German Efforts towards a World free from the Impact of Landmines Presented by Burkhard Ducoffre Senior Official German Federal Foreign Office, Berlin Kuala Lumpur 09 April 2008

Mine Action started in 1989 and has developed to a unique success story since then The United Nations Mine Action Service believes that a world free from the impact of landmines can be achieved- rather in years than in decades

ACTION MINE Stockpile Destruction Victim Assistance Mine Risk Education Advocacy Mine Clearance

Anti- Personnel Mine Ban Convention „Ottawa Treaty“ Prohibits Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and obligates their Destruction

Anti- Personnel Mine Ban Convention „Ottawa Treaty“ Obligates the destruction of all AP-mines in mined areas as soon as possible but not later than ten years after the entry into force of the Convention (Art.5) Obligates the destruction of stockpiled AP Mines as soon as possible but not later than four years after the entry into force of the Convention (Art 4) Regulates International Cooperation and Assistance (Art 6)

Anti- Personnel Mine Ban Convention „Ottawa Treaty“ Fact Sheet Reported casualties continue to fall, to 2822 in 2006 Over 450 square kilometres of suspected land were cleared in 2006 New use of AP-mines continues to decline Funding increased to a record level of $ 475 million Trade with AP-mines came to an halt 14 States Parties are unlikely to meet their treaty deadlines for clearance

Suspected Hazardous Area (SHA) Presence of Landmines Perimeter of the potential Minefield Amount and Typ of Landmines Where to begin and where to cease Clearance

Core Problems encountered in Mine Clearance Operations No Minefield Records No Marking by Combattants Unknown Perimeter Enormous Cost Some 95% of cleared Areas do not contain Landmines

Article 6 „ Ottawa-Treaty “ „...each State Party has the right to seek and receive assistance, where feasible, from other States Parties to the extent possible“ Vital Prerequisites to receive German Assistance State Party to the „Ottawa-Treaty“ (exceptions are possible) Perceptible efforts of the affected country Clearance of high-priority areas only Quality of the implementing partner Reasonable concept of operations Germany supports both landmine and Unexploded Ordnance Clearance

Point of Contact at the German Foreign Office Task Force Humanitarian Aid Mine Action LTC Johannes Dirscherl Phone: