International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action: Global Call to End the Threat of Landmines
Every year on April 4, the world celebrates the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. The reason for the commemoration is to increase public awareness of landmines, solicit support for mine action efforts, and make progress toward their removal. Therefore the UN and organizations engage in campaigns that advocate for the development of national mine-action capacities in countries with landmines and where explosive relics of war still exist and pose a major threat to, the health, lives, and safety of civilians including children.
History of International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action
Approved by the General Assembly on December 8, 2005, the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action gives the United Nations Mine Action Service (U.N.M.A.S.) and other organizations a chance to reflect and increase awareness about landmines, explosive remnants of war, and improvised explosive devices (I.E.Ds) and to take further steps to abolish them. The U.N.M.A.S. has been for more than 20 years, driven by the needs of those impacted by landmines and sensitive to the threat of explosive hazards faced by civilians, peacekeepers, and humanitarians.
The U.N.M.A.S. focuses on saving lives, facilitating the deployment of U.N. missions, providing humanitarian assistance to protect civilians, supporting the voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced people, enabling humanitarian and recovery activities, and advocating for international humanitarian and human rights laws. The organization has five pillars of mine action: clearance, mine risk, education, victim assistance, advocacy, and stockpile destruction. They assist in identifying areas at high risk, support and rehabilitate affected persons, advocate for the prohibition and regulation of landmines, and provide technical assistance to help destroy stockpiled explosive hazards. Poorly managed conventional ammunition stockpiles pose a serious risk to public safety and the security of people in such areas.
Mine action contributes to human survival by removing essential access points and releasing arable land for farmers. Countries like Afghanistan, Colombia, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya, Nigeria, Syria, etc are a few of the countries where U.N.M.A.S. operates. It is the driving force behind the global mine action community’s commitment to eliminating landmines and saving lives.
The Importance of International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action
Here are some of the reasons why celebrating this day is important.
a. It helps with social and economic development
Landmine removal helps people reclaim their rightful land, which can then be used to build homes, grow food, and sell produce, increasing income and prosperity. Living with death looming over you can have serious effects on your physical and mental health.
b. Removing landmines saves lives
In 2016, landmines killed or injured more than 8,600 people. Nevertheless, landmines are present in about 61 nations. In these areas, thousands of people face the everyday risk of losing limbs or their lives.
c. Landmines continue to be an issue
The United States, China, India, Pakistan, and Russia hold the largest stockpiles of anti-personnel landmines, while only a few countries continue to manufacture anti-personnel landmines, including South Korea, India, and Pakistan, with some others reserving manufacturing rights. Myanmar is the only nation that has consistently continued to use these weapons over the years.
The Dangers Landmines Pose to Children
Landmines pose a great danger to God’s precious children. Children are most vulnerable due to the play nature curiosity and lack of awareness of the risk it poses. Below are some of the dangers for children.
1. Injury or death
Landmines lead to explosions and can cause children life-threatening injuries or even death. This scenario can occur when children step on them or touch them.
2. Psychological trauma
The fear of stepping on landmines can affect the emotional well-being of children. Children who have lost a loved one due to landmines are are worst hit as they will constantly live in fear. It could lead to anxiety.
3. Loss of mobility and independence
When explosions happen. The affected person may never remain the same due to injury as they become permanently disabled. Landmines in our environment can cause our precious children to lose a limb. This can cause mobility issues and prevent them from attending school or playing with their friends just like before.
4. Prevention of access to education and play
One thing that children love to do is play and with the presence of landmines in their environment children will be denied a critical aspect of childhood. This is because they will be restricted from playing outdoors or walking to school due to the looming danger in their environment.
5. Inability to participate in community activities
Children living in areas where there are landmines may experience social isolation for obvious reasons. They may not be allowed to join their parents on the farm etc due to fear of landmines.
Ways to Celebrate International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action
There are several ways that individuals, organizations, and countries can celebrate the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. These include:
i. Raise Awareness
This is the perfect opportunity to educate people about the dangers that landmines pose to civilian populations globally. Many people think that landmines belong to past centuries are are shocked to hear that they are still in use today and causing casualties to people.
ii. Show Support
Express your support by writing to your local leaders and representatives, urging them to take more practical steps to remove landmines. Persuade your leaders to support the effort to remove landmines by banning them.
iii. Make Donations
You can donate to charities that are at the forefront of the fight to remove landmines so that people can reclaim their land for cultivation. Some of these organizations are the Halo Trust, Landmine Relief Fund, and A.P.O.A.
Conclusion
This celebration is a call to action for governments and every stakeholder to join hands to remove landmines in our environment so that children will have a safe environment to live and thrive. Today we re-echo the words of Sandra Lattouf, UNICEF Representative in Iraq “Every child has the right to a safe and secure childhood—free from the threat of landmines and explosive remnants of war.” “These hidden dangers not only endanger lives but also deprive children of their rights to play, learn, and thrive.”
