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Call for greater effort as landmine treaty becomes binding

"A giant step has been taken, which shows that the world is more and more reluctant to use these hidden killers," UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said. "But the real test lies in seeing that the treaty is fully implemented, that stockpiles are destroyed and that demining proceeds rapidly. Children will only be safe when they know the dangers of the tens of millions of landmines still in the ground. Universal ratification of the treaty is crucial to ensure that the production and use of landmines are truly abolished."

The treaty obligates states ratifying it "never under any circumstances... to use anti-personnel mines; [or] to develop, produce, otherwise acquire [or] stockpile" them and "to destroy or ensure the destruction of all anti-personnel mines."

Ms. Bellamy praised the 133 nations that have signed and the 65 nations among them who have ratified the treaty. She said the anti-landmine movement has already had remarkable effects, noting recent reductions in the use of anti-personnel mines and figures from the International Campaign to Ban Landmines indicating that 10-15 million mines have been destroyed from stockpiles. She also noted that the number of countries involved in producing landmines has dropped from 50 to 15.

UNICEF has been designated within the UN family as the lead agency to educate and advocate on the landmine issue. Educational campaigns have centred on teaching children about the danger of landmines and safety procedures to follow in mined areas. Almost all mined countries served by UNICEF have an educational programme in place, Ms. Bellamy noted, but she added that these are dependent on continued donor commitment.

In heavily-mined Afghanistan, educational materials have been distributed to almost a half million persons. In Angola, UNICEF, with Norwegian Peoples' Aid, government agencies and other partners, alerted over 600,000 people last year to the danger of mines. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNICEF has reached all children enrolled in primary schools with mine awareness messages. And in Iraq, approximately one million mine awareness exercise books have been distributed, mainly to primary school children. In addition, 4,000 Iraqi teachers have been trained in mine-safety procedures.

"Mine awareness is an essential activity," Ms. Bellamy said. "We have worked and will continue to work with many partners to make sure that no child in a mined area is without a clear warning about the danger and how to avoid it. But the true victory will come when such awareness is not needed because there are no more mines in the ground. That day is not here yet and it will not be until all the world's nations act to guarantee the right of children and other innocents to survive in a world free of these murderous devices."

Ms. Bellamy pointed to other positive developments:

• Last December's urging by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that all states sign and/or ratify the landmine convention.
• China's recent announcement that it will clear some 800,000 landmines from the Sino-Vietnamese border by the end of the year, along with the recent clearing of more than 280,000 mines and unexploded bombs from border areas in Yunnan Province.
• The British army's recent destruction of some 2 million anti-personnel landmines.

"Nations that have not yet signed or ratified the landmine treaty should take note of these actions," Ms. Bellamy said. "Much of the world is already on the move to eliminate these killers. But only universal ratification and a commitment to full global demining will stop landmines from destroying the lives and health of an estimated 26,000 people a year, half of them children and women."

Among the countries that have not yet signed the treaty -- which prohibits the use, production, development, acquisition, sale, stockpiling and transfer of landmines -- are the United States, China, Russia, Yugoslavia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran.

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