By David Brazier and Aaron Buckley
TOWARDS A SAFE AND SECURE WORLD
The UN was founded to build a safer world. In the UN Charter countries pledged to work ‘...to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.’ In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the inherent dignity and rights of every individual were recognized and this included the right to a decent standard of living. A safe and secure world means not only the cessation of war and armed violence, but also the active removal of remnants of war, in all their various guises, that mutilate and take lives, that block humanitarian aid, impede development and agriculture. and hinder commerce. It also means respecting and protecting human rights by assisting survivors of conflicts, caring for damaged families, and educating girls and boys living close to affected areas about the risks they come across while playing outside.
Many are familiar with the scourge of landmines because of the prolific work of the late Princess Diana. As she stated, “The more expeditiously we can end this plague on earth caused by the landmine, the more readily can we set about the constructive tasks to which so many give their hand in the cause of humanity. I would like to see more done for those living in this ’no man's land’ which lies between the wrongs of yesterday and the urgent needs of today.” More recently, the determination and leadership of HRH Prince Mired of Jordan, a driving force in the current mine action community, has contributed to raising awareness of mine action and the numerous ways there are to invest in communities and build a better world for our generation and our children’s generations. During the summer of 2010, the American actor Jeremy Renner teamed up with the UN to visit the demining programme in Afghanistan.
In 1998, the General Assembly welcomed the establishment of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in its role as system-wide focal point and “its ongoing coordination with and coordination of all mine-related activities of UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes.” That endorsement has been consistently reiterated in subsequent General Assembly resolutions. UNMAS coordinated mine action responses have changed lives and protected livelihoods in conflict-torn communities in areas including Afghanistan, Chad, Colombia, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Nepal, Gaza in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Somalia, Sudan, and Western Sahara.
The removal of landmines and other explosive remnants of war, like cluster bombs, are often essential to restarting development and rebuilding shattered communities. The lingering threat to physical and human capital makes their removal a priority for humanitarian and development agencies.1 For these and a host of other reasons, mine action is a development issue, and effective mine action efforts contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs, contained in the Millennium Development Declaration, were adopted by 189 countries in September 2000. At that moment, at the dawn of the new millennium, global leaders agreed on concrete goals to promote the economic and social advancement of all peoples. As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted, “Meeting the goals is everyone’s business. Falling short would multiply the dangers of our world–from instability to epidemic diseases to environmental degradation. But achieving the goals will put us on a fast track to a world that is more stable, more just, and more secure.”2
PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES
Mine action entails more than removing landmines from the ground. It also includes a range of activities that reduce the human, social, economic, and environmental impact of landmines and other explosive remnants of war, including cluster bombs.3 The 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (Mine Ban Treaty) was open for signature in Ottawa in December 1997. As of January 2011, 156 countries have signed the Mine Ban Treaty. A total of 39 countries have not yet joined. Major World Bank members that have not signed it include China, India, Pakistan, Russia, the United States, and Vietnam.
According to the Landmine Monitor, since 1997, the new use of landmines has virtually ceased.4 The Treaty has universally stigmatized the use of antipersonnel mines. Since 2007, there is evidence of new use by only two states: Myanmar and Russia. Forthe past decade, global trade in antipersonnel mines has consisted solely of a low-level of illicit and unacknowledged transfers.5
Yet, the scourge remains a serious threat in over seventy states. There are no precise figures on the total number of landmines in the ground, but the number is less important than the impact—it only takes a couple of mines or the mere suspicion of their presence to render land unusable. The most common landmines are priced from $3 to $40, but for every hour spent laying mines, up to 100 hours are required to locate and remove them. A typical ten-person manual clearance team can demine no more than five hundred square meters a day. In Bosnia, over 1996–2000, the average cost for landmine clearance per square meter was $1.80. Demining can provide significant income for deminers and their families.6 For example, in Afghanistan, community-based demining projects provide employment for over 14,400 Afghans. This injects significant resources into some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities. The clearance also provides a platform for other actors to implement development projects with the community.
AN INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT PRIORITY
With increased awareness of the links between mine action and the achievement of the MDGs, mine-affected developing states are recognizing mine action as an innovative development priority as well as a humanitarian, security, and human rights priority. Mine action is accordingly being given prominence in their national development plans, strategies, and budgets.7 Numerous bilateral, multilateral, and civil-society development agencies have begun to integrate or "mainstream" mine action into their regular programs—both as a sector of development unto itself, and as a means to advance work in more traditional development sectors.
