Landmine Facts

The Bad News

•  Landmines are indiscriminate killers that target civilians long after a conflict has ended.

•  At the beginning of the 20^th century, nearly 80 per cent of landmine victims were military personnel. Today,  90 per cent of landmine victims are civilians.

•  Most kinds of landmines last forever. Mines laid during WWII are still killing and maiming civilians.

•  There are 82 mine-affected countries around the world.  No mine clearance was recorded in 16 of the affected countries and no mine risk education activities were recorded in 25 countries.

•  From 2002 through to June 2003, there were new landmine casualties reported in 65 countries.  Forty-one of these countries were not at war.

•  UNICEF estimates that 30-40 % of all landmine victims are children under the age of 15.  Mines kill and mutilate 8,000 to 10,000 children each year.

•  Landmines affect both men and women but studies show that women suffer more when they become victims of landmines.  Fewer women receive mobility aids, such as artificial limbs, and they may receive less attention right after the landmine blast.  As a result, the fatality rate is higher for females (43%) than for males (29%).

•  Landmines set in motion a series of events that leads to environmental damage in the forms of soil degradation, deforestation, pollution of water resources with heavy metals and altering entire species’ populations through degrading habitats and altering food chains.

•  Landmines affect every aspect of human life including the ability for refugees to return to their homes.  A report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees published in 1997 stated that 13.2 million refugees, 4.9 million internally displaced people and 3.3 million returnees were at risk from landmines.

The Better News

•  After a decade of concerted, concentrated humanitarian mine action, the international community is seeing once mine-infested countries declare themselves mine-safe, while other mine-affected countries have developed an indigenous demining capability, which will allow them to become mine-safe in the near future. 

•  As of 2004,  Costa Rica,  Djibouti, El Salvador, Kosovo and Moldovahave all been declared mine safe.

•  The number of active mines in the world is decreasing.  As of February 2004, a total of 68 signators of the Mine Ban Treaty have destroyed nearly 30.5 million antipersonnel landmines. Fifty-five of these countries have completed stockpile destruction while 13 are in the process of destruction.

•  Global trade in antipersonnel mines has dwindled to a very low level of illicit trafficking.  There were no confirmed instances of trade in antipersonnel mines in 2003.  Several countries outside the Mine Ban Treaty extended or reconfirmed their moratoria on exports of these mines.

•  The international community, including Adopt-A-Minefield, is solving the problem of landmines.  By raising awareness of the problem and getting involved in fundraising efforts to clear mines and help survivors, you too can be part of the solution.