Cambodia has one of the highest numbers of landmines and unexploded devices in the world, with an estimated 4 to 6 million land mines left, but an accurate figure is impossible to determine.

In recent years Cambodia has worked to alleviate the problem and protect the people from being harmed or endangered by mines. It was one of the first of the 121 countries to sign the Ottawa Treaty in 1997 which banned anti-personnel mines. In 1999, the government also passed a national land mine legislation prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines.

In 2000, the Cambodian armed forces destroyed a reported 80 per cent of the anti-personnel landmine stockpile with the help of other organizations and have been continuing with that work since then.

In continued recognition of these activities, National Land Mine Awareness Day is celebrated around the country on the 24th February each year, and is an opportunity to create awareness both locally and internationally of the Campaign to Ban Landmines and promote the importance of Mine Risk Education (MRE) activities in reducing the number of incidents in mine-contaminated areas.

CRC recently celebrated Land Mine Awareness day with a Round Table Talk Show and a number of celebrations in various high risk provincial locations.

Round Table - Zero Victims

Organised by Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA), a televised discussion on the topic of ‘Zero Victims’ was broadcast on a local television chanel, TVK, two days prior to the event.

Representatives from a number of stakeholders working in the field including CMAC (Cambodian Mine Action Center), Ministry of Youth and Sport (MOYS), Halo Trust, Mine Advisory Group (MAG) and CRC’s Land Mine Awareness Program (LMA) came together to discuss their various different program activities and preventative measures that people can take against Land Mines.

Local Branch Celebrations

On the 24th of February, Red Cross Youth and Red Cross Volunteers from the CRC Land Mine Awareness Program, came together with the local authorities and other stakeholder organizations including: CMAC, MAG, Halo Trust, the Sport and Youth Education Department and local people to celebrate Land Mine Awareness Day in the Provinces of: Veal Veng District of Pursat Province, Samlot District of Battambang Province, Pailin City, Malay District of Bantamenchy Province, Samrong District of Odor Meanchy Province and Choam Ksan District of Preah Vihear Province.

Facilitated by CRC’s National Headquaters and supported by the Finish Red Cross, Red Cross Provincial Branches organized meetings with all the stakeholders to discuss with the general public about Land Mine Awareness activities and preventative precautions to take. The Red Cross branches also held visual dissemination LMA campaigns, involving Red Cross Volunteers (RCV) and Red Cross Youth (RCY) walking through the community distributing LMA posters and leaflets. In addition, banners were put up around the community and along the road with Land Mine Awareness messages such as: ‘Together we can free Cambodia from Land mines’, ‘Our children desire a Land Mine free future’ and ‘LMA projects assist and educate people so that they can enjoy the land free of landmines and UXO’s’.

2004 Gold Medal for Humanitarian Activities in Mine Action

The Cambodian Red Cross has been assisting in the mitigation of the Land Mine problem working together with the Government and other Organizations to provide Land Mine Awareness to the community and Mine casualty data to the local and international community.

On 18th February 2004, the Cambodian Red Cross had the opportunity to attended National Conference on Mine Action Achievements at the Council of Ministers in Phnom Penh. Presided over by Samdach Hunsen, Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Cambodian Red Cross was the first to present their activities at the Conference and received a gold medal from the Government for their humanitarian activities in Mine Action.

Since 2000, the Cambodian Red Cross has carried out the Land Mine Community Based Landmine Awareness Project with financial support from the Finnish Red Cross/Finnish Government until the end of 2004. Working in 6 high risk provinces along the Thai/ Cambodia boarder, the fundamental purpose of programme is to assist high-risk community groups in learning how to deal with daily life in mine-affected areas and developing safe behaviors towards the threat of anti-personnel landmines and UXOs.

Since 1994, Cambodia Mine/UXO Victim Information System (CMVIS) has contributed to the protection of mine affected communities and provided support to mine victims through maintaining a system for the collection, storage and dissemination of information relating to mine/UXO casualties in Cambodia. Through the partnership of Handicap International-Belgium and Cambodian Red Cross, the CMVIS maintains a national data gathering network and proven system for the storage and dissemination of the information collected.


CHALLENGES
Despite successful implementation, the Community Based Landmine Awareness Projects funding from the Ministry of Finland through the Finnish Red Cross (2000-2004) is due to end in May 2004. The Cambodian Red Cross is seeking further funding to continue landmine awareness training for thousands of vulnerable people and emergency assistance for victims.