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UN: Landmine Awareness Day
On the day for mine awareness the UN calls for 500 million dollars to fund projects in 2011
The International Day for mine awareness – April 4 – seems not to have caught the attention of the mainstream media this year. Nonetheless both UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and international NGOs are calling on people to spare a thought to those threatened by landmines and other explosive remenants of war in the hope of securing additional funding for mine removal projects.
“Clearing land of explosive remnants of war saves lives and protects livelihoods,” declared Ban Ki-Moon in in his message supporting the day, but pointed out that “despite its many well-documented successes, mine action remains underfunded”. The Secretary-General added that anti-mine projects carried out in 2011 only managed to secure a quarter of the needed resources, leaving a funding gap of 367 million dollars (260 million euros).
Last month, the UN Geneva published the annual Portfolio of Mine Action Projects report, which collects data on mines and mine-action world wide. According to the report, landmines are a serious threat to more than 65 countries and kill 4 thousand people every year. According to the director of the Liasion Officeof the UN Development Programme’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Neil Buhne, “landmines take a heavy toll on the social and economic development of countries as well as international peace efforts”.
Protecting civilians from the dangers of unexploded mines is the most important but not only priority of mine action activities. Ban Ki-Moon said that “mine clearance prevents an indiscriminate weapon from causing harm and havoc long after conflicts have ended while also creating jobs, transforming danger zones into productive land and setting societies on course for lasting security”. In Afghanistan, for example, more than 14 thousand people were employed in the mine action sector, helping to destroy more than 1 million explosive remnants of war.
The United Nations is appealing for 350 million euros to carry out 238 mine clearing projects in 29 countries.
Read Ban Ki-Moon’s statement
Find out more about Mine Awareness Day
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