UN Reports Gains in Clearing Land Mines

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Portfolio of Mine Action Projects

“The United Nations had some hopeful news to report as the world marked the first International Day for Mine Awareness on Tuesday: It will take perhaps a decade, not hundreds of years, to get rid of millions of land mines in 82 countries.Max Gaylard, director of the UN Mine Action Service, told a news conference Monday that “continuing donor support is critical” to ridding the world of land mines and other unexploded weapons from wars.

He also stressed that deadly antipersonnel mines continue to prevent millions of farmers from growing crops, children from playing outside, and displaced people from returning to their homes. According to the most recent figures, deaths and wounds from land mines have decreased from 26,000 a year in the late 1990s. But the often hidden devices left over from conflicts are still killing and maiming between 15,000 and 20,000 people annually.” [Read more]

Also see:

The Secretary General Message on International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, 4 April, 2006