Mexico City -- President Clinton's new special representative for global humanitarian demining says no government, international agency, or non-governmental organization can -- by itself -- "make more than a small dent" in the problem of making the world safe from anti-personnel landmines within the next decade.

Ambassador Donald Steinberg says, "We must work together." In a recent speech delivered in Mexico City he expressed the U.S. government's "strongest support for the goal of a world which is mine-safe within the next decade...which the United States is facilitating within its (Global Humanitarian) Demining 2010 Initiative."

He told participants attending the January conference, "International Cooperation in Landmine Action," that the United States has spent more than $250 million in the past five years on humanitarian mine action and it plans to spend another $100 million this year.

In his January 12 speech, Steinberg saluted the Nicaraguan government's new commitment to destroy its existing stock of anti-personnel landmines.

Steinberg also stressed the importance of developing new ways internationally "to engage the private sector in mine action." He noted that NATO and Partnership for Peace nations are being encouraged to support joint mine action projects.

Even though the United States was not able to sign the Ottawa Convention banning landmines last year, he pledged that it "will remain in the forefront of the struggle to eliminate the threat to civilians from anti-personnel landmines (APL)." He also noted that the U.S.:

-- has destroyed 3.3 million non-self-destructing APL (since 1996) -- all long-lived APL except those needed for defense in (the Republic of) Korea and for training;

-- has pledged to end all APL use outside South Korea by 2003;

-- is aggressively pursuing the objective of having APL alternatives ready for (South) Korea by 2006.

-- is aggressively pursuing alternatives to mixed anti-tank systems (covered by the Ottawa Convention);

-- is expanding research to redefine military strategies to eliminate the need for APLs; and

-- is committed to transparency on landmine issues.

Following is the text of Steinberg's remarks:

(begin text)

I am grateful for the opportunity to address this important conference on the topic, "International Cooperation in Landmine Action." I want to begin by saluting the organizers of the conference -- the Governments of Mexico and Canada -- for their initiative in bringing together so many officials from OAS (Organization of American States) governments, international agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who have played such a fundamental role in changing the global political landscape on this issue. On behalf of my government, I wish to recognize all of your courageous efforts to achieve the entry into force of the Ottawa Convention and reiterate my Government's strongest support for the goal of a world which is mine-safe within the next decade -- a goal which the United States is facilitating within its Demining 2010 initiative.

Landmines have been an everyday part of my life for the better part of this decade. I remember traveling with (then) National Security Adviser Anthony Lake to Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique, and Angola -- five of the world's most heavily-mined countries -- in 1994 when I was serving as President Clinton's Special Assistant for Africa. In Angola, a country in which a dozen separate armies have laid millions of mines, we visited Kuito, a city that had been destroyed by three decades of civil war.

In a small clinic, we saw a young woman who was giving birth and having part of her leg amputated at the same time. The doctor later told us that this woman was pregnant and had been starving. She went into a grove of mangoes to get some fruit and detonated a landmine that had been planted purposely in the field. The loss of blood had stimulated premature labor, and the doctor told us that it was unlikely that either the mother or the child would survive.

No one who sees such a sight can be immune to the terror of these weapons. Later, when I was named U.S. Ambassador to Angola, I witnessed for more than three years the daily tragedy of landmines, including more than 80,000 amputees, hundreds of thousands of displaced persons driven from their homes and fertile fields, and literally millions suffering economic, environmental and psychological degradation. It was for this reason that I was so honored to be named by President Clinton to my current role, giving me the opportunity to build on the outstanding work of my predecessor, Ambassador Rick Inderfurth.

As we discuss international cooperation in mine action, we have much to learn from the success of the movement which came together to bring us to where we are today -- a coalition of like-minded Governments, NGOs and international agencies. As Canadian Foreign Minister Axworthy stated yesterday (January 11), the challenge ahead -- which he defined as eliminating the threat of landmines to civilians in the Western Hemisphere as soon as possible and to civilians around the world within the next decade -- may be even more daunting than the remarkable challenges overcome in bringing the Ottawa Treaty into force.

My government has dedicated more than $250 million to humanitarian mine action over the past five years, and we will be expanding our efforts to well over $100 million in 1999. I will describe the elements of this assistance later, but I want to stress at the outset that no government, no international agency, and no NGO on its own has the capacity to make more than a small dent on the problem. We must work together.

Coming from conferences held over the past year, including the Washington Conference in May 1998, are a variety of cooperative efforts to which my government is committed. These include:

- Joint mine awareness programs;

- Comprehensive Level One Surveys in mine-affected countries;

- Creating and maintaining a database of landmines, demining programs, and survivor assistance efforts around the world, especially through the Geneva International Center and James Madison University;

- Supporting the U.N. Mine Action Service the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) country projects, and the Norwegian-inspired Mine Action Support Group;

- Promoting Mine Action Centers (MAC) in mine-affected countries, which empower local governments and peoples to address their own problems;

- Working with our European Commission colleagues and others to identify a global network of test and evaluation facilities to assess promising demining technology and develop international technology demonstration projects;

- Working with our NATO and Partnership for Peace friends to encourage joint mine action projects -- indeed, Deputy Special Representative Priscilla Clapp is now in Brussels to encourage these joint efforts;

- Supporting survivor assistance efforts including both the supply of prosthetics and orthotics as well as addressing the psycho-social and other impediments to rehabilitation and reintegration;

- Encouraging unilateral steps by non-signatories of the Ottawa Convention that help achieve the goals of that treaty; and

- Reviewing types of assistance we can provide to help destroy existing stockpiles of mines in countries requesting this help, thereby eliminating the threat of these mines before they ever enter the ground.

On this last point, I salute the commitment of the Nicaraguan government, announced last week, to destroy its existing stocks.

As we work to achieve these objectives, barriers between nations and among governments, international agencies and NGOs must fade away. In Angola, I was proud that the U.S. Embassy was able to find the demining efforts of the Norwegian People's Aid, the British HALO Trust, and the German MGM; mines awareness programs of UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross), Christian Children's Fund, CARE and the Angolan government; and survivors' assistance programs of the German Medicos, the French Handicap International and VVAF (Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation). The child whose quality of life is restored by a prosthetic device never asks the nationality of his or her doctor.

Developing new ways around the world to engage the private sector in mine action is a critical part of our effort. We have been working with a number of private partners to pool our creative talents and resources to develop imaginative approaches. I would like to highlight a few of these noteworthy projects as a means of inspiring other governments to consider similar efforts.

First, my government is supporting the United Nations Association and HDI (private New York-based Humpty Dumpty Institute) in their "Adopt a Minefield" program, which is working with the United Nations to find demining efforts in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Croatia, and Mozambique. Already, 100 separate community based organizations in the United States have begun to raise $525,000 or more each to support U.N. and host country efforts to destroy mine fields in these counties.

Second, late last year, DC Comics, the U.S. Defense Department, and UNICEF came together to produce a mine awareness comic book in Spanish, in which Superman and Wonder Woman help teach the children of Central America to identify and avoid contact with these weapons. This is a follow-up to the successful comic book produced for the children of Bosnia. The next project in line is a Portuguese-language version for Mozambique and Angola.

Third, the Marshall Legacy Institute has initiated a "Canine Corps" project in collaboration with the Humane Society of the United States, UNDP, DC Comics and the State Department. The Humane Society's engagement is due, in part, to the fact that whereas landmines harm about 26,000 human beings each year, they also kill as many as 10 times that number of animals. This project is designed to expand use of dogs in mine detection efforts in mine-affected countries.

Fourth, our Department of Education is supporting groundbreaking research by the Physicians Against Landmines in research aimed at developing low-cost prosthetics with appropriate technology, especially for children.

Fifth, we are supporting, along with Ted Turner's United Nations Foundation and the Canadian Government, the rapid production by the VVAF of standardized, high quality Level-One Surveys in 10 mine-affected countries. This program will provide the framework for planning new strategies, minimizing the impact of landmines, and giving us criteria for measuring the success of mines action projects. This program will also help those countries that have ratified the Ottawa Treaty to meet their reporting obligations under Article 7 of the Treaty.

