3 April 2013 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for more progress in efforts to eliminate the threat of mines and explosive remnants of war around the world – including in Afghanistan – in his message for the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
“Eliminating the threat of mines and explosive remnants of war is a crucially important endeavour that advances peace, enables development, supports nations in transition and saves lives,” the UN chief noted in his message for the Day, which falls on 4 April, but is being observed in Afghanistan today.
“The United Nations continues to provide wide-ranging assistance to millions of people in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Colombia, Laos, Lebanon, South Sudan and elsewhere,” Mr. Ban’s continues. “But more progress is needed, and new frontiers for action have emerged, most notably in Syria and Mali, where the devastating humanitarian impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas is growing.”
In December 2005, the General Assembly declared April 4 the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. The declaration stemmed from recommendations by UN Member States, which wanted to create an opportunity to sustain public awareness about the problem of landmines and explosive remnants of war and the efforts to eliminate them.
The widespread and indiscriminate use of mines and munitions during more than 30 years of conflict has made Afghanistan one of the most heavily contaminated countries in the world.
In the Afghan capital, Kabul, a ceremony marking the Day is taking place today with the high-level participation of representatives of the Government of Afghanistan, the diplomatic community and international organizations.
These include the Mine Action Coordination Centre of Afghanistan (MACCA) – which is supported by the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS). MACCA is the body responsible for the coordination of the activities of the Mine Action Programme in Afghanistan (MAPA), the collective name for the 40 non-governmental organizations and commercial organizations carrying out mine action throughout the country.
Due to the scale of the problem, MAPA is one of the largest mine action programmes in the world, with a 20 year history of activity. It has cleared over 12,000 hazard areas throughout Afghanistan, or 1,380 square kilometres of terrain, and its activities also include educating the public on the dangers of mines and the explosive remnants of war.
From the start of the programme in 1989 up to now 21,585 casualties by mines and the explosive remnants of war have been recorded. In 2012, 356 casualties were recorded – an average of 30 casualties per month – representing a decrease from 2,027 in 2001, which had an average of 169 casualties per month.
“United Nations mine action programmes continue to create space for humanitarian relief efforts, peace operations and development initiatives, allowing UN staff to deploy and refugees and internally displaced persons to return voluntarily to their homes,” Secretary-General Ban stated in his message for the Day.
He also highlighted how the UN 2013-2018 Strategy on Mine Action sets out a series of steps towards a safer world where individuals and communities can pursue socio-economic development and where survivors are treated as equal members of their societies.
According to the strategy, the vision underpinning its approach highlights the multi-dimensional nature of mine action, with the world body’s continuous engagement in all aspects of mine action essential for facilitating immediate humanitarian efforts, improving peace and security, promoting stabilization, ensuring respect for human rights, and enabling development goals.
“The United Nations is strongly committed to mine awareness and mine action throughout the world,” Mr. Ban added in his message. “On this International Day, we reaffirm our commitment to a world free from the threat of mines and other remnants of war.”