drc.dk: Danish Demining Group expands in 2011

Danish Demining Group expands in 2011

08.12.10

Category: DDG, Relief work, Africa, Asia, Middle East

Danish de-mining expertise is increasingly in demand worldwide. The Danish Demining Group, a part of the Danish Refugee Council, is under way in eight new countries where there is a need to remove landmines, promote mine risk education, and build legislation in cooperation with local authorities.

The Danish Demining Group (DDG) is preparing a major expansion and anticipates opening programmes in a series of new countries in 2011. When the Danish Demining Group is moving into new areas, the aim is to help paving the way for development and a more normalized life, often after many years of war and armed conflict. The Danish expertise in mine clearance, mine risk education, and armed violence reduction programmes, is wanted in an increasing number of countries around the world.

”It's a story of success but with a gloomy backside, when our help is needed in mine affected areas. When there has been war and armed conflict, the legacy in the form of mines and weapons continue to haunt even in peacetime," says Rasmus Stuhr Jakobsen, head of DDG.

Colombia, being one of the most mined countries in the world, is among the areas where DDG will launch new de-mining activities. DDG is just now working on obtaining the necessary permits from local authorities, and expects to begin the de-mining work in early 2011. Besides the clearing of mines, DDG is also working with mine risk education to change the behaviour of children and adults to be able to live safely in war affected areas.

Moreover, the DDG has opened new offices in Zimbabwe, Vietnam and Yemen, and in Liberia DDG is involved in the development of a new legislation on small arms and light weapons in cooperation with local authorities. In Tajikistan, DR Congo, and Myanmar, DDG is further exploring possibilities of working with de-mining and mine risk education.

The overall objective of DDG's efforts, is to help strengthening local communities’ ability to recreate life and livelihoods, and to grow crops, fetch water, gather firewood, tend livestock, and let children play when the areas are declared free of mines. Mine clearance is further a prerequisite for development assistance to reach a population, in order to rehabilitate access to schools, healthcare, and infrastructure.

Even after decades, mines and unexploded remnants of war represent a constant threat. Every day, children and adults worldwide are killed or maimed by mines and explosive remnants of war.

”What matters is not the actual number of mines. A single mine on a piece of land is enough to present a life threatening risk or at best debilitating for those who step on the mine,” says Rasmus Stuhr Jakobsen from the DDG.

The statistics speaks its own clear language. There is an estimated 110 million landmines worldwide, and mines every 22nd minute kill or injure another person.

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