Another exciting initiative is a series of consultations we have launched with major U.S. corporations to encourage them to use portions of their social responsibility funds to address the problems of mines, such as the outstanding rehabilitation efforts of groups like the Landmine Survivors Network.

We are also encouraging these corporations -- as well as government entities, NGOs and other employers -- to institute programs to recruit, train and mentor survivors of landmine accidents, especially for efforts addressed specifically at mine actions.

These projects are some of the ways in which the United States, working with foreign governments, international agencies, and NGOs, is working to create a synergy among our mutual efforts. In sum, the United States Government intends to provide this year more than $100 million for mine actions, including:

$35 million for mine awareness, mine mapping, and demining assistance to 23 countries under the State Department program;

$34 million for the training of foreign deminers and for mine awareness projects under the Defense Department program;

$18 million for research and development in demining technology;

$10 million in assistance to landmine survivors under the USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund; and

Substantial additional funding from Department of State and USAID for projects associated with the repatriation of refugees and displaced persons.

I would be remiss if I did not pay tribute here to the leadership of Senator Patrick Leahy (Democrat - Vermont) and his legislative assistant, Tim Rieser, who have done so much to raise public awareness in the United States and generate this level of financial support.

In the Western Hemisphere, U.S. efforts have concentrated on Central America, where we have provided about $8 million in assistance over the past years, working through the OAS Mission for Mine Clearance in Central America and the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB), and the World Rehabilitation Fund in El Salvador.

Today, I am pleased to outline my Government's intention to find additional projects in the Western Hemisphere in fiscal year 1999, pending consultations with the U.S. Congress. In Central America, we intend to provide another $54 million to assist the effort to make this a "mine-safe" region as soon as possible, especially in the wake of the devastation created by Hurricane Mitch. This assistance comes on the top of the $300 million provided by my Government in emergency relief over the past three months. Working with MARMINCA (Central American Mission for Demining Assistance) and the IADB, we will provide additional training, technical assistance, logistical support, medical and communications assistance, and mine awareness programs in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica.

In Peru and Ecuador, my government intends -- as a guarantor nation of the peace accords -- to allocate substantial resources to begin demarcation and demining work along the border. Pending the results of an assessment team that will travel to the region within the next few weeks, we are prepared to provide both short-term assistance associated with the start-up of this operation and long-term training assistance.

Throughout this hemisphere -- from Central America to the Peru-Ecuador border -- men and women of good will and great courage are putting behind them years and even decades of civil strife. The United States will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with these brave people as they stand up for peace and national reconciliation. We urge all our fellow OAS partners here today to make a similar commitment of direct assistance for those mine action efforts.

I want to conclude with a few words about our anti-personnel landmine (APL) policy. You are all familiar with the compelling reasons identified by my government for not signing the Ottawa Convention. I hope you are equally familiar with the efforts we are taking to eliminate anti-personnel landmines and find alternatives.

Since 1996, the United States has destroyed 3.3 million non-self-destructing APL -- all of our long-lived APL except those needed for defense in (the Republic of) Korea and training.

We have pledged to end the use of all APL outside (South) Korea by 2003.

We are aggressively pursuing the objective of having APL alternatives ready for (South) Korea by 2006.

We are also aggressively pursuing alternatives to our mixed anti-tank systems, which are covered by the Ottawa Convention.

We are expanding our research not only to seek alternatives, but to redefine military strategies to eliminate the need for APLs.

We are committed to transparency on landmine issues, and are proud to be among the only countries meeting their reporting obligations under the OAS resolutions and other international organs.

Let me assure you that the United States will remain in the forefront of the struggle to eliminate the threat to civilians from anti-personnel landmines. When it comes to reaffirming our commitment to an anti-personnel landmine safe world, as we used to say in Angola: "Estamos Juntos." Muito obrigado, gracias and thank you.

(end text).