The Problem

Beyond maiming and killing tens of thousands of individuals each year, one third of them children, landmines prevent reconstruction in postwar societies. They hinder the development of farms, roads, schools, and other necessary infrastructure, preventing communities from becoming economically self-sufficient.  

• The true measure of the global landmine crisis is the impact that landmines have on mine-affected communities.
• One-third of world's nations are affected by landmines.
• Estimates of the number of landmines deployed vary widely because the precise location of mines is not known.
• A minefield is an area suspected of containing mines - an area that is rendered uninhabitable or that cannot be cultivated or put to productive use because local populations fear entering the area.
• Tragically, fundamental human instincts and the need for food all too often compel adults and children alike to enter mined areas.
• Traditionally, antipersonnel landmines were used for military defense purposes, but increasingly they are used as offensive weapons.
• Landmines are designed to target civilian populations, disrupt people's lives, and displace entire communities from their homes and agricultural bases.
• The purpose of landmines is to inflict maximum harm on victims and to create a state of military, political, social, and economic imbalance in war-torn societies.
• Landmines can be laid anywhere, including roads, paths, fields, buildings, waterways, bridges, forests, and deserts.
• Number of estimated landmines:70- 80 million.
• Number of countries affected by landmines: up to 90.
• Cost of producing a landmine: as little as $3.
• Cost of removing a landmine: up to $1,000.

Landmine Survivors

• Landmines are indiscriminate weapons of war -- they do not distinguish between a soldier's footstep and a child's footsteps.
• Children are particularly vulnerable to landmines. Their small size places them closer to the source of a mine's explosion and, consequently, they often sustain more severe injuries than adults.
• At least 70% of reported landmine victims are civilians.
• Over half of landmine victims die from the initial explosion of a landmine.
• One-third of landmine victims survive, but suffer the loss of at least one limb.
• A person is maimed or killed by landmines at least once every hour and as often as every 22 minutes.
• The international effort to address the landmine problem is beginning to reduce the incidence of landmine accidents.
• Cost of providing an artificial limb to a landmine survivor: $100 to $3,000.