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Reports
on Nepal's Civil War: Landmines
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United
Nations Mine Action
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United
Nations Mine Action Service (Department of Peacekeeping Operations)
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APRIL
4 IS FIRST INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR MINE AWARENESS AND ASSISTANCE IN MINE
ACTION
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free from threat of landmines achievable in years, not decades |
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THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL
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MESSAGE
ON INTERNATIONAL DAY
FOR
MINE AWARENESS AND ASSISTANCE IN MINE ACTION
4
April 2006
The
UN General Assembly has declared April 4 the International Day for Mine
Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
Landmines
are cruel instruments of war. Decades after conflicts have receded, these
invisible killers lie silently in the ground, waiting to murder and maim.
Through them, 20th century battles claim 21st century victims, with new
casualties added every hour.
A
single landmine - or even the fear of its presence - can hold an entire
community hostage. It can prevent farmers from growing crops, refugees
from returning home, even children from playing. It blocks the delivery
of humanitarian relief and impedes the deployment of peacekeepers. In post-conflict
societies landmines remain one of the greatest impediments to rebuilding
and renewal.
Yet
this scourge of the past century has the potential to become an early success
story of the present one. The swift entry into force of the 1997
convention banning anti-personnel landmines underscored the broad moral
condemnation of these weapons. The treaty, which has 150 State Parties,
is already producing tangible results. Governments, donors, nongovernmental
organisations and the United Nations are collaborating on an unprecedented
scale to address this problem, in more than 30 countries. Both the
production and the laying of mines are in decline. Global trade in mines
has virtually halted. Stockpiles have been destroyed. Clearance operations
have accelerated. Mine-risk education has spread.
The
message is clear and must be heard: landmines have no place in any civilized
society.
The
goal of a world without landmines and explosive remnants of war appears
achievable in years - not decades as we used to think. But to realize this
ideal, every one of us - donors, the general public and mine-affected countries
- must focus our energies, and our imaginations, on the cause of mine clearance.
Having been so effective in laying mines, we must now become even better
at clearing them. Each mine cleared may mean a life saved. Each mine cleared
brings us one step closer to building the conditions for lasting and productive
peace.
On this International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action,
I call on governments to ratify the anti-personnel mine ban treaty as well
as the new Protocol V - on the explosive remnants of war - to the Convention
on Certain Conventional Weapons. I ask donors to renew their financial
commitments. I urge the international community to address the humanitarian
and developmental impact of cluster-munitions. And I look to affected countries
to ensure the rehabilitation and reintegration of landmine survivors, and
to increase resources for mine action. Together, we must fight the evil
of landmines as a high and moral calling.
Source:
United Nations Mine Action Service (Department of Peacekeeping Operations)
2006
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