Les Nations unies et la lutte contre les mines antipersonnel : au-delà d'Ottawa

In: Politique étrangère: revue trimestrielle publiée par l'Institut Français des Relations Internationales, Band 62, Heft 4, S. 629-639

Abstract

The United Nations and Mine Action, by Bernard Miyet
On December 2, 3 and 4 last year, approximately one hundred States gathered in Ottawa to sign a treaty banning antipersonnel landmines. This extraordinary achievment should not hide the scope of the work that remains to be done: according to the ICRC, 800 people are killed and 1,200 maimed every single month by landmines; about 70 states are directly affected by the problem. The United Nations has already accomplished a lot, establishing half a dozen demining programmes in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. In a view to strengthen its capacity, the Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has designated the Department of Peacekeeping Operations as new focal point for mine action. The aim is to better coordinate the activities of the various partners (UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR, Non-Governmental Organizations...) while developing the humanitarian dimension of a problem which has all too often been looked at solely under its technical and military aspects.