Declaring land in Afghanistan free of mines
Afghanistan is one of the world’s most mine-contaminated countries. Demining land and returning it to the community is an important aspect of building peace and security in Afghanistan.
Canada’s role in demining efforts here supports a long-standing tradition of mine action around the world.
Working in partnership with the United Nations and the Government of Afghanistan, this support is part of Canada’s commitment to provide humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable Afghans.
As one of Canada’s priorities in Afghanistan, the demining process involves several components. In addition to the actual physical work of demining, there is an important education component as well. Afghans are taught how to minimize the risk of landmines. The other components involve providing assistance for victims of landmine accidents and maintaining standards for demining activities.
This team travels to a hillside community. They are conducting some of Afghanistan’s most difficult and dangerous work. A deminer explains the grid of the area to the crew who will carry out the work.
Considerable work has already taken place to prepare for the actual mine- clearing day. Before the physical work can begin, members of the demining team meet with locals to gather information. Information is also collected from victims who have been injured by landmines.
Hearing the stories first hand helps the team assess the area and determine the possible location of mines. It is an important step in the mapping process, as is surveying the area to plot out the grid and marking the area that will be cleared.
Areas are marked with red flags to warn of danger. People know when they see red flags that they must keep away from this area. It also means that the area will be worked on soon.
On this day, the actual work to clear the mines is taking place. The crew faces an intense day as the process of clearing land of mines is a manual one.
Trained deminers begin the task of locating the mines using metal detectors and long thin prodders. Working dogs often assist the process as they can detect even a slight smell of explosives.
Once the mines are located, they are destroyed by controlled explosions. A long and meticulous process, it can take up to 30 minutes to locate, assess and demine one square metre of land. Demining teams such as this one, are carrying out similar tasks in communities across the country.
These activities are now locally led and coordinated by the Mine Action Coordination Centre of Afghanistan and they are implemented by the Mine Action Programme in Afghanistan. Canada is a leading international donor to mine eradication efforts in Afghanistan and has supported mine action since 2008.
Although the land that still needs to be cleared is significant, what has been accomplished so far is encouraging. As of September 2010, more than 612 square kilometres of land nationwide, approximately the same size as Calgary, has been cleared of mines and explosive remnants of war.
The decline in the number of victims has been steady. Since 2001, the average number of victims each month has decreased by more than 50 percent. Teaching both rural and urban Afghan communities how to avoid the dangers of landmines has contributed to the decline. Since March 2007, more than half a million people have been taught about landmine risks and how to avoid them.
What other changes result from this work? Land that is mine-free can be used to grow crops, which can be sold at the market or used to feed Afghan families. Farmers can use the land to raise livestock and children can walk to school more safely. Most importantly, land is returned to communities, such as this hillside village, so that Afghans can decide how they want to use it.
Extro Frame: In December 1997, 122 countries signed the Mine Ban Treaty at a high-level meeting held in Ottawa, Ontario. Known as the Ottawa Convention, this treaty marked an international commitment to ban the use, production, transfer and stockpile of anti-personnel landmines. Today, 156 countries have signed the treaty.
