The signing of the Dayton Peace Accord in 1995 marked the end of open conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the beginning of peace.   Unfortunately, it did not mark the end to landmine causalities. The Landmine Monitor Report 2003 reported that in 2002, landmines/UXO explosions killed 26 civilians and injured 46 others, including 19 children, representing a decrease from the 87 new casualties reported in 2001.                                                                                                                              

But these numbers don’t tell the whole story.   The majority of landmine accidents go unrecorded.   The International Committee for the Red Cross has recorded information on 4,798 landmine casualties since 1992 with more than one-third of these occurring after the end of the war.  Despite knowledge of the dangers of mines, people continue to put themselves at risk out of economic necessity.  The majority of accidents occur during the summer months while farmers are cultivating to provide for their families.

While the government tries to address the medical and socio-economic needs of survivors, most continue to be neglected with their basic needs unmet.

Survivor Assistance Partners

Adopt-A-Minefield has helped landmine survivors by providing support to the following projects:

BiH-SA-Bees

STOP Mines in Bosnia runs a self-sustaining project in workforce development that is self-sustaining.   This project provides landmine survivors with a livelihood by training them to be bee-keepers. Carefully chosen survivors are supplied with the necessary equipment and training. Apiculture provides the survivors with the money, earned by selling honey and its products, as well as the pleasure of being independent and self sufficient.

BiH-SA-STOP

STOP Mines helps landmine survivors to become fully reintegrated into their communities through the “Sustained Professional Rehabilitation of Mine Victims in Republika Srpska” program.  This project is establishing sustainable income generation projects for individuals and groups, developing a database of individual landmine survivors and those services available to them in association with the Mine Action Center in Bosnia and Herzegovina, working with BH MAC and other networks/groups to highlight gaps in service provision for landmine survivors and developing systems to ensure that landmine survivors are able to access existing professional rehabilitation services, and document successful interventions in order to facilitate their replication.