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To walk free of landmines in Africa

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Subido el 12 de julio de 2007 por EducaMadrid

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November 29th sees the opening of the first international review conference of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. The Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World will be attended by 500 World Leaders, landmine survivors, Nobel peace prize winners and other advocates of the International Campaign to ban landmines. The fact that the conference takes place in the Kenyan capital is significant. Africa is the most landmine infested continent in the world. In a special report from Ethiopia, a Video News Release looks at the extent of the problem, its impact on the local population and what is being done to rid Ethiopia of landmines. Ethiopia is infested with landmines left over from the recent war with Eritrea. A ceasefire is in place since 2000 - but the threat from the landmines remain. In fact, two million landmines are buried in the country, remnants of successive conflicts over the last 70 years. Millions of Ethiopians are at risk every day and the most vulnerable are children. Luwam Tsegay was just eight years old when she stepped on a landmine when gathering cactus fruit. She lost half a leg. About 65% of landmine victims in Ethiopia are children and while the physical damage can be horrific, there can also be psychological scars. Many children drop out of school and become withdrawn. These children need counselling. The Ethiopian Mine Action Office was established in 2002 with a comprehensive action programme embracing mine clearance, victim support and mine risk education. Machines can be used to help with mine clearance and specialist dog units are also being deployed. But most of the de-mining work is undertaken manually. A de-miner with a metal detector works slowly, step by step, examining the ground and verifying it is mine free to a humanitarian standard. A humanitarian standard means that to a depth of 20cms, every square metre can be certified as safe for people to walk, for children to play, and for farmers to work. The 1997 International Mine Ban Treaty is working successfully to put an end to landmines. The treaty requires countries to stop making and using landmines and to undertake to destroy their stockpiles. The European Union is the largest single donor to mine action programmes internationally, providing 700 million Euro in the last five years. The EU also plays a key role in implementing the Mine Ban Treaty, encouraging nations to participate. 48 of Africa's 52 nations are signed up to the Mine Ban Treaty. Ethiopia has signed and is now set to ratify. But 65 countries still live with the hidden terror of landmines, with as many as 20,000 casualties every year. If that number is to decrease, the international community must remain politically and financially committed to ridding the world of landmines.

