Arms Control & Non Proliferation

Documents & Texts from America.gov

05 June 2008
Casualties from Land Mines, Other Explosives in Sharp Decline

By MacKenzie C. Babb
Staff Writer

Washington -- People in more than 50 nations can live more safely this year because of effective land mine action programs that are saving lives and improving livelihoods across the globe, according to a new State Department report.

“In 2007, the annual number of reported casualties from land mines and explosive remnants of war worldwide decreased to 5,751, down sharply from approximately 26,000 just four years ago,” according to the 2008 edition of the State Department's To Walk the Earth in Safety, released June 3.

The United States supplied nearly $76 million in fiscal year 2006 and more than $82 million in fiscal year 2007 for land mine action in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

The United States, the report says, remains the world’s top contributor to land mine action, though the “overwhelming preponderance of [land mines] have been manufactured and employed by other countries and foreign combatants.”

For example, due to nearly three decades of constant warfare, Afghanistan has been ravaged by land mines, explosive remnants and light weapons. The United States dedicated aid through contributions of more than $13.5 million to humanitarian mine action and weapons destruction in Afghanistan in the fiscal year 2006, and $15 million in fiscal year 2007.

To Walk the Earth in Safety is produced by the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs and outlines progress made by the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program in 2006 and 2007.

U.S. humanitarian mine action has three points of focus -- mine detection and clearance, mine risk education and mine survivors’ assistance. Depending on a country’s needs, the United States may assist financially in any or all of those areas.

To assist with land mine detection and clearance, for example, U.S. military personnel use a “train the trainer” approach, educating an initial team of host-nation land mine removers in mine clearance until they are able to mark and clear mines safely without U.S. help.

To reduce casualties, the United States provides mine-risk education by teaching people how to recognize and avoid land mines and other explosive remnants of war.

For mine survivors’ assistance, the United States takes a holistic approach, aiding survivors initially by treating the injury and later through physical, psychological and emotional rehabilitation. This often includes teaching new income-producing skills, which help survivors to regain productive lifestyles.

In addition to the decrease in casualties from land mines and other explosive remnants of war, 2007 saw the celebration of the destruction of a symbolic millionth light weapon destruction in five countries, “a major milestone in the United States’ efforts to reinforce peace and the rule of law,” the report said.

The year also marked the 10th anniversary of a public-private partnership program in which the United States encourages civil society to work for a world free from the effects of such weapons.

In 2006, Macedonia was declared free from land mines and explosive remnants of war, and Mozambique’s Sena Railway finally was cleared of the last “hidden killers,” the report said.

The full text of the 56-page report is available on the State Department Web site.

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