Suchergebnisse

The United States is committed to reducing these threats worldwide and is the leading financial supporter of CWD, providing more than $4.2 billion in assistance to more than 100 countries since 1993. This makes the United States the world's single largest financial supporter of CWD. The Department of State, Department of Defense, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) work together with foreign governments, private companies, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to reduce excess SA/LW and conventional munitions stockpiles (including MANPADS), implement best practices for PSSM at conventional weapons storage sites, and carry out HMA programs. In 2021, PM/WRA managed $234 million* in CWD assistance programs globally. It also led the U.S. interagency MANPADS Task Force (MTF), which coordinates counter- MANPADS efforts by the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, and other relevant stakeholders, and helps partner nations eliminate or better secure their MANPADS. In addition to these Department of State-led efforts, the Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Training Center (HDTC) trains deminers, ammunition handlers, and stockpile managers from partner countries. The Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program (HD R&D) improves CWD technologies, enhancing the efficiency and safety of humanitarian demining operations around the world. USAID also assists landmine and ERW survivors, providing medical and rehabilitative care through the Leahy War Victims Fund (LWVF).

The United States is a strong and historic partner for affected states and a leader in donor assistance. Since 1993, the United States has provided more than $3.7 billion in CWD assistance to over 100 countries. These programs are implemented by commercial contractors, nongovernmental organizations (NGO), and international organizations. In 2019, the United States had active CWD programs in 58 countries, spanning Africa, the Middle East, South and Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. This 19th edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety catalogs the U.S. government's achievements in CWD in each country and highlights the important partnerships building the foundation of a more secure world, in which children have the freedom to explore.

This 18th Edition of To Walk the Earth In Safety summarizes the United States' Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) programs in 2018. CWD assistance provides the United States with a powerful and flexible tool to help partner countries manage their stockpiles of munitions, destroy excess small arms and light weapons (SA/LW) and clear explosive hazards such as landmines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and unexploded ordnance (UXO). Our assistance also helps countries destroy illicitly-held or poorly-secured man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) and mitigate their threat to civilian aviation and public safety. In today's dynamic world, threats to U.S. national security abound. The work carried out by the Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/ WRA) through its CWD programs is essential to protecting civilians and advancing our nation's interests. From my work as a Reserve Naval Officer and as a staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I understand the need for a robust effort to secure weapons so they do not fall into the hands of nefrious actors. Stockpiles of excess, poorly-secured, or otherwise at-risk conventional weapons remain a serious challenge to peace and prosperity in many countries. Poorly-secured munitions are illicitly diverted to terrorists and other destabilizing actors. Explosive hazards continue to kill and maim people long after conflicts have ended, preventing the safe return of displaced people and suppressing economic opportunities that are crucial to prosperity and political stability. As long as these dangers persist, it is difficult for communities to recover from conflict. Since late 2015, the United States and our partners in the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS have cleared IEDs from critical infrastructure in Iraq and Syria including hospitals, schools, and water pumping stations, facilitating the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars in stabilization assistance and humanitarian aid into liberated areas. In this regard, explosive hazard clearance serves as an essential enabler for follow-on stabilization and humanitarian assistance. CWD programs such as this lay the foundation for long-term benefits. U.S. humanitarian demining assistance to Vietnam began in 1993 and helped set the stage for our current bilateral relationship. In the near term, across Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, CWD programs focused on excess and poorly-secured weapons have helped keep those weapons out of the hands of criminals and terrorists. Since 1993, the United States has provided more than $3.4 billion in CWD assistance to over 100 countries. In 2018, we had active CWD programs in 59 countries. These programs are implemented by commercial contractors, nongovernmental organizations, and international organizations. United States CWD programs are tied to key U.S. foreign policy priorities and play a direct role in keeping U.S. citizens and our allies safe, while also clearing the way for a stable, secure, and prosperous future in countries that are key to U.S. security interests. Thanks to the U.S. Congress' bipartisan support and generosity of the American people, we can attest that our goal remains a future in which all may walk the earth in safety.