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It's another day working to clear landmines in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. 00:00:00
Hundreds of deminers are working to ensure the ground is free of landmines so that local 00:00:07
people can return to live and farm. 00:00:11
This border area of Ethiopia is infested with landmines left over from the recent war with 00:00:15
Eritrea. 00:00:20
A ceasefire is in place since 2000, but the threat from the landmines remains. 00:00:21
In fact, two million landmines are buried in this beautiful land, remnants of successive 00:00:26
conflicts over the last 70 years. 00:00:31
It's the same all over Africa, making it the most landmine-infested continent in the world. 00:00:35
It's also the continent that can least afford to tackle the problem. 00:00:40
It costs about three euros to make a mine and put it in the ground. 00:00:45
It costs a thousand euros to take it out. 00:00:49
The largest single donor to the work is the European Union, providing 700 million euro 00:00:53
in the last five years. 00:00:57
The highest proportion of EU funds go to Africa. 00:00:59
Funding is not only directed towards clearing minefields, but also towards rebuilding affected 00:01:03
communities. 00:01:07
Educating locals about the ongoing danger of landmines is crucial. 00:01:09
Two million Ethiopians are at risk every day, and the most vulnerable are children. 00:01:13
The Rehabilitation and Development Organization, RADO, makes a special effort to make children 00:01:18
aware of landmines. 00:01:23
The most victims are children. 00:01:25
It is about 64 to 65 percent of the landmine victims are children. 00:01:27
And most of them are herders, therefore that's why we are using the child-to-child approach. 00:01:33
Child instructors show the danger areas. 00:01:40
Abandoned trenches from the war, abandoned houses, vehicles, pathways. 00:01:43
Another example is where landmines are placed among cactus plants. 00:01:48
Gathering cactus fruit is a common pastime among children. 00:01:52
Luam went out playing with her friends one afternoon and went to gather cactus fruit. 00:01:57
She stepped on a landmine. 00:02:03
Luam lost half a leg. 00:02:06
She was just eight years old when the incident happened. 00:02:08
In some ways she was lucky. 00:02:12
There were other children around to raise the alarm. 00:02:13
She has made a good recovery, but she cannot help out at home anymore with essential chores 00:02:17
like fetching water. 00:02:21
There are child victims of landmines all over Ethiopia. 00:02:24
Baraket lost two fingers when he tampered with an undetonated mortar fuse. 00:02:27
Kibrab was one of two boys herding cattle. 00:02:32
One stepped on a landmine. 00:02:36
Kibrab received a serious leg injury. 00:02:38
His friend was killed. 00:02:41
While the physical damage can be horrific, there can also be psychological scars. 00:02:44
Many children drop out of school and become withdrawn. 00:02:49
These children have all undergone counselling and now have the confidence to help educate 00:02:52
their peers about the dangers. 00:02:56
Rado is also reaching out to the 30% or so of children who do not regularly go to school 00:03:01
but work in the fields. 00:03:06
One way to train the educational technique is to use other children as instructors. 00:03:08
Training locals to do the work is part of a broader strategy that allows the Rado professionals 00:03:14
to withdraw, confident that the mine risk education will continue. 00:03:19
The 1997 International Mine Ban Treaty is working successfully to put an end to landmines. 00:03:26
The treaty requires countries to stop making and using landmines and to undertake to destroy 00:03:32
their stockpiles. 00:03:36
The European Union plays a key role in implementing the treaty, encouraging nations to participate. 00:03:38
48 out of Africa's 52 nations are signed up to the mine ban treaty. 00:03:45
Ethiopia has signed and is now set to ratify. 00:03:50
The Ethiopian government's Mine Action Office was set up in 2002, charged with an extensive 00:03:54
humanitarian mine clearance programme. 00:03:59
Soldiers in the Ethiopian army were demobilised and retrained as mine clearance specialists. 00:04:02
Manual demining requires meticulous planning. 00:04:09
Each deminer is allocated a small area and he works metre by metre, systematically checking 00:04:13
the ground. 00:04:18
He will not step forward until he is satisfied it is safe. 00:04:19
The man is at the front line for 30 minutes and he's got to be totally dedicated, focused 00:04:23
all the time. 00:04:28
It is labour intensive, it is slow. 00:04:29
The actual demining itself is comparatively easy. 00:04:32
It's the management of the demining that is important and critical. 00:04:35
The process unearths endless fragments of shrapnel or bullet casings, or bits of metal 00:04:41
of a more innocent nature. 00:04:46
This company of 100 deminers has been working for about seven months. 00:04:48
They've found 44 unexploded devices and over 76,000 metal fragments. 00:04:52
The reality of demining is that days and weeks go by without finding anything. 00:04:58
But standards cannot diminish. 00:05:03
The next step could be fatal. 00:05:05
Mechanical means of demining can also be used where the terrain allows. 00:05:08
This machine thrashes the ground to uncover and detonate any landmines. 00:05:13
A specialist dog unit is also being deployed. 00:05:18
The dogs verify the land has been cleared to a humanitarian standard. 00:05:21
A humanitarian standard means that to a depth of 20 centimetres, every square metre can 00:05:26
be certified as safe for people to walk, for children to play and for farmers to work. 00:05:31
About 300,000 subsistence farmers were displaced by the war with Eritrea. 00:05:39
Now four years after the ceasefire, when war-torn towns are slowly recovering, many thousands 00:05:44
are still living in tent camps. 00:05:49
Once their land is cleared of mines, they can return to work their farms. 00:05:52
The farmland of Mezgobo, Eritrea, has been certified mine-free. 00:05:57
With international assistance, he and his family are rebuilding their home and their 00:06:02
lives. 00:06:06
The impact after clearance is free and people can come to where they used to be living and 00:06:07
use the land forever. 00:06:13
They believe it's safe. 00:06:14
They have the belief in us that we are doing it 100 percent. 00:06:16
When they come in here, they can do anything they want. 00:06:21
They can walk freely. 00:06:23
When a mountainous area has been affected by war, it makes demining all the more complex. 00:06:26
No demining machine could cope with this terrain. 00:06:32
Thirty-five minefields have been mapped in this district alone. 00:06:36
Twenty-four have been cleared already. 00:06:39
Progress is steady, but the Ethiopian Mine Action Office estimates it will take 20 years 00:06:42
to clear their country of landmines. 00:06:46
You can appreciate landmines take a long time, a lot of effort, money to remove. 00:06:48
So it's an expensive operation. 00:06:53
The tragedy is that because it's an African state, they don't share the same donor confidence 00:06:55
as Europeans. 00:07:00
So for example, Kosovo, Bosnia, and then coming Middle East, Lebanon, Macedonia, they get 00:07:02
far more exposure and more funding for landmines than anywhere in Africa. 00:07:09
And that's rather sad because there are more people affected by landmines and more landmines 00:07:14
in certain countries in Africa. 00:07:19
The demining work will take decades. 00:07:22
The civilian population has to be equipped to live with the daily threat of landmines. 00:07:25
The international mine ban treaty is making a difference. 00:07:30
The production and use of landmines worldwide has decreased dramatically, and stockpiles 00:07:33
of 37 million mines have been destroyed. 00:07:38
The global trade in landmines has virtually ceased. 00:07:41
But 65 countries still live with the hidden terror of landmines, with as many as 20,000 00:07:44
casualties every year. 00:07:49
If that number is to decrease, the international community must remain politically and financially 00:07:52
committed to ridding the world of landmines. 00:07:56
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Idioma/s:
en
Niveles educativos:
▼ Mostrar / ocultar niveles
      • Nivel Intermedio
Autor/es:
The European Union
Subido por:
EducaMadrid
Licencia:
Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada
Visualizaciones:
589
Fecha:
12 de julio de 2007 - 11:51
Visibilidad:
Público
Enlace Relacionado:
European Commission
Duración:
08′
Relación de aspecto:
1.45:1
Resolución:
488x336 píxeles
Tamaño:
41.99 MBytes

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