PRESS BRIEFING ON HUMANITARIAN DEMINING

Failure to deal with humanitarian demining would make reconstruction in post-conflict situations extremely difficult if not impossible, Ismael Abraão Gaspar Martins (Angola), Security Council President for November, told correspondents at Headquarters this afternoon.

Speaking at a joint press briefing with Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, and Martin Dahinden (Switzerland), Director of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, he said that with so many conflicts under review by the Council, it was extremely important to make mine action an integral part of peacekeeping because of its humanitarian aspect.

The fact that a mine cost $3 to make and $3,000 to clear highlighted the extent of the challenge facing the world, he said.  It was significant that the Council had taken up the matter for the first time since 1997 and had been able to raise awareness of demining challenges in countries like Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in Kosovo.

Mr. Guéhenno described as “very timely” the Council’s decision to take up the matter when Angola -– one of the most mine-affected countries in the world –- held the presidency.  Also, a Security Council mission had just returned from Afghanistan, where the United Nations had the world’s largest demining programme.  Run by more than 7,000 Afghans, with only a small international staff, the programme was a good illustration of capacity-building in that very sensitive area.

He said the role of the Mine Action Service in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations was to coordinate the efforts of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS) and a number of other entities.  Those efforts were now undertaken in more than 35 countries worldwide, with the UNDP supporting national authorities in over 20 countries and UNICEF responsible for mine risk education in 28 others.

Peacekeeping and mine action were closely linked because the post-conflict deployment of troops in a mine-afflicted country was conditioned on demining, he said.  If it were done in an intelligent way, the operational demining -- demining for the benefit of troop deployment -- would be closely linked to broad humanitarian demining.  Thanks to the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, the professional management of information on the very meticulous but dangerous job of demining was now available.  That information management system was helping to standardize United Nations demining efforts.

Mr. Dahinden said that his briefing to the Security Council earlier in the day had highlighted three areas:  the information management system, international standards and the Centre’s recently completed study on the role of the military in mine action.  The Centre wished to reinforce its coordination with the United Nations, which was important for attaining common goals, he added.

Asked about demining in a country as unstable as Afghanistan, Mr. Guéhenno replied that because of the huge number of mines in that country, the programme there was a long-term effort and, regrettably, a number of high-impact areas would continue to have mines.  The approach was, therefore, to focus on those areas where there were more population movements and, therefore, much greater risk of victims.  That was why a well-coordinated national programme was important in order to make the best use of unfortunately limited resources.  The situation in Afghanistan was a source of concern and yesterday’s bombing in Kandahar was a worrying signal.

He added that the Afghan Government was building its own capacities, but it needed the strong support of the international community, otherwise the effort to clear mines and returning the country to normalcy would not succeed if more mines continued to be laid and more unexploded ordnance was left as more fighting developed.

Responding to another question, Martin Barber, Director of the United Nations Mine Action Service, replied on behalf of Mr. Guéhenno that he was not aware of reports that parties in Afghanistan were still using landmines or laying new ones.  The Government, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations were making strenuous efforts to persuade everybody to end the use of landmines and to destroy their stocks.  The process of destroying stockpiles had already started.

A correspondent asked what incentive there was for those who stood to profit from removing mines not to continue laying mines, which was such a profitable business.

Mr. Martins replied that the important thing was to remove the causes of conflict in order to avoid creating conditions other than profit for the laying of mines.

Asked about the mine situation in Iraq, Mr. Guéhenno said he did not have figures readily available.  However, the Council had heard from the United States delegate earlier that there was a quite staggering number of mines in that country.  There was also a problem of unexploded ordnance, which was even more dangerous than mine removal.  Once a mine was identified, its status was more or less known, whereas with unexploded ordnance, it was not always possible to tell exactly why it had not exploded.  Thus, neutralizing such explosives was very dangerous work.

* *** *