Second International Expert Conference on the use of Modern Demining Technology

As we near the end of the 20th century, the indiscriminate use of landmines has became a tragic legacy of civil strife around the world. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimates that landmines claim some 26.000 victims a year.(In fact, they believe this number is a low estimate.)

Landmines impede international efforts to help war-torn countries regain their economic and social infrastructures. They divert billions of dollars of assistance from economic development to cleaning up the debris of war. We are here today in recognition of the tremendous toll that landmines take on developing world societies and of the responsibility we share in helping to eliminate this man-made epidemic.

Although the United States is not yet signatory to the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning the use, stockpiling, production of anti-personnel landmines, it supports the basic tenets of the treaty. In fact, President Clinton was the first world leader to call for a ban on anti-personnel landmines in his 1994 address to the UN General Assembly. In October of last year, at the behest of President Clinton, Secretaries Albright and Cohen announced that the United States would spearhead an international effort to accelerate humanitarian demining worldwide and eliminate the threat of landmines to civilians by the year 2010. Last month, the White House reconfirmed the Clinton Administrations commitment to search aggressively for alternatives to anti-personnel landmines and mixed anti-tank systems in order to make it possible for United States to sign the Ottawa Convention by 2006.

When the United States launched its Demining 2010 Initiative it recognized that three factors would be key to accomplishing the objective of 2010. First the total level of investment in humanitarian demining worldwide would have to increase nearly five-fold to roughly billion a year. Second, effective international coordination of demining assistance and activity would be required. And third, there would have to be much better application of modern technology to humanitarian demining. These were the considerations that inspired the recent Conference on Global Humanitarian Demining, hosted by the U.S. Government on May 20-22 in Washington.

Designed to build on the achievements of earlier conferences in Ottawa, Tokyo, Bonn, Oslo, and Copenhagen, the Washington Conference aimed to consolidate international consensus on coordination and to set the stage for action. Participation in the conference was focused on key donor governments, international organizations , and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who provide the bulk of the resources and expertise humanitarian demining. The conference agenda was developed in consultation with other governments, the United Nations, and several NGOs to spotlight action items that required international coordination. A great deal of preparatory work was done on the question of technology coordination: at the March Ottawa Workshop, at the March Technology Forum in Washington, and in bilateral channels.

The results of the Washington Conference divide into seven themes:

• developing solid baseline data;
• consolidating mechanism for international coordination;
• cooperating to develop priorities and match needs with resources;
• promoting victim assistance;
• applying military expertise and encouraging public-private partnerships.

Let me expand briefly on each of these themes.

The United States presented a draft update of its publication Hidden Killers, compiling the most current data on anti-personnel landmines worldwide , the activities of donor countries, international organizations, and NGOs, and updating the status of mine action in twelve seriously mini-affected countries. The report concludes that the widely-cited figure of more than 100 million landmines in the ground is probably overestimated by roughly 30 to 50 percent, but that, in any case, it is better to measure the problem not by the number of landmines, but by the number of victims and the area of productive land contaminated by landmines. On the basis of recent experience, the report suggests that, with concerted international effort, the landmine crisis can be brought under control in "years, not decades."

Conference participants endorsed a proposal by the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) to proceed with multisectoral country assessments of the landmine problem, and they considered a proposal for a collaborative effort among the UN, several NGO, and donor governments (the Survey Contact Group) to produced level on general surveys selected countries as soon as possible. The Survey Contact Group has already completed work on a set of universal survey standards and will have an implementation proposal ready for donor consideration in July. We believe this kind of comprehensive international approach to baseline data is essential to setting priorities and developing informed mine action strategies in each country or region.

Data gathered for the Washington Conference showed that the resource level for humanitarian deminig has been rising significantly over the past six months. The U.S. Government, for example, has more than double its investment in humanitarian demining over the past year from $44 million to more than $90 million. Other donor governments have made similiar contributions.

Addressing the question of international coordination, the conference endorsed UN Secretary General Kofi Annan`s decision to establish the UN Mine Action Service as the focal point for coordination among UN agencies and for collaborative efforts between the UN and outside partners. Donor governments agreed to enhance their consultations through the Mine Action Support Group chaired by Norway. Switzerland reported on its new Humanitarian Demining Center in Geneva, which will provide information management services to the United Nations, develop educational tools for training deminers in mine-affected countries, and establish information and communication links between the United Nations and Mine Action Centers in mine-affected countries, on the one hand, and between the United Nations and other international centers of excellence, on the other.