This 17th Edition of To Walk the Earth In Safety summarizes the United States' CWD programs in 2017. CWD assistance provides the United States with a powerful and flexible tool to help partner countries manage their stockpiles of munitions, destroy excess small arms and light weapons (SA/LW) and clear explosive hazards such as landmines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and UXO. Our assistance also helps countries destroy or enhance security of their man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) and their threat to civilian aviation, in addition to other weapons and munitions. The United States is committed to reducing these threats worldwide and is the leading financial supporter of CWD, providing more than $3.2 billion in assistance to more than 100 countries since 1993. This makes the United States the world's single largest financial supporter of CWD. The Department of State, Department of Defense, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) work together with foreign governments, private companies, and international and nongovernmental organizations to reduce excess SA/LW and conventional munitions stockpiles (including MANPADS), implement physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) best practices at conventional weapons storage sites, and carry out humanitarian mine action programs. The Department of State, through the Political-Military Affairs Bureau's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA), manages CWD assistance and oversees programs in 47 countries in 2017. It also leads the U.S. Interagency MANPADS Task Force, which coordinates counter-MANPADS efforts by the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, and other relevant stakeholders, and helps partner nations eliminate or better secure their MANPADS. The Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Training Center (HDTC) trains deminers, ammunition handlers, and stockpile managers from partner countries. The Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program (HD R&D) improves CWD technologies, enhancing the efficiency and safety of humanitarian demining operations around the world. USAID assists mine and UXO survivors, providing medical and rehabilitative care, through its Leahy War Victims Fund.

Supporting conventional weapons destruction (CWD) is a cornerstone of our national security policy. This 2016 edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety highlights the United States programs, managed primarily by the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA), that keep weapons and ammunition out of the wrong hands and assist nations in clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). The dangers posed by mines and UXO can linger for decades. In areas reeling from recent fighting, stabilization and humanitarian assistance efforts are effectively blocked until key sites are cleared of explosive hazards. Civilian populations near contaminated land could face permanent injury or death by performing everyday activities such as accessing clean water or walking to work or school. Our programs continue to evolve to reflect changes on the ground. On the one hand, casualties from factory-made anti-personnel landmines have fallen steadily in recent years, which is very good news. We can be proud that investments in mine action and the hard and dangerous work of the demining teams has paid off, clearing contaminated land in many places and making it safe for communities to return and resume their livelihoods.

Even after a conflict ends and the fighters have gone home, the threats from landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), and at-risk weapons and munitions remain. These threats foment instability; as long as men, women, and children fear to move about their communities due to the lingering threat of landmines and UXO, a society can never fully heal and rebuild. The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) works with foreign governments and nongovernmental organizations to deliver programs and services aimed at reducing the harmful effects of at-risk, illicitly proliferated, and indiscriminately used conventional weapons of war worldwide. These programs help remove landmines and UXO from former battlefields, keep weapons and ammunition out of the wrong hands, and aid countries to invest in proper stockpile management and security—including destruction of conventional weapons no longer needed. These programs play a key role in advancing the U.S. State Department's core mission of shaping and sustaining a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world and fostering the conditions for stability and progress for the benefit of all people. Since 1993, the United States has provided more than $2.6 billion in assistance in more than 95 countries for CWD programs, delivering the expertise and equipment to secure and destroy at-risk and excess conventional weapons and safely clear mines and UXO. These funds also support mine risk education to prevent accidents, and provide prosthetics, physical rehabilitation services, and vocational training for the injured.

