Landmines and small arms & light weapons

SOME RESULTS FROM THE UN-EU PARTNERSHIP IN 2009
IN THE AREA OF LANDMINES AND SMALL ARMS & LIGHT WEAPONS:

Albania: The country was declared mine free in 2009

Ethiopia: During 2007-2009, 1 million people benefited from mine clearance. During the operations, 3,911 antipersonnel landmines, 824 anti-vehicle mines, and 34,797 items of unexploded ordnances (UXO) were found and destroyed. A total of over 22 million square meters of previously landmine-infested land was successfully released and is now being used for farming and grazing, improving food security. Local inhabitants returned home and infrastructure projects such as construction of schools, water wells, electric power grids and an airport are in progress.

In Lebanon, 92.5 million square meters of land was cleared from mines and unexploded ordnances, and 22.3 million square meters of land was cleared from cluster bombs. To date, 500,000 people benefited from mine risk education, training of demining teams (2,292 people) and support and rehabilitation of victims.

In Bosnia & Herzegovina, the authorities revised and implemented a national strategy for small arms and light weapons. 4,000 tonnes of ammunition were destroyed and the infrastructure to dispose of explosive remnants of war upgraded and improved in line with EU regulations and NATO standards. The legislation on small arms and light weapons is being harmonised and aligned with EU directives.

The partnership supported the government in Nepal to effectively coordinate mine action activities.

In Sri Lanka, 14,000 teachers and educators were trained on the risks of mines and 100,000 people had mine risk education.