What We Do - Landmines

Church World Service has a long history of involvement in the cause of landmine eradication. CWS works with partner agencies in a number of countries where landmines take their daily toll, including Angola, Bosnia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Iraq, Laos, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, and Sudan.

Currently, CWS is supporting landmine-related work in Cambodia, Mozambique and Eritrea. In Cambodia, where one in every 236 people is an amputee, CWS assists the efforts of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) in clearing Cambodian minefields and building awareness among children and farmers about the dangers of mines and unexploded ordnance. Between 1998-2000, MAG cleared more than 69,000 square meters of land in three different mine fields, and removed and destroyed more than 1,166 pieces of unexploded weapons from random locations. Between 20,000 and 30,000 villagers and children have participated in mines awareness training since 1997.

In Mozambique and Eritrea, among the most severely affected by landmines, CWS is supporting the work of the Landmine Survivors Network. Mozambique has endured 25 years of war, leaving more than 300,000 landmines in the ground and injuring at least 10,000 people. A war of independence and an ongoing border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia lasted for some 30 years; a cease-fire agreement was signed in July 2000. However, the conflict resulted in the laying of anywhere from 200,000 to more than 1 million landmines. In 2001, LSN plans to make 300 home and hospital visits in each country for landmine survivors and those with limb loss; providing educational materials for survivors; promoting the reintegration of landmine survivors through referral, links with service providers and direct assistance; and continuing development of peer support networks for persons with limb loss.