Introduction

Discussion of 'development' in Africa often uses macroscopic terms, such as the impact of infrastructure or human resource improvement on the overall increase in the GDP. But for the average African, perhaps the greatest impediment to achieving his or her highest potential lies in factors that may never cross the minds of those in the boardroom drawing up comprehensive development strategies. The threat of landmines for those living in many African nations is one example of such factors. Landmines have resulted in tens of thousands of casualties even since 1997 – the year the Mine Ban Treaty was ratified by most of the world -- causing great losses in human resources for these countries. It has become a direct and immediate threat to the very survival of many. Yet, perhaps the solution lies not at the macroscopic approach of a singular comprehensive policy, but at the micro-level, particularly the individual efforts of private non-governmental organizations. Through my experience in founding the Landmine Survivors Network, I would like to highlight the potential such micro-level approaches have in enhancing the African standard of living.

There are more than 300,000 landmine survivors worldwide, and the cost of rehabilitating these survivors will exceed US$3 billion over the next ten years. In truth, no one really knows all the numbers. What we do know is that there are hundreds of thousands of landmine survivors worldwide, and most have no access to proper and affordable medical care and rehabilitation. Moreover, most survivors live in developing countries, especially in Africa, where, in many cases, international organizations provide significant funding and services.

Many people imagine landmine victims as individuals who have lost a limb to a mine explosion, and therefore requiring medical care and perhaps prosthesis to become mobile. Yet the impact of landmines and similar devices, such as cluster munitions, extends far beyond physical health to include economic, social, and psychological aspects of people – such as dignity and livelihood, family and community relationships – and to impact upon local and regional infrastructures. For this reason, the international community’s efforts to assist munition-injured persons and affected communities must include a range of innovative international and local partnerships on a broad range of activities.

Even though NGOs helped achieve a nearly universal ban on landmines and international legal commitments to help the economic and social integration of landmine survivors back into society, much work remains. The process of supporting landmine victims with a broad range of integration and rehabilitative programs does not stop at the international level. The momentum must continue in donor policies, national parliaments, and program implementers to ensure that this international law becomes part of the legal and political fabric of mine-infested countries.

This article provides a summary of how international organizations have impacted African communities affected by landmines and the extent and limit of these efforts through a brief description of the work of the international non-governmental organization (NGO) the Landmine Survivors Network (LSN), and ends with a conclusion about the opportunities and challenges for international organizations to make a positive impact on the ground.

Effectiveness of international organizations in impacting landmine-affected local communities in Africa

Africa is the most landmine affected continent in the world. Most of the currently deployed landmines were used during World War II by British and German troops in northern Africa, during the Cold War by surrogate African states of the major powers, during pre-Apartheid South African military forces and allies in the southern African region, and during the post-Cold War era in internal and regional conflicts in the Horn of Africa and Central Africa.

On March 1, 1999, the Anti-Personnel Landmine Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) entered into force. Nearly one decade later, more than 150 nations have ratified the treaty, making it the fastest multilateral global arms control treaty to enter into force in the twentieth century. The treaty not only prohibits the manufacture, use, stockpile, and transfer of anti-personnel mines, but also urges governments “to do their utmost” to provide assistance for “the care and rehabilitation and social and economic reintegration of mine victims.”

Article six, paragraph three of the MBT requires States Parties to provide mine victim assistance in order to reintegrate landmine survivors into society. This provision marks the first time in the world’s history that a treaty banning or controlling weapons entitles victims to assistance from States Parties.

One method for determining a state party’s support for the landmine victim assistance obligation is by measuring its actual financial support toward programs of victim assistance. Given that the MBT lacks a mechanism for tracking landmine victim assistance, it is difficult to monitor the behavior of all State Parties. Nevertheless, States Parties who are major donors have made some of their information regarding landmine victim assistance available. The data since 1993 show annual state financial assistance to mine action programs, including landmine victim assistance, has dramatically increased among the major donors. According to the Landmine Monitor Executive Summary 1999, mine action funding from the largest donors increased from US$10.2 million in 1993 to more than US$48.4 million in 1998, an annual increase of more than 30 percent. Moreover, during the 1997 signing of the Ottawa Convention, a variety of donors pledged US$500 million to mine action programs. Canada’s increased generosity is especially noticeable. In 1998, Canada committed US$21.7 million to mine action, an amount exceeding 783 percent of its 1989 commitment. Germany’s sudden commitment to mine action assistance is also noteworthy. In less than five years (1993-1998), Germany increased its mine action funding by more than 297 percent.

The treaty marks a landmark process in international politics of the global era because their principal impetuses were NGOs that were engaged in a variety of development and other activities in mine-infested countries. As a new issue, landmines attracted tremendous international attention. According to one governmental diplomat central to the treaty negotiations, the international arms control agenda was bare and therefore arms control negotiators were not distracted by the NGO call for a landmine ban. Even critics of the landmine ban movement credited NGOs with bringing the landmine issue to international attention. One critic writes that “[d]espite its considerable history, little has been recorded about the use of these weapons [landmines],” until they “attracted the attention of the media and humanitarian groups.”