The 13th edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety describes the programs and partnerships that comprise the U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) Program. Since 1993, the U.S. has led the international donor community in reducing the harmful effects of poorly secured, unstable or illegally traded conventional weapons of war. We have contributed over $2.3 billion to more than 90 countries around the world. This mission resonates with my own experience. I started my career in Afghanistan, where explosive remnants of war had already claimed thousands of lives. I am proud to be in a position to oversee U.S. efforts to address this threat. Our work, combined with contributions from the rest of the donor community, has significantly reduced the impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance. The worldwide annual casualty rate from these threats has plummeted. Communities are safer. Citizens are better able to rebuild their homes and livelihoods, fostering regional stability and international security. Collaboration with host nation governments has been critical to this progress, as have significant contributions from the private sector and civil society. Our programs are part of a broader U.S. framework on conventional weapons destruction. For example, at the Third Review Conference of States Parties to the Ottawa Convention in Maputo, Mozambique in June 2014, the United States announced that the United States will not produce or otherwise acquire any anti-personnel munitions that are not compliant with the Ottawa Convention, including to replace stockpiles as they expire over the coming years. Meanwhile, we are diligently pursuing other solutions that would ultimately allow us to accede to the Convention. In fiscal year 2013, the Department of State provided over $142 million in CWD assistance to 49 countries. Our program helped post-conflict communities and countries recover and rebuild by clearing landmines and other explosive remnants of war, providing victim assistance and mine/unexploded ordnance risk education, and destroying or securing conventional weapons. This report details the significant accomplishments and milestones we achieved in fiscal year 2013.

In 2013, we celebrate 20 years of U.S. Government agencies working together to lead the international donor community in supporting the clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), as well as the destruction of at-risk and unsecured weapons and munitions. The United States first became involved in humanitarian demining in 1988 by sending a team to assess the landmine situation in Afghanistan. In 1993, U.S. assistance took an important step forward when the Department of State (DOS), Department of Defense (DOD), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) formed an interagency partnership to coordinate U.S. humanitarian demining programs globally. U.S. efforts have helped numerous countries reduce the impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), contributed to a dramatic reduction in the worldwide annual casualty rate from these threats, allowed refugees and internally displaced persons to return safely to their homes, enhanced the political and economic stability of nations affected by landmines, and increased international security. This edition of our annual report, To Walk the Earth in Safety, examines how far we have come in two decades of sustained support for humanitarian mine action (HMA) and details the programs and partnerships that comprise the U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) Program, which includes HMA. Since 1993, the U.S. has contributed over $2 billion to more than 90 countries around the world to reduce the harmful worldwide effects of at-risk, illicitly proliferated, and indiscriminately used conventional weapons of war.

In 2011, the United States continued to lead the international donor community in providing assistance for the clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war, as well as the destruction of at-risk and unsecured weapons and munitions. In Fiscal Year 2011, the Department of State allocated $142 million in assistance to 42 countries, thereby helping communities recover, and countries become more secure. This 11th edition of our annual report, To Walk The Earth In Safety, details the programs and partnerships that make the United States' Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) program a lasting success. Increased instability as a result of sweeping political change in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011 endangered the security of a range of weapons stockpiles across the region. In Libya, the revolution and eventual collapse of the Qadhafi regime brought increased attention to the global threat posed by illicit proliferation of weapons, including man-portable air-defense systems or MANPADS, also known as shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. For the last year, the United States has led an international effort to help Libya secure its conventional weapons stockpiles. Our commitment to stability and security in the Middle East, including Syria and North Africa, ensures that the U.S. will continue working to help reduce illicit weapons proliferation throughout the region. Since 2003, our cooperation with more than 30 countries around the globe has led to the reduction of nearly 33,000 excess, loosely secured, or otherwise at-risk MANPADS by the U.S. CWD program. While MANPADS remain a top U.S. priority, landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), and explosions at poorly maintained depots continue to kill or injure thousands of civilians annually. A tragic example of this occurred in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo, on 4 March 2012 when a munitions depot exploded, resulting in more than 250 deaths and more than 2,000 injured. UXO was thrown as far as three kilometers (nearly two miles) from the blast epicenter, forcing tens of thousands of families from their homes and posing lingering hazards to emergency responders and complicating recovery efforts. Working in close coordination with national authorities and with technical experts from the United Nations and specialized nongovernmental organizations (NGO), the United States funded and deployed a team of civilian technical experts known as the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) to help dispose of nearly 20,000 items of damaged and unstable munitions. This allowed some area residents to return home and safely rebuild. Through humanitarian mine action, the United States continues to clear a path to a safer world. We congratulate Burundi, Jordan, Nepal, and Nigeria on declaring themselves mine-impact free this year, and we are proud of the U.S. contribution to their efforts. In 2011, under U.S. chairmanship of the Mine Action Support Group, 24 donor nations and NGOs worked to improve donor coordination around the world. In addition, our increasing engagement in the Pacific has resulted in the continued cleanup of abandoned and unexploded ordnance, mostly from World War II, in the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and other Pacific nations. In 2011, our Public-Private Partnership Program grew to almost 70 partners and continued to apply new energy, ideas, and financial resources to the field of CWD, including humanitarian mine action. Partnering with civil society enables us to expand our reach, raise awareness, and encourage grassroots participation. The United States' CWD program has contributed close to $2 billion to more than 90 countries to reduce the harmful worldwide effects generated by indiscriminately used, illicit, and abandoned conventional weapons of war since 1993. I invite you to read this report and learn about the significant conflict-remediation and peace-building efforts the U.S. is making around the world. I extend my appreciation to the U.S. Congress and American taxpayers who support our efforts to help everyone "to walk the Earth in safety."

