U.N.: Landmines must be high on agenda

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (UPI) -- The U.N. Mine Action Service says eradication of land mines must be a priority as they continue to kill or injure some 15,000 people per year.

Wednesday has been declared the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. Events around the world were to raise awareness about land mines, explosive remnants of war and progress toward their eradication.

"We must keep the cause high on the global political agenda if we are to maintain the momentum achieved toward a world free from land mines and explosive remnants of war," U.N. Mine Action Service Director Maxwell Gaylard said Tuesday.

Mine action programs and the anti-personnel mine ban treaty known as the Ottawa Convention have contributed to a reduction in the annual number of casualties from about 26,000 to between 15,000 and 20,000 in the past 10 years, said UNMAS. The current rates are lower, but they are still unacceptably high, said Jean-Marie Guehenno, undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations.

"There is much to celebrate, yet at the same time more needs to be done," said Guehenno, who reiterated the U.N. call for stronger international agreements to address humanitarian impacts of explosive devices.

Iraq especially faces the challenges of living in one of greatest concentrations of land mines and explosive remnants of wars, said UNMAS. The ongoing Landmine Impact Survey has already identified more than 4,000 areas suspected of contamination in Iraq.

"The clearance of dangerous munitions is possible in Iraq and will have an immediate and direct effect on the Iraqi population," said U.N. Development Program Director for Iraq Paolo Lembo. "However, we urgently need the support of the international donor community to assist us in addressing this life-threatening problem."