...function such that they cannot be seen until they explode. Since then, Ms. Bernstein and many others around the world have taken up the fight against landmines. Some 15 years later, this horror is still present; however, as of September 2004, 143 countries had formally committed themselves to eradicate it.

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The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which Ms. Bernstein joined in its early stages after her experiences in the refugee camps, has played a major role in lobbying the world's nations. The result was the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, known as the Mine-Ban Convention, which entered into force in 1999. Liz Bernstein thinks, and it is widely held, that this treaty is a milestone in the fight against such a weapon.

Five years later, it is time for a comprehensive review of the Convention, to be held at the Nairobi Summit on a mine-free world from 29 November to 3 December 2004. "Tremendous progress has already been made in dealing with the anti-personnel mine problem, but it still has a long way to go--a lot of work still needs to be done. So Nairobi is intended really to relaunch the movement, to bring some fresh attention to it, to mobilize Governments and civil society, and to push towards finishing the job. Let's get rid of this weapon once and for all", said Martin Barber, Director of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) at a UN Headquarters press briefing in April.

Cambodia is still one of the areas in the world heavily contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance. However, according to UNMAS, the annual number of casualties from landmines there went down from roughly 3,046 in 1996 to approximately 745 in 2003, although a large proportion of the decrease is due to the end of fighting in the country. On a global scale, successes are similarly significant. While landmines in 1997 claimed an estimated 26,000 casualties each year, today they are down to between 15,000 and 20,000. "This is a substantial drop,...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



More articles from UN Chronicle
Middle East., September 01, 2004

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