Welcome to the 10th edition of To Walk The Earth In Safety. Our annual report details the United States' Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) Program, a collaborative effort by the Department of State, Department of Defense, United States Agency for International Development, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the Department of Health and Human Services. These agencies strive to help countries recover from conflict and create safe, secure environments to rebuild infrastructure, return displaced citizens to their homes and livelihoods, and establish situations conducive to stability, nonviolence, and democracy. From its initial focus on landmines dating back to 1993, the CWD program has expanded to encompass remediation of all explosive remnants of war, as well as the destruction of excess, loosely secured, or otherwise at-risk small arms and light weapons (SA/LW), including man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) and munitions. These programs leverage our longstanding involvement and experience in humanitarian mine action to provide additional assistance to countries recovering from conflict, as well as those struggling to control unstable and unsecure munitions that could spark a new humanitarian crisis, or in the case of MANPADS, can endanger global aviation if these potent weapons fall into the wrong hands. The United States is proud of its leadership in this area. We continue to be the world's leading donor to CWD, including humanitarian mine action. In Fiscal Year 2010, the Department of State provided $161.5 million in CWD assistance to 43 countries, which contributed to the extraordinary plummet in annual landmine casualties. Since the inception of the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program, we have contributed more than $1.9 billion in CWD assistance to 81 countries, helping several of them become free from the humanitarian impact of landmines in the process. We are proud to have played a part in Central America's 2010 declaration that it has become mine-impact free, the first region in the world to do so. Our Quick Reaction Force also assisted with clearing abandoned and unexploded munitions left over from World War II in Torokina, Papua New Guinea, thereby returning the land to Torokina residents in 2010. This work is not done in a vacuum. Extensive efforts to partner with other donor nations, international organizations, and affected states are a hallmark of our CWD Program. The United States also engages in multilateral fora to enact stricter controls on conventional SA/LW, MANPADS, and munitions. This year, the United States has joined with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom to form a new initiative aimed at countering the illicit proliferation of MANPADS. In addition to diplomatic engagements, the Department of State reaches out to civil society, both at home and abroad, to raise the profile of these important issues and encourage grassroots involvement in hastening an end to these challenges. Our strong Public-Private Partnership Program enables us to extend our reach and enables dedicated individuals to play a role in improving the lives of their fellow global citizens. Thanks to support from the U.S. Congress and American taxpayers, we are sustaining American leadership and values in forging ahead with diplomacy and development to help everyone walk the Earth in safety.

