UN: Landmine toll still high amid concerns over COVID-19 impact on clearance efforts

Despite this achievement, long-running conflicts continue to cause mainly civilian casualties, while other dangers requiring action include the new use of improvised landmines by non-State armed groups and a decrease in global mine action assistance. For 2019, “we recorded about 2,200 people killed of those 5,545 casualties overall”, said Loren Persi, Landmine Monitor 2020 Impact research team leader from The International Campaign to Ban Landmines/Cluster Munition Coalition (ICBL-CMC), at a virtual press conference moderated by the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in Geneva. Mr. Persi added that the ratio of people killed to injured, indicated very clearly “that there were many, many more casualties and that people who were injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war are not being recorded adequately in many countries where there are conflicts”. Young lives shattered Most casualties are civilians, in part because they lack the access to emergency assistance that military targets have at their disposal, and men make up more than eight in 10 victims, journalists heard. “Seven years ago, we reached an all-time low in new landmine casualties”, said Mr. Persi. “But this achievement has overturned, and we are seeing heightened numbers of civilians killed and wounded. Appallingly, nearly half of all these casualties are children. We need to act now to reverse this trend, to save lives, and to address the trauma and suffering with much needed assistance.” Although landmine awareness-raising schemes are a proven way of keeping communities safe, accidents involving civilians are frequently linked to the need to work or find food, said Ruth Bottomley, Monitor research specialist and expert on contamination, clearance and risk education. Her comments coincide with data from the Monitor showing that 2019 also saw a reduction in global funding for mine action, with 45 donors and affected States contributing approximately $650 million, a seven per cent decrease from 2018. Paying price for risk-taking “Men have always been one of the hardest groups for us education operators to reach, partly because they are often away from home and out of the community”, focusing on making a living, she said. “But also because those livelihood activities often take them into mined areas, so for example through agriculture, forestry, hunting; and they are also more likely to take intentional risks.” Despite some improvements in providing services for victims of landmines –  improvised or not – or unexploded ordnance by some States Parties, the Monitor noted that “accessibility gaps remained in all countries”. Image Credit: Mary Wareham