By KUNA
United Nations : The UN observes today, Friday, the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action with a warning that landmines and explosive remnants of war continue to kill or maim thousands of civilians, mainly children, every year.
The UN Mine Action said in a statement distributed here that three of every four casualties are civilians who trigger these devices years after a conflict ends.
It noted that children account for more than one-third of those casualties because they are naturally curious and often try to open or play with explosive items not knowing the danger they represent.
“Today is an opportunity to revitalize international support for mine action,” said John Flanagan, Acting Director of the UN Mine Action Service, in a statement, adding that a number of countries are poised to be free of anti-personnel mines in 2009.
He said that joint efforts by mine-affected countries, the UN and mine action organizations have contributed to a 75 percent reduction in the annual number of casualties from 26,000 in 1997 to about 6,000 in 2006.
Fourteen UN agencies, programmes, departments and funds provide mine action services in more than 40 countries, including Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Mine action includes finding and destroying landmines and explosive remnants of war, assisting victims and teaching people how to remain safe in a mine-affected environment.
On this occasion, Catherine Bragg, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs told a press conference late Thursday “we in the UN would want the number of new casualties to be reduced to zero as soon as possible.” In the decade since the landmark international anti-landmine treaty opened for signature, legal trade in anti-personnel landmines has been halted, tens of millions of stockpiled landmines have been destroyed and land has been cleared and returned to communities.
“Our goal is to put ourselves out of business as soon as possible by eliminating the threat and by equipping national authorities with the technical and human resources they need to address the problems on their own,” she added.
The international day is being observed globally through a number of events, including press conferences, mine-risk education theatre performances, art exhibits and film screenings.