In 2009, the Department of State continued to lead the international donor community in providing assistance for the clearance of landmines and other explosive remnants of war, as well as the destruction of at-risk and unsecured weapons and munitions, by providing $130 million in aid to 32 countries. Although significant progress has been made over the last decade, including several countries which have been declared mine impact-free, there still remains much to do to make the world a safer place for everyone. This ninth edition of our annual report, To Walk The Earth In Safety, describes the programs and achievements of our conventional weapons destruction efforts. Where this document once referenced only our work in what we call humanitarian mine action, the report has now been expanded to include coverage of our efforts to destroy excess, loosely secured, or otherwise at-risk small arms and light weapons and related munitions, as well as partnership with a number of countries aimed at improving security at weapons and munitions storage sites around the world. None of this is done alone. The Department of State works closely with the Department of Defense, the United States Agency for International Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Department of Health and Human Services. The United States Government also works with other governments and international organizations to coordinate efforts, enact stricter controls on weapons, and provide assistance to victims of landmines and unexploded ordnance. We also engage civil society in a Public-Private Partnership program to raise awareness and expand resources for humanitarian mine action. Our shared commitment to the cause is reflected in the passion of these individuals and organizations, and together, we augment the work of other donor nations and international organizations, and help raise awareness of these issues. The United States is proud to be the world's single largest financial supporter of efforts to address these threats, as well as the positive contributions of these programs to help countries promote stability and set the stage for post-conflict reconstruction and development. Since 1993, the United States Government has led all international donors in providing a total of nearly $1.8 billion to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance and treat accident victims. This total investment will grow as we continue to address the problem of surplus weapons and munitions. I invite you to read this report to learn about the United States' programs and what is being done to allow everyone "to walk the Earth in safety."

Welcome to the 8th edition of To Walk The Earth In Safety. Although we have seen real progress in combating the threat of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), conflicts persist, and the destabilizing effects of other weapons threaten peace and stability around the world. The United States works with other nations to clean up the debris of war, combat trafficking in small arms and light weapons, and improve the security and management of munitions stockpiles. Catastrophic explosions at munitions storage facilities in populated areas have become a growing problem and have the potential to create more casualties than landmines and ERW. The United States is leading an international effort to address this "dangerous depots" problem. Since 1993, the United States government has provided a total of more than $1.4 billion to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance. In 2008, the Department of State provided $123.1 million in assistance to 35 countries and continues to work bilaterally and multilaterally to cooperate and enact stricter controls. Also during 2008, the Special Envoy for MAN PADS Threat Reduction engaged foreign governments to reduce the threat from excess, loosely-secured, or otherwise at-risk man-portable air-defense systems (MAN PADS), raising the profile of this important issue worldwide. Recognizing that governments and international organizations cannot do it all, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs' Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State continues to expand its partnership program with the private sector to help over 60 partner organizations raise awareness and resources for mine action. These organizations educate civilians and assist ERW and landmine-accident survivors with rehabilitation and reintegration into society, as well as actually removing and destroying landmines, unexploded ordnance and conventional weapons. I welcome your interest in the United States' program and invite you to learn about our work with other donor nations, international and nongovernmental organizations, and concerned citizens, which underlines our commitment to implement destruction and mitigation programs and engage civil society in order to reduce the harmful worldwide effects generated by indiscriminately used, illicit and abandoned conventional weapons of war.

We are pleased to offer the 7th Edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety, the report of the interagency U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program for Fiscal Years 2006 and 2007. This report also describes the conventional weapons destruction efforts of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement located in the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. This office directs programs that encompass humanitarian mine action, and elimination of at-risk small arms, light weapons, man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), and munitions. Every edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety, archived at www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth, is a look back in time. This edition examines the United States' mine action and conventional weapons destruction work in 2006 and 2007. Why the lag? It takes awhile to compile the information for these reports; however, the effort was worth it as 2006 and 2007 marked two more years of solid accomplishments. For example, thanks in part to United States' assistance, in 2006 Macedonia was rendered free from the humanitarian impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war ("impact free"), and the last "hidden killers" were finally cleared from Mozambique's Sena Railway. Also in 2006, progress was made with the NATO Partnership for Peace destruction initiative in Ukraine, which included the elimination of 1,000 MANPADS that were excess to Ukraine's defensive needs. In 2007, the annual number of reported casualties from landmines and explosive remnants of war worldwide decreased to 5,751, down sharply from approximately 26,000 just four years ago. Even factoring in the difficulty of accurately accounting for all casualties, it is clear that the United States, other donors, the mine-affected countries themselves, and brave deminers all working together have made the landmine problem surmountable in our lifetime. In 2007, the United States' destruction of at risk MANPADS surpassed 24,000 since we first began to prevent these threats to global aviation from falling into the wrong hands. Also in 2007, we celebrated the destruction of a symbolic millionth light weapon in five countries, a major milestone in the United States' efforts to reinforce peace and the rule of law. Finally, in 2007 we marked the 10th Anniversary of our Public-Private Partnership program in which the United States encourages civil society participation to help make our world impact free from all conventional weapons. I invite you to examine this report in order to see the scope of the U.S. conflict-remediation and peace-building efforts around the world, and to learn about the organizations with which we cooperate closely to allow more people to "walk the Earth in safety."