Conference participants explored a range of humanitarian, socio-economic, and political considerations that most be taken into account in setting priorities for humanitarian demining in war-torn countries, emphasizing that political will in the mine-affected country should be a critical element in deciding where to launch mine action. Regional strategies were recommended in those areas where several neighboring countries were contaminated by landmines, usually because the problems in each country were linked.

Southern Africa was cited as a positive regional experience in demining, where the political will had been demonstrated and the region was attempting to develop a comprehensive strategy. Giving special attention to southern Africa, participants agreed that better coordination should be sought in Angola and Mozambique to avoid duplication and competing donor interests and to build indigenous capacity. Japan and Cambodia announced plans for holding a demining workshop on "lessons learned" in Cambodia in October.

The conference devoted special attention to the question of technology and its critical role in accelerating demining activity. The United States and European Commission agreed to collaborate on three specific projects:

• to develop standards for determining technology requirements or SORs;
• to identify a worldwide network of test and evaluation facilities to assess promising technology for humanitarian demining; and 
• to develop "demonstrator": projects for examining the application of new technology to specific situations in the field.

These initiatives will be closely coordinated with the United Nations and other countries wishing to take part.

We believe that a well-coordinated international effort to apply technology more effectively to humanitarian demining will be essential to achieving the 2010 goal, and are thus very pleased with the progress that was made at the Washington Conference. There are now a solid basis for further development and refinement of these ideas here at Karlsruhe and later at the Ispra Conference to be hosted by the EC in late September.

The Washington Conference considered various proposals for ensuring that the needs of landmine victims and survivors are adequately addressed in international mechanisms for coordinating mine action. Recommendations were made for incorporating information on victim needs in assessments and surveys and for developing victim assistance strategies.

National delegations to the Washington Conference were encouraged to include a military representative who could participate in a special side meeting to consider how military expertise could be applied to humanitarian demining. The military discussion at Washington developed consensus on working with the United Nations to strengthen humanitarian demining training centers, and to share lessons learned and experience.

We believe these are concrete steps to harness the vast potential within our military forces to contribute to solving the landmine problem. Often seen by some as

part of the problem, the military are, in fact a superb source of expertise and capabilities for getting mines out of the ground and should not be overlooked in the search for solutions.

The "Demining 2010 Initiative" recognized from the outset that raising resource levels five-fold would require a substantial increase in private sector contributions. Therefore in both the 2010 initiative and the Washington Conference, we have placed particular emphasis on eliciting new thinking about public-private partnership that would give private sector entities more direct access to designing and maintaining demining programs and projects. The U.S. Government has encouraged the development of private sector projects and their interaction with governments and international organizations.

The UN Association of the US has initiated an "Adopt-a-Minefield" program to provide communities across the US an opportunity to invest directly in demining projects on the ground. To implement this program the UN concluded an agreemment with the UN Office of Program Services (UNPOS) who will identify the appropriate opportunities for this program in the mine-affected countries and provide project management.

DC Comics and Warner Brothers have teamed up with the U.S. Defense Department to produce mine awareness training aids in comic book form for children in Bosnia and Latin America. Plans are underway to expand this program to Portuguese speaking countries in Africa.

US embassies in mine-affected countries are finding that companies who are beginning to explore new markets are often interested in making so-called "social responsibility" contributions to societies in transition.

These contributions may be quite unrelated to the kind of business a particular company is expecting. US embassies often suggest that they should look at possibilities for contributing to projects related to mine action.

Motorola, for example, contributed $60.000 to Halo Trust in Cambodia.

There are many other examples of significant public-private partnerships that are being developed around mine action. The area of technology, which is already based largely on public-private partnership, is rich with opportunities. In the coming year, the U.S. "Demining 2010 Initiative" will be placing even more emphasis on the prospect for private sector involvement in mine action.

Our experience with the Washington Conference has convinced us that the way is now clear for effective coordination of international action in the mine-affected countries. While the many conferences that have already been held and will continue to be held over the coming year have succeeded in mobilizing international attention, resources, and coordination for the cause of eliminating landmines, it is now time to translate the results of these conferences into action on the ground in the mine-affected countries.

The governments, international organizations, and NGOs who have life to the Ottawa Convention now recognize their responsibility to bring the fruits of that labor into reality on the ground. The United States, for its part, look forward to working closely with its partners in the international community to bring the scourge of landmines that threaten innocent civilians to an end by 2010, that is, in years and not decades. We believe that a firm foundation for achieving this objective is now in place.

© HLDF 2000
Humanitarian Landmine Disposal Foundation
hldf@hldf.pt