News
In order for humanitarian mine action to be effective, a multi-tiered approach is necessary. Broadly speaking, there are five “pillars”, or approaches that are used.
The first of these pillars is the act of mine clearance, or demining, itself. At risk areas are surveyed, and if determined to be contaminated by landmines or other kinds of ordnance, are fenced off and clearly marked. They are subsequently cleared using a variety of methods, both manual and mechanical, in addition to the use of mine detection dogs. Since the objective of humanitarian mine action is to make these areas safe to inhabit again, this is done incredibly thoroughly.
Next, an important part of mine action is mine risk education. This can entail public information campaigns, with the objective of making people both aware of the dangers landmines pose, as well as encouraging behavior that reduces the risk of encountering a mine, and should that nevertheless occur, reducing the risk of injury. In addition, locals and other humanitarian aid workers can be trained in appropriate actions in the event of an incident.
The third pillar of humanitarian mine action, and one that is enshrined in the Ottawa Treaty which banned the use of antipersonnel mines, is victim assistance. Of course, this includes physical treatment and rehabilitation, and also includes subsequent psychological and social support. Encountering a mine is a traumatic experience, and post-traumatic stress disorder is common in victims. The social support can also involve efforts to reintegrate victims to society following physical rehabilitation.
Advocacy is another important component of humanitarian mine action. International organizations like the United Nations have internal departments which advocate for the banning and/or destruction of landmines and other particularly dangerous forms of ordnance. Most of these operate alongside the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), who coordinate their efforts.
Speaking of the destruction of landmines, the final pillar of humanitarian mine action involves the destruction of stockpiles of landmines. Parties to the Ottawa Treaty mentioned earlier are obligated to destroy their stockpiles of landmines within a set amount of time, and many have done so already. This is particularly important, as even though there are a massive number of landmines that have been placed in various conflicts, even more have been stockpiled by the militaries of many nations.
All of these approaches, despite being so different, have a shared goal: to reduce the risk of landmines and other forms of ordnance to civilian populations. Their ultimate objective is, quite simply, to make the world and the people living in it safer, and more specifically, safe from them.