Landmines: What is Schools Demining Schools

Schools Demining Schools is an action-oriented project in which schools will not only learn, discuss and publish but will actually and concretely contribute to solving one of the most horrifying problems of our times: the scourge of landmines.

+ Background + Goals + How to Join

Landmines are small devices buried underground and hidden from the eye. When someone walks over them they explode maiming or killing the person. Every month, 2,000 people are killed or maimed in this way. Most are civilians, many are children, and the majority of incidents happen not during the time of conflict but after hostilities have ended.

For those not living in mine-infested countries, the problem itself may seem buried deep somewhere else. Yet, the problem of landmines is a concern for everyone. For one thing, 68 countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mozambique, Egypt and others, are affected by landmines—by 110 million landmines, in fact, scattered around waiting to be stepped on. There are an equal number stockpiled and waiting to be planted. Then there is the production issue. One might be living in a place that is a producer of landmines or landmine parts. Finally, there is the issue of a total ban. Some countries are actively pursuing an international treaty that would place a total ban on all landmines and other countries are still hesitating. Chances are that in one or another of these ways we—you—are connected to the issue of landmines.

But what can we do about it? How will the Schools Demining Schools project help?

The bold claim of this project is that we can all make a difference, that our actions (as well as our inactions) in the world have consequences not just in our immediate environment but in places we could not have imagined.

The main aim of the project is to rally together schools and students around the world so that they may help demine a number of school grounds and playgrounds in mine-infested countries while raising consciousness about the problem in their own communities. The power of information technology will allow students to interact, not only with experts, the UN and each other, but with students at the school being demined.

As part of this project students will:

	learn about the issue of landmines: the problem, the politics, the solutions
	interact with and interview experts, victim-survivors, professional deminers and students at the school being demined
	raise consciousness about the issue in their own communities
	conduct a fundraising campaign to help rid school grounds of landmines and care for victim-survivors
	participate in the Ban Landmines banner campaign on the World Wide Web

Joining the project is easy: Register for the project by e-mailing cyberschoolbus@un.org and in the subject field write "Ban Mines". You will receive information and updates by e-mail and be placed on a listserv and newsgroup dedicated to this project.

This project is being carried out in conjunction with I*EARN. If there are any questions, please contact:

Abouali Farmanfarmaian, farmanfarmaiana@un.org

or Ed Gragert, iearn@iearn.org