Notably, studies by the World Bank have identified mine action as a development imperative and suggest that demining activities can generate high social and economic rates of return, including the growth of a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).8 The World Bank has found that landmine contamination has a significant negative effect on economic growth, even controlling for conflict, conflict legacy, and level of economic development. Estimates suggest that an additional Contamination Unit results in a .5 per cent drag on GDP growth on average, per annum.9
In Sudan, mine clearance has opened up over forty thousand kilometres of roads. This, in turn, has opened up trade and allowed Sudanese to safely travel to polling stations to vote. It has opened the way for humanitarian workers to bring vitally needed relief and it has cut the cost of delivery (7:1), so that more aid can be brought in and life can return to normal. In Lebanon, over forty-two square kilometres of land contaminated by cluster munitions has been cleared. This has allowed livelihoods to be restored, houses to be rebuilt, and olive and citrus groves to flourish once again.
LOOKING BEYOND MINE ACTION
UNMAS contributes in the following ways to the achievement of the MDGs:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger: Access to previously contaminated agricultural and grazing land improves food security and income generation, clearance of roads allows better access to markets, lowering the cost of inputs and providing incentives for increased production, clearance of heavily-impacted communities allows the sustainable return of displaced persons and, lastly, socio-economic reintegration programmes for landmine survivors creates sustainable livelihoods for an extremely vulnerable group.
2. Achieve Universal Primary Education: Clearance of contaminated areas improves access to schools, clearance of wells close to communities means children spend less time travelling long and potentially dangerous routes to collect water, leaving more time to attend school and do school work.
3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women: Non-traditional employment opportunities for women, socio-economic reintegration programmes for landmine survivors empower female survivors and female heads of households;
4. Reduce Child Mortality: Improved access to health services and facilities and reduced risk to children resulting from mine risk education and clearance of contaminated areas, building or adapting health structures and systems to be accessible to children with disabilities.
5. Improve Maternal Health: Providing safe birthing environments for women in mine-affected areas, improved access to health services and facilities.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases: Incorporating HIV/AIDS education and disability-inclusive approaches into public health systems and messages, clearance of water and sanitation facilities reduces risk of malaria and other disease.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability: Handover of cleared land promotes sustainable use and improved access to safe drinking water through clearance and construction of wells, Removing landmines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war using environmentally safe techniques;
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development: Working in partnership with-affected countries committed to poverty reduction and the APMBC it is clear that (i) governments and of mine-affected states bear primary responsibility but that (ii) states in a position to assist should do so.10
KEEPING THE PROMISE
Global mine action efforts make an invaluable contribution to humanitarian relief efforts, peace operations and development initiatives that are vital to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. A child who dies of a waterborne disease because the only clean water source in her village is mined, or of malnutrition because farmers' fields are mine-contaminated, is no less a mine victim than the child struck down directly by a landmine. Mine action is about human security, it is about achieving development and building a better world. Above all, it is about restoring to human beings their rightful dignity.
In the words of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, “Billions of people are looking to the international community to realize the great vision embodied in the Millennium Declaration. Let us keep the promise.”11 An investment in mine action will help us keep this promise.
1 According to the Landmine Monitor 2009, mine action funding in 2008 was channelled to at least 54 recipient states and other areas. The top five recipients of mine action funding in 2008 were, in descending order: Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Cambodia.
2 Foreword, The Millennium Development Goals Report 2010.
3 The five aspects or “pillars” of mine action are demining, mine risk education, victim assistance, stockpile destruction, and advocacy in support of ,adherence to, and compliance with relevant international law.
4 Landmine Monitor Report 2009.
5 Landmine Monitor Report 2009.
6 World Bank, Landmine Contamination: A Development Imperative from Social Development Notes: Conflict Prevention & Reconstruction, No. 20, October 2004.
7 When Cambodia adopted the Millennium Development Goals it added a ninth Goal that stated, “Move toward zero new victims and a country without mines, with the following targets: Moving toward zero impact from landmines and ERWs by 2012; and eliminate the negative humanitarian and socio-economic impact of landmines and ERWs by 2025.
8 World Bank, Landmine Contamination: A Development Imperative from Social Development Notes: Conflict Prevention & Reconstruction, No. 20, October 2004.
9 World Bank study presented during the 12th Meeting of Mine Action Directors and UN Advisors in Geneva, March 2009. Additional references include, Byrd, B. and Gildestad, B. (2002), “The Socio-economic Impact of Mine Action in Afghanistan” World Bank Internal Discussion Paper 181, South Asia Region; Elliot, G., and Harris G. (2001), “A Cost-benefit Analysis of Landmine Clearance in Mozambique.” Development Southern Africa 18 (5); Harris, G. (2000) “The Economics of Landmine Clearance: Case study of Cambodia.” Journal of International Development, 12 (2); Merrouche, O. (2006) “Economic Consequences of Wars: Evidence from Landmine Contamination in Mozambique.” EUI Working Papers No. 22; Charles Downs (2009), “Linking Mine Action and Economic Development,
10 For additional insights see fact sheets on mine action and the Millennium Development Goals prepared by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) and AusAid.
11 Foreword, The Millennium Development Goals Report 2010.
