04 December 2001

Fatalities From Landmines Drop Dramatically Worldwide

Washington -- The number of fatalities caused by landmines and unexploded ordnance has fallen dramatically to less than 10,000 a year from the previously reported 26,000 casualties annually, according to a new U.S. Department of State report.

The report, the third edition of "To Walk The Earth In Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining," also indicates that the total number of landmines in the ground has dropped to 45-50 million in approximately 60 countries, a sharp reduction from the initial assessment of 80-110 million landmines worldwide.

"Millions more mines remain in stockpiles in additional countries. These stockpiles pose potential future threat[s]," the annual report says.

The report says the dramatic decline in the number of reported casualties could be attributed to efforts by the international community to focus on mine awareness education, greater clearance of mines and other unexploded ordnance (UXO), and on better reporting capabilities.

Although the trends are positive, the report says that significant challenges remain. It notes that the landmine problem no longer is defined by the sheer number of landmines, but rather by the number of casualties inflicted, the amount of land rendered unusable or inaccessible, and the degree of economic infrastructure destroyed.

"The solution to the world's landmine problem is to make mine-affected countries mine-safe through the execution of mine action programs that lead to raising awareness of the landmine danger, the removal of landmines themselves, and the provision of holistic assistance to landmine victims and their families," the report says. Holistic assistance includes programs to help landmine survivors and their families recover physically, psychologically and economically.

The report has also elevated the status of current country programs. Moldova declared itself mine-safe in 2001, while Costa Rica, Guatemala, Namibia, and Rwanda are expected to declare themselves mine-safe in 2002 and 2003, the report says.

The report includes, as an annex, the fourth edition of "Hidden Killers 2001: The World's Landmine Problem," a country-by-country report that analyzes the impact of landmines on civilians worldwide -- evaluating those injured and the number of landmines still planted. This will likely be the last year for "Hidden Killers," which was first published by the State Department in 1994, because of an increased number of reference materials and databases that outline the problem worldwide.

"The United States first became involved in humanitarian demining in 1988 when it sent a team to assess the landmine situation in Afghanistan," says Lincoln Bloomfield, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs and the special representative to the president and the secretary of state for mine action.

"By the end of 2001, we will have provided more than $500 million to 38 countries, as well as the Province of Kosovo and northwest Somalia, for various humanitarian demining efforts such as deminer training, mine awareness and mine clearance, as well as orthopedic assistance to, and socioeconomic reintegration programs for, landmine accident survivors and their families," he says in an introduction to the report.

Bloomfield says almost $100 million of the total spent by the United States will be spent in 2001, "the largest commitment of any nation involved in financing humanitarian demining activities."

In a separate report, "Mine Action Initiatives and Partnerships," Bloomfield says that more than two dozen non-governmental organizations representing all aspects of mine action -- from mine clearance to mine education -- have joined a growing network fostered by the Office of Mine Action Initiatives and Partnerships at the State Department.

Copies of "To Walk The Earth In Safety" are currently available from the State Department's Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs (PM/HDP), Room 3328, Washington, D.C. 20520. When it is released on the Internet, it will be highlighted on http://www.state.gov. The second report, "Mine Action Initiatives and Partnerships," is currently available from the State Department's Office Mine Action Initiatives and Partnerships (PM/MAIP), Room 1826, Washington, D.C. 20520.