilometres in length. Within 100 metres of the road on either side, teams of villagers worked with metal detectors to remove landmines. This will improve the safety of travellers on this road, and increase the economy for the impoverished in the districts of Parwan, Baghlan, Kunduz, Samangan, Jowzjan and Balkh. The final result was the restoration of 4000 000 square metres of land for agricultural uses, according to the UNMAS-IRU official website, http://demining-afghanistan.org/. They could achieve this through funding from The HALO Trust and the Afghanistan Technical Consultants (ATC).
Left: The countries known to produce landmines and the countries that have signed the Ottawa Treaty – an international agreement prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of landmines.
Fast Facts
What are landmines?
Landmines are objects placed on or under the surface of the ground that contain an explosive charge, designed to maim, not kill the victim.
How many landmines are there?
There are currently 70 million landmines underground globally. An estimated 110 million are currently stockpiled, waiting to be planted.
Where do landmines come from?
Landmines are manufactured by black market companies using materials such as discarded computer parts, phone parts, fire alarms, aluminium cans or plastic containers. At least 50 countries are known to produce landmines, and 35 are known exporters. These include North America, Russia, India, China, Pakistan, Iran, Korea and Vietnam.
How much does a landmine cost?
Landmines cost between $3-$30 US to produce, however in manual labour and detection it costs $300-$1000 US to remove just one.
How long does a landmine last?
Landmines can remain active for up to 50 years. This means that when the conflict is resolved, the violence remains.
Who do landmines affect?
Landmines affect 70 developing nations, and an estimated 70 people world-wide trigger a landmine each day.
This is the same as one person every 15 minutes.
Although most minefields are marked with warning signs, crossed sticks or red painted rocks, in heavy rainfall landmines can be carried to low-lying areas. These areas are used by farmers, who are in constant danger of detonating one and bleeding to death. They're often never found.
However, the most vulnerable are children, who are illiterate, and therefore cannot read warning signs. They may also mistake a landmine for a toy in the dirt. As they are smaller, and their vital organs are nearer to the blast, they are less likely to survive an explosion. If they are fortunate enough to survive, they will join the other 300,000 children who are severely disabled due to landmine blasts.
How long will it take to clear the world of landmines?
At a constant rate, it is estimated that it will take the human race 1,100 years to remove every single landmine on Earth. This is due to demining being a slow, expensive and dangerous operation.
It takes one deminer 6 months to clear the equivalent of a football field.
But what if everyone who reads this takes action against landmines?
What if they donate money to demining causes?
Or even take some time to remove themselves from their current lives to save someone else's?
"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." - Martin Luther King