Humanitarian mine action – aid projects promoted by the Federal Foreign Office
Mission possible – the battle against landmines is winnable
Thanks to tremendous efforts by the international community, considerable headway has been made in tackling the landmine problem around the world.From the experience of the past twenty years, it is now clear the total area still to be cleared of mines is smaller than originally estimated.According to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), the landmine problem can be solved in years rather than in decades. The concerted efforts of recent years have made a big difference and there is now light at the end of the tunnel.The vision of a world without landmine victims may actually become reality in the foreseeable future.
Kosovo and Croatia serve as encouraging examples here.Contrary to expectations, in both countries the number of mine victims has fallen steeply within a relatively short period. This unexpectedly positive development is due not only to more reliable analysis and more efficient clearing techniques but also to years of tireless effort by a host of NGOs as well as the Parties to the Ottawa Convention.
In many countries, however, explosive remnants of war continue to cause great suffering.Landmines that have sometimes lain buried for decades are a particular problem in many generally fragile post-conflict societies where health services are non-existent or inadequate. Good orthopaedic and psycho-social treatment for the victims is the exception rather than the rule. In severely contaminated areas simply to step off hard-surfaced roads is to risk life and limb. Whether justified or not, fear of landmines, too, may adversely affect the life of whole communities, making people too afraid to use roads or till and harvest their fields.
Most landmines have been laid indiscriminately and without reliable documentation.Since the precise location and extent of the minefields are usually unknown, it is unfortunately often only when accidents happen that the hidden danger is revealed.
In many countries such as Afghanistan and Cambodia unexploded or abandoned ordnance today causes more casualties than landmines.The mine clearance programmes funded by the Federal Foreign Office take this into account.They aim to create a safe environment for the local population by tackling both threats – landmines and unexploded ordnance – at once.
Efforts of the German Government
Well into the 1990s, anti-personnel mines were seen by many armed forces, also in democratic countries, as indispensable.Up till then such weapons were found in practically every country’s arsenal and during the Cold War neither the public at large nor the politicians had any doubts about their legality. There were virtually no restrictions on global trade in mines, which were deployed mostly in internal conflicts by many state and non-state actors without any scruples or thought for the long-term humanitarian consequences.
Together with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, from the mid-1990s onwards the German Government pressed strongly for a ban on anti-personnel mines and played a leading role in the drafting and implementation of the Ottawa Convention. Its unilateral announcement in 1996 that Germany would no longer deploy anti-personnel mines gave a further boost to the international negotiation process.
As well as backing the campaign for a ban, the German Government has for many years now made large sums available for humanitarian mine and ordnance clearance. Since 1992 it has provided some 183 million euro for such projects in 36 different countries. In 2009 alone the Federal Foreign Office has spent 17.3 million euro on clearance projects in 19 countries, making a major contribution to eliminating the problem.
The Ottawa Convention – a unique success story
Anti-personnel mines are banned by the Ottawa Convention (Convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction, in force since 1 March 1999).With its comprehensive ban and binding provisions on the production and transfer of anti-personnel mines, mine clearance, the destruction of stockpiles as well as victim assistance, the Convention sets new standards in terms of both disarmament and international humanitarian law.
By February 2009, 156 countries had ratified the Ottawa Convention.And although a number of key countries – including the US, China and Russia – still feel unable to accede, the Convention’s positive impact is apparent throughout the world:
Global trade in anti-personnel mines has come to a virtual standstill.
The number of new victims is declining steadily and now totals some 3000 a year, according to the 2008 Landmine Monitor Report. Unexploded ordnance continues to cause some 2500 casualties a year.
Only two countries (Myanmar and Russia) are believed to have recently deployed landmines. At least nine non-state actors are also thought to have done so.
Some countries that are not parties to the Convention (including the US and China) have announced a moratorium on exports.
The Convention has also contributed to the stigmatization of anti-personnel mines.
To date around 42 million stockpiled anti-personnel mines have been destroyed under the Convention.
2009 saw the 10th anniversary of the Convention’s entry into force.To mark the occasion, the Second Review Conference of the Convention was held from 30 November to 4 December 2009 in Cartagena, Colombia (First Review Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2004).
The conference brought together representatives of all States Parties, countries with observer status and the United Nations to reflect on progress achieved, to take stock and to discuss and agree on systematic efforts to realize the goal of a mine-free world.
Federal Foreign Office aid projects
The German Government assists countries to clear mines and unexploded ordnance mainly when such contamination causes social and economic problems for local communities. The aim of the assistance is not just to help reduce poverty and promote development but also and most importantly to ensure people’s physical safety and alleviate suffering.The assistance is also intended to help the countries concerned fulfil their obligations under the Ottawa Convention.
Against the backdrop of decreasing global funds for humanitarian demining and budget constraints, our project funding is geared to the following parameters:
making demining more efficient and effective;
creating sustainable local clearance and management capacities;
progressively handing over responsibility to the competent national authorities.
Looking ahead
For the German Government it remains a priority to see the Ottawa Convention implemented worldwide and become universal in scope.This can help reliably prevent any future deployment of anti-personnel mines and thereby ensure these weapons are no longer a threat.
Although much has been achieved since the nineties in the battle against anti-personnel mines, many countries are unlikely to be able to fulfil the obligations they have assumed under the Ottawa Convention on schedule, especially as regards the clearance of suspected minefields. Over the years ahead these countries will therefore still need appropriate international support.
In addition to funding bilateral projects, the Federal Foreign Office will continue to work with all relevant international organizations concerned with humanitarian mine action. Its main partners here are the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in New York, which has been given a coordinating role within the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).
Last updated 22.02.2010