On First Global Mine Awareness
Day, UNICEF says Mine-Free World is in Sight
Ridding the world of landmines and other
explosive remnants of war could be accomplished in years instead of decades,
saving thousands of children from devastating injuries and death, UNICEF
said today on the first International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance
in Mine Action.
The agency said explosive remnants of war, including landmines and unexploded
ordnance, pose a huge threat to children and their communities in more
than 80 countries, most of which are no longer in conflict. At least
20% of the estimated 15,000-20,000 people who are killed or
disabled each year by these deadly weapons of war are children.
But UNICEF said recent progress has renewed hope that the threat of
explosive devices can be eliminated sooner than previously thought. The
number of new victims has been decreasing over the last decade, due largely
to increasing efforts by governments and NGOs to destroy and clear mines
and to educate communities about their dangers. UNICEF said the continued
support of donors and the public is vital to these initiatives.
“ Wars are not truly over until children can play safely and
walk to school without fear of landmines and other explosive remnants
of war,”
UNICEF
Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said in New York.
“ We cannot
afford to reverse the gains that have brought us closer to making the
battle against landmines a success story.”
Landmines are designed to disable, immobilize or kill people travelling
by foot or in motor vehicles. Other explosive remnants of war include
unexploded ordnance – weapons such as grenades and cluster bombs
that did not explode on impact but can still detonate – and weapons
that are discarded in civilian areas by combatants, known as abandoned
ordnance. These munitions outlast the conflicts during which they were
planted and become hazards for innocent civilians, particularly for unsuspecting
children who often make the fatal mistake of playing with the unfamiliar
objects.
Children face the daily threat of explosion in every region of the world.
Landmines are buried in nearly half of all villages in Cambodia, and
in Lao PDR nearly one-quarter of all villages are contaminated with explosive
remnants of war. Other countries that are among the most contaminated
include Colombia, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Russian Federation
(Chechnya), Iraq, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Children suffer debilitating physical injuries from mine explosions,
often losing fingers, toes and limbs. Some are left blind or deaf. An
estimated 85% of child victims die before they can get medical
attention. Many disabled victims lose opportunities to go to school,
and often cannot afford rehabilitative care. The persisting threat of
mines takes its toll on entire societies, perpetuating poverty and underdevelopment.
Progress in the battle against mines
More than three-quarters of the world’s nations have ratified
the Mine Ban Treaty since it came into force in 1999, outlawing the production,
stockpiling and use of antipersonnel landmines. According to the International
Campaign to Ban Landmines, the number of countries thought to be producing,
stockpiling and using landmines has dropped significantly over the last
decade.
Antivehicle mines, unexploded ordnance and other types of explosive
remnants of war are addressed in a new protocol to the Convention on
Conventional Weapons. Approved three years ago, Protocol V on Explosive
Remnants of War is the first international agreement obligating parties
to conflict to clear explosive munitions that threaten civilians after
war has ended. The Protocol will enter into force once it has been ratified
by four more countries.
According to UNICEF, an increasing number of mine-affected countries
have been involved in mine action over the last decade, which includes
a range of efforts to find and destroy explosive remnants of war, assist
victims, and raise awareness about their dangers.
UNICEF supports and implements mine action activities in over 30 countries,
and believes that mine-risk education is key to preventing the death
and disabling of children. Through programmes brought to their schools
and communities, children are taught how to live safely in areas contaminated
with landmines and other explosive remnants of war.
“ The tragedy of children being wounded or killed in landmine
explosions is preventable,” Veneman said. “We must
work together to help ensure that children do not face these horrors
in the future.”
For 60 years UNICEF has been the world’s leader for children, working
on the ground in 155 countries and territories to help children survive
and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s
largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports
child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic
education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from
violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary
contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
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those of IvyRose Ltd.. Material in this news item was released
by UNICEF on 4 April
2006. For further information, please visit their website using
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