For more than a decade, the OAS has coordinated a comprehensive international program to remove tens of thousands of antipersonnel landmines that posed a threat to civilians in countries that had been affected by conflict. In December 2002, Costa Rica became the first mine-affected country supported by the program to declare itself safe of antipersonnel landmines. Honduras became the second OAS member state to complete its mine clearance program in October 2004.

The OAS Mine Action Program, which began in Central America, now operates in several countries in the hemisphere. In April 2005, Suriname joined the ranks of landmine-safe countries, after the OAS provided technical assistance to clear a small number of antipersonnel landmines still remaining in the interior of the country.

In 2002 the OAS began supporting demining efforts in Ecuador and Peru, where tens of thousands of landmines are located along their common border as a result of the countries' longstanding territorial dispute. The two countries, which resolved their border dispute in 1998, both have destroyed their landmine stockpiles and have begun the task of clearing the mines that remain in the ground. The OAS has provided support in several activities, including minefield surveying and mapping, and coordinating operations between demining units in both countries. In Peru, the OAS Mine Action Program assisted police deminers in destroying more than 20,000 antipersonnel mines located around 415 electric towers. In Ecuador, the OAS and the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) in 2003 established an international monitoring team for assisting demining operations along the Ecuador-Peru border.

As a result of an agreement signed with Colombia in 2003, the OAS opened a coordination office in Bogotá to support mine action programs. The OAS initially is providing assistance in the fields of mine awareness, victim rehabilitation and development of a mine action database. The program also provides training to Colombian army personnel to help strengthen the national capacity for humanitarian demining.

Several countries have taken steps to destroy landmine stockpiles. During the last two years, with the assistance of the OAS Mine Action Program and the Inter-American Defense Board, more than one million stockpiled mines have been destroyed in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru.

Depending on the needs of each country, the OAS Mine Action Program offers mine risk education; support for landmine clearance and stockpile destruction; victim assistance and socioeconomic reintegration of formerly mined zones; establishment of a mine action database; and support for a ban on the production, use, sale, transfer and stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines. The OAS has been able to increase countries' own demining capacity by channeling international funds, equipment and training personnel to affected areas.

In 2005, financial contributions have totaled some $3.1 million, significantly below the amount budgeted for the year. Although the OAS has been able to cover the program’s basic needs, it has urged the international community to continue to support these efforts.

The nations of the Western Hemisphere have demonstrated a strong commitment to solving the global landmine problem and have played an important leadership role in the international community. All but two countries in the Americas have signed and 32 have ratified the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, known as the Ottawa Convention.

 

The Central American Experience

In Central America, the OAS has continuously supported demining operations since 1995, focusing its efforts on four countries: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In January 2004, the Nicaraguan Army reported that of more than 135,000 mines once in the ground, less than 25 percent remained to be destroyed. Mine clearance is being carried out in that country by the Nicaraguan Army, both as part of the OAS-coordinated, internationally funded effort and in a direct bilateral effort funded by another donor. It is estimated that demining operations will be completed in Nicaragua by the end of 2006. In Guatemala, where unexploded ordnance such as grenades, mortars and bombs also pose a threat, the effort is expected to conclude by the end of 2005. Over the course of more than a decade, the OAS Mine Action Program assisted Honduras in destroying 2,297 mines and unexploded ordnance along 400 kilometers of border with Nicaragua.

Based in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua, the Central American program operates as a partnership involving the OAS, the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) and mine-clearing personnel from the affected countries. It receives funding and personnel support from many OAS member and observer countries. The OAS manages the program, identifying, obtaining and delivering the resources that are needed, including funds, equipment and personnel. The IADB oversees mine clearance operations, working with field supervisors from various countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The actual mine clearing is done by teams of trained soldiers, security forces or other personnel from the affected country.

As in the case of Ecuador and Peru, the OAS Mine Action Program in Central America includes support for mine risk education, victim assistance, data collection and other activities, in addition to humanitarian demining. In Nicaragua, the OAS has helped some 730 survivors receive medical treatment, prostheses, counseling and other assistance. In 2002, the Nicaraguan Survivors Assistance Retraining Program was created to provide job training and placement services for people injured by landmines. Thus far,  137 people have benefited from the retraining program.

 *The following countries have donated funds, equipment or personnel to OAS-coordinated mine action efforts: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, Russia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela. Various nongovernmental organizations have also made contributions. 

 

Last updated: October 2005