Students paint banners for awareness events

“Antipersonnel mines cannot be aimed: they do not distinguish between the footfall of a soldier or a child. They lie dormant until a person or animal triggers their detonating mechanism. Landmines kill or injure civilians, soldiers, peacekeepers and aid workers alike. They are inhumane. When triggered, a landmine unleashes unspeakable destruction. A landmine blast causes injuries like blindness, burns, destroyed limbs and shrapnel wounds. Sometimes the victim dies from the blast, due to loss of blood or because they don’t get to medical care in time. Those who survive and receive medical treatment often require amputations, long hospital stays and extensive rehabilitation. The injuries are no accident, since landmines are designed to maim rather than kill their victims. Landmines steal lives, limbs and livelihoods. Mine deaths and injuries over the past decades now total in the hundreds of thousands. Most of the casualties are civilians and most live in countries that are now at peace. Landmines are a development disaster. Landmines deprive people in some of the poorest countries of land and infrastructure. Once there is peace most soldiers will be demobilized and give in their guns, mines however don’t recognize a cease-fire. They hold up the repatriation of refugees and displaced people. They also hamper reconstruction and the delivery of aid. Assistance to landmine survivors can be an enormous strain on resources. Landmine casualties deprive communities and families of breadwinners. Mines also kill livestock and wild animals and wreak environmental havoc. Landmines are everywhere…every region in the world is mine-affected. More than 75 countries are affected to some degree by landmines and/or unexploded ordnance. Some of the most contaminated places are Afghanistan, Angola, Burundi, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chechnya, Colombia, Iraq, Nepal and Sri Lanka .This is why we are involved…there is still work to be done! Sadly, antipersonnel landmines are still being planted today and minefields dating back decades continue to lie in wait of innocent victims. Vast stockpiles of landmines remain in warehouses around the world and a handful of countries still produce the weapon”. Antipersonnel landmines are still being laid today. These – and mines from previous conflicts – continue to claim victims in every corner of the globe each day. The situation has improved in recent years, but a global mine crisis remains and there is still a lot to be done before we live in a mine-free world. The ICBL: International Campaign to Ban Landmines is a network of more than 1,400 groups in over 90 countries, works locally, nationally and internationally to eradicate antipersonnel mines. Members include human rights, humanitarian, children, peace, disability, veterans, medical, humanitarian, mine action, development, arms control, religious, environmental and women’s groups. The ICBL works for a worldwide ban on antipersonnel landmines and universal membership of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, support of the needs and rights of landmine survivors and demining and risk education to safeguard lives and livelihoods. The campaign and its coordinator at the time, Jody Williams, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 in recognition of its achievements. (*ICBL: www.icbl.org)