NAIROBI - As the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World got underway Monday in Kenya, the situation of people like Monica Piloya from Uganda was at the top of the agenda.

"I stepped on a landmine on my way from the market. I did not know what hit me but I fell down unconscious, only to find myself in hospital the following day," she says, recounting the events of a day in 1996.

"My right leg was not there, and my right hand had been completely burnt, I was scared at such a gruesome transformation," Piloya adds. Her left leg was also affected by the blast, and bears deep scars to prove it.

Noble Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams is seen on a large screen, as she speaks during the official opening ceremony of the Nairobi Summit on a Mine -Free World at Kenyatta International Centre, Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday, Nov.28, 2004. The summit will review compliance with the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel mines. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

The 29-year-old, who comes from the war-torn north of her country, now has an artificial leg. She still walks with a limp, however. "There are many landmines here because of the war waged by rebels, and as a result innocent people have lost parts of their bodies because of stepping on the scattered landmines," she told IPS.

For the past 18 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army has fought government troops in Uganda. According to Margaret Arach Orech of the Uganda Campaign to Ban Landmines, there are more than 1,000 landmine victims in the country, most of whom originate in the north.

Elsewhere in East Africa, landmines have also taken a toll – as 33-year-old Tedla Gebrehiwet from Eritrea can attest. He lost his right arm, leg and left eye in 1981, when a landmine he was playing with exploded.

"I was playing with my friends throwing the gadget at one another…The gadget exploded on me and I went unconscious. I regained consciousness after two weeks, when I learnt I was in a hospital with one arm and leg missing and could only see with one eye," he told IPS.

Thousands of mines were laid in Ethiopia and Eritrea during a two-year border dispute between the countries. "The landmines problem is widespread in our country, where there are no official figures of people affected with landmines. But it is estimated that there are about 40,000 landmine survivors," says Gebrehiwet, who now works for the Landmines Survivors Network in Eritrea.

"As long as there is war it is difficult for a nation to abstain from using landmines," he adds.

Yet, the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction aimed to do precisely that.

This week’s meeting in Nairobi (Nov. 29 to Dec. 3) will review the achievements of the Mine Ban Treaty, as the convention is often referred to, since it came into effect five years ago. About 2,000 delegates are expected at the gathering, which is being held under the auspices of the United Nations. To date, 143 nations have ratified the Ottawa Convention – which was signed in the Canadian capital.

Issues to be dealt with at the conference include the need for increased assistance to the survivors of mine blasts. In many instances, services that assist people to recover from the explosions and which help them find ways of earning a living are non-existent. In instances where they are provided, these services may be too expensive for survivors – or located in places that are hard to reach.

On a more optimistic note, it appears that the number of landmine casualties is dropping worldwide.

"In 1999, it was estimated that landmines claimed 26,000 new casualties every year. The number of reported new mine casualties has dropped significantly in some heavily mine-affected countries," says the 2004 Landmine Monitor Report, published by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) – and released in Nairobi on Nov. 19.

"It is now likely that there are between 15,000 and 20,000 new landmine casualties each year," it adds. The ICBL is a coalition of groups involved in the anti-landmine campaign.

The need to speed up the pace of mine clearance will also take centre stage at the Nairobi gathering.

According to Wolfgang Petritsch, president of the summit, about 2.7 billion dollars has been raised since 1997 for de-mining activities.

"This has brought us pretty close to finishing the job. But we need another couple of billions to complete the job. This is a global problem that needs to be brought to an end soon," he said in an interview with IPS.

According to the ICBL, 37.3 million of the 48 million antipersonnel mines declared by parties to the Mine Ban Treaty have been destroyed.

At present, Africa is the most heavily-mined region in the world – a consequence of the numerous wars that have been waged on the continent. (END/2004)

© Copyright 2004 IPS - Inter Press Service

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