Saving Lives From Landmines 'Cannot Wait,' Says UN

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday called for far-reaching global action to rid the world of landmines and other lethal remnants of war that endanger civilians for generations on end and impede socioeconomic development.

"For the millions living amidst the chaos of armed conflicts—especially women and children—every step can put them in danger's path," Guterres said in an address marking this year's International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

"Even after the fighting stops, conflicts often leave behind a terrifying legacy: landmines and explosive ordnance that litter communities," he continued. "Peace brings no assurance of safety when roads and fields are mined, when unexploded ordnance threatens the return of displaced populations, and when children find and play with shiny objects that explode."

"Let's take action to end the threat of these devices of death, support communities as they heal, and help people return and rebuild their lives in safety and security."

Since it was established in 1997, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has collaborated with partners "to remove these deadly weapons, support national authorities, and ensure safe access to homes, schools, hospitals, and farmers' fields," said Guterres. "Yet, broader global efforts are essential to safeguard people from mines."

The U.N. chief urged member states "to ratify and fully implement the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons."

"Let's take action to end the threat of these devices of death, support communities as they heal, and help people return and rebuild their lives in safety and security," Guterres concluded.

Since 2006, April 4 has been observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. This year, UNMAS is acknowledging the day with a campaign titled "Mine Action Cannot Wait."

On Tuesday afternoon and evening, UNMAS is holding a symposium and launching a multimedia exhibition at the U.N. headquarters in New York City to draw attention to decades of landmine terror and cleanup work in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Iraq, and to shed light on the devastating effects of more recent explosive ordnance contamination in Colombia, Myanmar, Ukraine, and Yemen.

UNMAS and its partners have also organized events in more than a dozen countries and territories around the globe, including the Central African Republic, Somalia, and Syria. Those began last month and continue through the end of this week.

A previous campaign and digital exhibit launched by Guterres in 2019—"Safe Ground. Safe Steps. Safe Home"—focused on "turning minefields into playing fields," highlighting how human flourishing depends in part on removing what U.N. Newsdescribes as "one of the most insidious and indiscriminate weapons of war" from the Earth's surface.

"The threats posed by explosive hazards perpetuate humanitarian crisis and hinder responses and effective peace operations."

As a result of the genocidal wars that French and U.S. imperialists waged on Indochina in the 20th century, more than 64,000 civilians have been killed or injured by landmines and similar devices in Cambodia since 1979, and over 40% of the land in Vietnam's Binh Dinh province was still contaminated by unexploded ordnance as of 2019, according toU.N. News.

More people have been killed or injured by landmines in Afghanistan—an impoverished nation shattered by Soviet and U.S. military invasions and occupations—than anywhere else. Since 1989, 18 million unexploded ordinances have been cleared from Afghan land.

Worldwide, more than 55 million landmines have been destroyed since the late 1990s. During that time, "over 30 countries have become mine-free, casualties have been dramatically reduced, and mechanisms, including the U.N. Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action, have been established to support victims and communities in need," U.N. Newspoints out.

Nevertheless, the lives of roughly 60 million people in nearly 70 countries and territories are still put in jeopardy on a daily basis by at least 110 million landmines, which "kill and maim between 1,000 and 2,000 people every month," U.N. News notes. "It'll take 1,100 years to clear all the world's active landmines if no new mines are laid."

U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said Tuesday that "mine action is needed more than ever in the face of global challenges."

"The threats posed by explosive hazards," he added, "perpetuate humanitarian crisis and hinder responses and effective peace operations."