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International landmine confab looks beyond the surface
30 September 2004, Bangkok, Thailand -- Landmine experts from seven Asian countries will receive training in Thailand next week on various social and economic approaches to mine action. The four-day workshop for national mine action directors, operations managers and UN technical advisers will explore the ways and means of ensuring that mine action efforts are woven into the national development plans of a country.
The gathering of landmine specialists from Afghanistan , Cambodia , Iran , Laos , Sri Lanka , Thailand and Vietnam is organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Mine Action Team based in New York , in partnership with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining. The UNDP Resident representative, Mr. Robert England will open the session. A presentation on Thailand Mine Action Centre will be made by Major-General Tumrongsak Deemongkol, Director-General Thailand Mine Action Centre. The workshop will be held on October 4 2004 at Siam City Hotel, Bangkok
Mine action has many elements. It includes surveying land, marking dangerous areas and removing landmines from the ground, mine risk education, mine victim assistance, and stockpile destruction. It also involves advocacy for the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, which opened for signature in December 1997 in Ottawa , Canada . More than 140 countries have signed on. Their obligations under this Treaty include destroying existing stockpiles of mines, and removing all mines within ten years of signing. UNDP helps countries to address the landmine problem from a long-term development perspective, with the aim of revitalizing economic activity and reconstruction in countries emerging from conflict or crisis.
"While preventing mine accidents is the dominant feature of mine action activities, other factors come into play when a conflict ends and longer-term reconstruction and development kicks into gear," says Chip Bowness , the UNDP Mine Action Team Regional Mine Action Advisor, based in Bangkok. "The focus begins to shift from immediate survival to sustaining livelihoods. The transition period from open-conflict to sustained peace actually poses real challenges for mine action programmes. That's when mine action activities may be pulled in different directions by local governments, international agencies, donors and local communities themselves."
There are an estimated 60 landmine affected countries around the world with millions of mines remaining in the ground. The impact of these mines on communities remains horrific. Afghanistan recently sustained roughly 1,200 casualties a year, and Cambodia has annually more than 630 victims, despite the unremitting effort of long running mine clearance programs.
Similarly, landmines have an enormous socio-economic impact on local peoples because potentially valuable land cannot be used productively. In Asia alone, several thousand square kilometers of land in 15 countries are believed to remain contaminated by mines. All of Thailand 's borders are affected by mines, with the heaviest mined areas along the border with Cambodia . Roughly $600 million has been spent on mine action by national and international authorities and organizations over the past 15 years in Asia , but the challenges remain daunting.
One way of meeting these challenges is through improved training. Workshop participants will discuss how best to set priorities to support national development plans, allocate limited resources, manage mine action activities, and incorporate them into development plans. "Of most importance is the inclusion of mine action activities into the overall development planning of a country," says Mr. Bowness, a former military engineer who has served in Europe , Canada and Asia and as a demining and mine action expert in Cambodia and Lebanon.
"Strategic planning is necessary to ensure casualties are cared for and that additional victims are kept to an absolute minimum. It is also necessary to determine what land areas should be re-opened in relation to pressing socio-economic needs, such as schools, farms, businesses, transport routes, water access, and even restoration of access to areas which provide sources of revenue such as tourism. Mine action is more than taking landmines out of the ground."
For more information or to set up interviews, please contact:
Punnipa Ruangtorsak
Email: punnipa.ruangtorsak@undp.org
Tel: 02 288 2130, 01-398 6064