This sixth edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety summarizes the accomplishments of the inter-agency U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program for fiscal years 2004 and 2005. In a strict sense, it is a combined annual report for two years on what was then and still is the world's largest such program. But it is also a chapter in a real-life story that has a beginning, middle, and, we now know because of more than fifteen years of practical experience, an end. Public safety and regional stability can be endangered by illegally traffi cked small arms and light weapons, abandoned ordnance, and poorly secured munitions as well as by persistent landmines left from past conflicts. Some countries are affected by several of these often-interrelated problems. Therefore, this edition also chronicles the efforts of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs' Offi ce of Weapons Removal and Abatement to address the adverse effects in all these areas. The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program envisions assisting mine-affected countries in becoming "mine impact-free," or having the indigenous national capacity to achieve such a condition with little to no further outside assistance. A country that is mine impact-free is one where there is no economic or humanitarian justification for large-scale humanitarian mine clearance. Achieving that goal entails more than mine clearance alone. For example, one facet of the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program described in this report is training indigenous senior and mid-level national mine action managers so that they may "take ownership" of their countries' programs, run them efficiently, and rationally direct resources to mine-affected areas that have an immediate impact on safety and well-being. This edition also refl ects progress by its omissions. The previous edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety, published in 2004, no longer included an entry for Costa Rica. This is because Costa Rica was finally rendered mine impact free, thanks in large part to the United States. We are also delighted to omit Djibouti, Guatemala and Honduras from this edition for the same reason. Again, thanks largely to the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program, Djibouti became the fi rst mine-affected country in all of Africa to attain mine impact-free status in January 2004. Honduras followed in October 2004 and Guatemala completed demining in December 2005. Country by country, the United States' humanitarian mine action and small arms/light weapons abatement programs are helping to remove dangerous threats and enabling more people everywhere to be able "to walk the earth in safety."

By the end of 2002, the United States will have provided more than $600,000,000 to 43 countries, as well as to northwest Somalia, for various humanitarian demining efforts, such as deminer training, mine awareness and mine clearance, orthopedic assistance to, and socioeconomic reintegration programs for, landmine accident survivors and their families. More than $100,000,000 of this total was spent in Fiscal Year 2002, one of the largest commitments of any nation involved in financing humanitarian demining activities. The goals of the U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program are simple and direct: to reduce the loss of life and limb of innocents; to create conditions for the safe return of refugees and internally displaced persons; and to afford opportunity for economic and social reconstruction. Our principal means of achieving these objectives is to assist all mine-afflicted countries in establishing a sustainable, indigenous demining capacity with the appropriate resourcesand skills needed to sustain that degree of progressthat allows a country to declare itself mine-safe. This, the fourth edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety:The United States Commitment to HumanitarianDemining, tells the U.S. story, but not the wholestory. Foreign governments, the United Nations,other international and non-governmental organizations,and mine-affected countries also play a critical role in supporting humanitarian demining programs.The impact of these collective contributions has already been felt in many of these countries. In the near future several countries will be able to declare themselves mine-safe, while many other countries are even now capable of sustaining their own mineaction activities. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons have returned to their homes. Tens of thousands of acres of land formerly fallow because of the presence of landmines are now burgeoning with agricultural produce necessary to sustain life. Roads to marketplaces are now open; access to potable water is once more available; previously empty schools again are the centers of learning for the nations' young.