Landmines and disability: a challenge faced together

UGANDA, Source: Reuters Alertnet.

Landmines are among the most dangerous weapons in armed conflict � easy and cheap to plant, but extremely difficult and costly to remove. If not cleared, mines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) continue to kill or mutilate long after the conflict has ended. They can last for decades, maiming and killing and disrupting the social and economic life of affected communities.

Although there are fewer mines in Uganda than in other mine-affected countries, such as Afghanistan, Angola, Mozambique and Iraq, they still pose a difficult problem. There is little or no information on the location or suspected location of mines, because this ordnance has been used on an ad hoc basis; what information is available has been obtained after civilian involvement in a mine/ERW accident, or from data collected by hospitals.

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