27 November 2000

U.S. Contributed $2.3 Million to Demining Effort in Lebanon

A team of six landmine sniffing dogs is being added to the U.S. government's support for the humanitarian demining effort now underway in Lebanon, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of State on November 27.

These American-trained canines and their Lebanese handlers will participate in detecting an estimated 10,000 landmines scattered around Lebanon. Already the U.S. Government has contributed $2.3 million dollars to aid humanitarian landmine eradication in the country.

The U.S. Government has contributed over $400 million dollars in mine action assistance to 37 mine affected countries since 1993 and will contribute approximately $100 million more in the current fiscal year. This aid has included training in mine clearance, medical evacuation procedures, mine awareness, demining equipment, victims' assistance, and the development of new mine clearance technologies.

Queen Noor of Jordan will announce the program at the United Nations on November 28. She will be joined by two non-governmental organizations --the Humpty Dumpty Institute and the Marshall Legacy Institute -- which are funding the K-9 corps work.

Following is the text of the U.S. Department of State press release announcing the use of mine sniffing dogs to detect landmines in Lebanon:

November 27, 2000
Public-Private Partnership Sends Landmine-sniffing Dogs to Lebanon

An innovative wedding gift and partnership between non-governmental organizations and the U.S. Department of State has produced a team of American-trained mine detecting dogs ready to sniff out landmines in Lebanon, speeding the process of clearing these "hidden killers" scattered throughout the country and helping save Lebanese from injury and death. On Tuesday, November 28, 2000, from 10:00 am to 12 noon, officials from the Humpty Dumpty Institute, the Marshall Legacy Institute (including Institute Board Member Queen Noor of Jordan) and the U.S. Department of State will gather at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations to celebrate the deployment of the "K9 Demining Corps" to Lebanon.

The six highly trained mine detection dogs that constitute this Corps will undergo further training in Lebanon with Lebanese handlers prior to beginning mine clearance operations in the spring.

The Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs at the U.S. Department of State is providing for the training of the Lebanese handlers and infrastructure support to ensure successful integration of the mine dog teams into Lebanon's mine clearance program. This Office manages humanitarian demining assistance to 37 mine affected countries, including Lebanon.

Since 1998, the U.S. Government has contributed over $2.3 million dollars in support of humanitarian demining programs in Lebanon, where tens of thousands of landmines continue to threaten the population. The addition of a mine detection dog program will measurably enhance Lebanon's demining capability.

The U.S. Government has contributed over $400 million dollars in mine action assistance to 37 mine affected countries since 1993 and will contribute approximately $100 million dollars more in the current fiscal year. This aid has included training in mine clearance, medical evacuation procedures, mine awareness, demining equipment, victims' assistance, and the development of new mine clearance technologies.

In addition to official U.S. Government mine action programs that involve several Federal agencies and that are led by the U.S. Department of State, the Office of the Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State seeks to encourage public private partnerships in mine action to further accelerate the President's Demining 2010 Initiative.

The Humpty Dumpty Institute and The Marshall Legacy Institute, non-governmental, non-profit organizations involved in mine action, [are] working together to provide mine detection dog teams to countries severely contaminated with landmines. The Humpty Dumpty Institute is funding the purchase, training and transport of the six dogs to Lebanon thanks to its Co-chairman's request that instead of traditional gifts at his wedding, guests contribute money to the Institute to train a team of mine detecting dogs. The Marshall Legacy Institute is leading a national campaign to increase the number of mine detection dogs worldwide by combining private tax-deductible contributions with U.S. government funding to build sustainable humanitarian demining programs in mine affected countries.

The Humpty Dumpty Institute was founded in 1998 by a group of American business leaders to create dynamic public-private partnerships to confront complex global challenges, such as the landmine crisis that affects some 90 nations. Along with programs to strengthen relations between the U.S. and the UN, the Institute also focuses on the eradication of landmines which annually kill or cripple an estimated 20,000 people around the world. "Despite all the hi-tech methods used in mine clearance, dogs are still considered to be one of the most effective tools in the fight against landmines," said William Rouhana, Humpty Dumpty Institute Co-Chair and CEO and Chairman of Winstar Communications.

Over 300 mine detection dog teams are working reliably and safely in 14 mine affected countries at present. "Many more teams are needed to locate mines, help save lives and return land to productive use in the mine affected countries around the globe," said General (Ret.) Gordon R. Sullivan, founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Marshall Legacy Institute. "The K9 Demining Corps has people and dogs working together to make the world safer for all people and animals," added Paul Irwin, President of the Humane Society of the United States, a K9 Demining Corps Campaign partner.

Also present at the K9 Demining Corps deployment ceremony will be Julio Perez, a 12 year old Nicaraguan boy who was severely injured by a landmine that he picked up out of curiosity while playing near his home. It exploded, destroying his left eye, damaging his right eye, and severing his left arm below the elbow. The U.S. Department of State's Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, the Humpty Dumpty Institute, the Marshall Legacy Institute and Medical Missions for Children partnered to provide medical assistance to Julio, who has received treatment at the Gramercy Park Eye Institute, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, and the New York Presbyterian Hospital.

The K9 Demining Corps deployment ceremony will be open to the press. A question and answer period will follow the remarks by Queen Noor and officials from the U.S. State Department, Humpty Dumpty Institute and Marshall Legacy Institute. For further information, contact John Stevens, Public Affairs Officer for the Office of the Special Representative for Global Humanitarian Demining in Washington, D.C., at (202) 647-0676, or Paul Aronsohn, Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, at (212) 415-4076.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)