United Nations program seeks to eradicate landmines


According to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), landmines kill between 15,000 – 20,000 people worldwide every year.  Most of the victims of landmine explosions are not soldiers; rather, those tend to be killed by landmines are children, women, and the elderly.  UNMAS suggests that anti-personnel mines have accomplished limited military purposes, despite their prevalence.


In every military conflict since 1938, anti-personnel mines have been used.  Anti-personnel mines have a long-life span.  Anti-personnel mines are intended to maim or kill anything that comes in contact with them.  Mines from World War II are still in existence to the present-day.  Since the 1960s, as many as 110 million landmines have been spread throughout 78 countries worldwide.  Submunitions – which include bombs delivered by air, artillery, sea, or multipurpose weapons, and unexploded ordnance should be categorized as mines, according to UNMAS.


In order to deactivate landmines, each mine must be removed individually.  Individual removal of anti-personnel devices costs between $300 - $1,000 (U.S. dollars) per mine.  Since the 1980s United Nations programs have searched for methods to reduce the number of active landmines worldwide.  In 1997, the UN Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Mine-Ban Convention) prohibits the production, use and export of anti-personnel devices.  As of September 2008, 156 countries had signed the agreement. 


For more information about the United Nations anti-personnel device removal programs visit:


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