Landmine Action
The latest report from Kay Richond to the UKPAC meeting in June can be downloaded here.
Anti-personnel mines terrorise, kill and maim thousands of people every year. Landmine Action is working to eliminate landmines, and help both the individuals and communities affected by them.
Dr Kay Richmond
The UKPAC is proud of its long association and membership of Landmine Action and Dr Kay Richmond is the UKPAC's liaison with the organisation
Violence against Women - the consequences of armed conflict
An extract of a paper produced by Kay Richmond, the UKPAC's liaison with Landmine Action and the Cluster Munitions Coalition
Although violence against women (VAW) is well recognised in many settings, that in time of armed conflict tends to concentrate on rape. Women’s bodies have become part of the battleground for those who use terror as a tactic of war — they are raped, abducted, humiliated and made to undergo forced pregnancy, sexual abuse and slavery. UNIFEM claims that 70% of the casualties in some recent conflicts were non-combatants - most of them women and children.
Due to the greater military efficiency of weapons there is an inherent and increased potential for injuring civilians. This means that for a country recovering from war, the presence of mines causes a serious environmental, social, and economic burden, and for the victims, continued tragedy not only for their families but also the whole country for many years.
The aims of Landmine Action are:
- Helping to relieve the effects of landmines by securing resources for humanitarian mine action
- Educating the public, decisions-makers and opinion formers about the humanitarian, developmental, medical and human rights impact of landmines on civilians
- Working for the improvement, universalisation and full implementation of international legislation banning landmines.
The members of Landmine Action work in the world’s poorest countries to clear mines and assist victims. Together they campaign with non-governmental organisations around the world to outlaw landmines: to ban their use, stockpiling, manufacture and sale.
Landmine Action is the UK arm of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1997. Established in 1992, Landmine Action is a coalition of more than 50 UK-based charities and agencies concerned with landmines and their impact on civilians.
Visit their Web site... (external link)