By Queen Noor of Jordan

The following article ran in The Huffington Post on Thursday, December 3rd.

For twelve years, the United States has refused to ban a weapon that kills and mutilates innocent women, men and children even in peacetime. The time has come for the world’s most powerful high-tech military to give up its low-tech stockpile of ten million antipersonnel landmines.

Today there are millions of mines buried in over 80 countries, and over 160 million more stored in arsenals waiting to go in the ground. These indiscriminate devices lay dormant until detonated by something living — a child walking to school, a farmer or grazing livestock. One victim at a time, these ‘weapons of mass destruction in slow motion’ have killed in total more people than nuclear, chemical and biological weapons combined. If they don’t cause immediate death, they maim and blind their victims.

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December 04, 2009, 12:38pm   Comments

In a statement delivered at Cartagena Summit on Monday, the U.S. delegation explained its attendance of the conference as part of “an on-going comprehensive review of U.S. landmine policy.” They emphasized the country’s shared commitment to eliminating the humanitarian risks posed by landmines, as exhibited by its past contributions of over $1.5 billion toward humanitarian mine action and removing explosive remnants of war in 47 countries. Read the full text of the statement here.

As apart of this initiative, the State Department announced that the United States will increase funding towards Colombia’s humanitarian mine action assistance. “The United States has been Colombia’s leading financial contributor since 2007, and plans to deliver an additional $2 million in support in 2010.”  See the press release for more details.

December 02, 2009, 3:11pm   Comments

The United States has registered to send a delegation to the upcoming review conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Cartagena. The world power has been a notable absence from the agreement between nations to disarm the dangerous weapon, and this delegation could be a favorable bellwether.

The news is encouraging to campaigners, who predict that US involvement will reinvigorate international interest in the mine ban movement.

“If the U.S. joins, we’re sure there will be a domino effect on others to follow. It will be a big signal to other major powers,” the ICBL’s Jacqueline Hansen said.

In addition to the United States, China, India, Pakistan and Russia and 34 others countries have not signed the treaty.

Reuters

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

November 17, 2009, 5:20pm   Comments

Photo: Guy Oliver/IRIN

To date, the U.S. has provided Mozambique more than 47 million USD in assistance under its Humanitarian Mine Action program. In related news, a recent IRIN article provides a comprehensive, insider’s look into the work of HALO, Mozambique’s biggest humanitarian deminer:

“The deminer’s world is the square metre that he or she kneels before, which is swept with mine-detectors about 35 times on average, only pausing between each sweep to run a piece of metal across the detector’s head to ensure it is working. Tirebuck expects the terrain will allow for each deminer to clear about 40m of a corridor 1m wide each day.”

November 03, 2009, 1:37pm   Comments