Demining and Mine Action in the Great Lake Region

The conflict scenario that has characterized the member countries of the IC/GLR during the last decade or so, has ‘endowed’ these countries with a common legacy. The confrontations between the different armed groups, both government and rebel groups, elicited use of landmines, with anti-personnel mines (APMs) being the favorite due to its easy availability, cheapness and portability among other attributes, including its ‘trustworthiness’ and ‘loyalty as a silent sentinel’. Due to these attributes an APM became a ‘weapon of choice’ for the opposing armed parties. The intra-country conflicts had spill-over effect into neighboring countries, and drew the neighbors into the internal confrontations. Subsequently, large swathes of the fields of all IC/GLR countries are littered with APMs, MOTAPMs and other explosive remnants of war (ERW).

The conflict environment has left the IC/GLR countries burdened with the responsibility and cost of clearing up the mess i.e. clearing the mines and facing up to the plights of the victims. The impact of landmines on the environments, societies and economies of the IC/GLR countries has been heavy and has had far-reaching consequences. Individually, the IC/GLR countries cannot carry effectively the burden of redressing the negative impact of land mines in their respective countries.

• project_1-1-4-_demining_and_mine_action_in_the_great_lake_region (1) pdf (379kb) [ download ]