CARE International UK Joins Defense Secretary in Symbolic Act to Rid the World of Landmines
June 8, 1998
CARE International UK joins the Secretary of State on Salisbury Plain today as the British government destroys a small stockpile of British landmines. This symbolic gesture demonstrates the government's commitment to the Ottawa Treaty which aims to end the worldwide proliferation of landmines.
The Treaty, signed last November by over 100 countries, bans the use, production, trade and stock-piling of anti-personnel mines. It marks a significant first step towards ridding the world of anything up to 120 million landmines scattered in 64 countries across the globe.
CARE International UK's Chief Executive Will Day, says: 'Today's event is a symbolic but significant act. Britain has demonstrated a moral lead by being an early signatory to the treaty and has urged other countries to follow suite. We look forward to the incorporation of the Ottawa Treaty into British Law.
"We support the government's efforts and intend to extend our own work in response to the land mine crises. CARE's strategy is two-fold. Firstly, as a member of the international campaign to ban landmines, we will continue to press for a global landmine ban. Secondly, we will develop our focus on landmines projects which combine the removal and safe disposal of mines where appropriate, together with education and training enabling communities to live with mines where demining is not possible."
CARE International UK recently began an integrated landmine and mines awareness programme in Angola's Central Planalto region. The project, which builds on earlier landmine awareness, training and clearance work in the country, is funded by a £900,000 grant from the European Union.
CARE International's Steve Archibald oversees the project from the UK: "Over 15 million mines remain in Angola. Aside from the horrific human toll inflicted by mines, the impact on ordinary people is enormous. In some areas they can't plant or water crops - or even use roads and bridges which link often remote communities to schools, markets, clinics and hospitals."
CARE's mines programme in Angola is integrated with CARE's development projects in health, water, and agriculture. It covers a range of activities including clearance and mapping, mines awareness and training of local staff to deal with the danger of mines and unexploded ordnance.
- Every two minutes someone is killed or injured by a landmine.
- The cost of planting a mine is about £2.
- The cost of removing it is about 100 times greater.
- 100% of mine victims in the post-conflict period are civilians, a third of them children.
For more information call:
Antony Robbins, Media Manager: 0171 379 5247.
