{"id":4985,"date":"2024-04-04T17:47:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T15:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawai.li\/fsd\/?p=4985"},"modified":"2025-12-10T09:31:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T08:31:39","slug":"international-mine-awareness-day-land-mine-clearing-saves-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/international-mine-awareness-day-land-mine-clearing-saves-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"International Mine Awareness Day: protecting lives, building peace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

 This is regularly illustrated by press reports of accidental explosions or discoveries of devices dating from the First and Second World Wars:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u00a0\u201cGerman WWI grenade found in potato shipment\u201d\u00a0(Feb. 2019)
\u2022 \u201cD\u00fcsseldorf: 13,000 residents evacuate after WWII bomb dug up\u201d\u00a0(Aug. 2023)
\u2022 \u201cFour injured after old WWII aircraft bomb explodes in Munich\u201d\u00a0(Dec. 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Every year, thousands of people are injured or killed by mines and explosive remnants of war. In 2022, more than 8 out of 10 mine victims were civilians, half of them children.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite the passage of time, the return of peace and the emptiness of former battlefields, the threat remains. Some devices even become more unstable with time, and therefore can be more likely to explode with the slightest contact.

Unfortunately, the dangerous nature of these devices remains relatively unknown, which sometimes leads to unwise actions:\u00a0\u201cWoman drives hand grenade to police station in her car\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Jan. 2023);\u00a0\u201cPolice station evacuated after mortar and grenade from Second World War handed in\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Nov. 2023). It is essential to remember that under no circumstances should you touch or go near any explosive remnants of war, and that you should immediately call the police or the relevant services if you find anything suspicious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More than one in three countries in the world is still contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance. Between 5% and 20% of ammunition fired fails to function on impact and can potentially explode on the slightest contact.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These incidents, which still occur despite the fact that Western Europe has not experienced war for several generations, underline the persistence of this threat and the positive impact of humanitarian demining in the long term. In Ukraine, Iraq and Afghanistan, millions of mines and items of unexploded ordnance are still scattered across towns, villages, fields and forests. \u201cWithout demining, it is impossible for farmers to cultivate their land without putting themselves in danger, or for people displaced by the combat to return home without the risk of stepping in the wrong place.\u201d, explains Hansj\u00f6rg Eberle, Director of FSD. The mines removed today will undoubtedly save lives for generations to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action\u00a0 – 4 April 2026<\/h3>\n

PDF of complete Joint Statement (March 2026) Invest in Peace; Invest in Mine Action  Geneva, 31 March 2026 The world…<\/p>\n

\n Landmines and explosive remnants<\/span>\n Humanitarian demining<\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/a>\n \n

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FSD’s Mine Action Programme in Ukraine<\/h3>\n

Complete Ukraine brochure (March 2026) \u2013 PDF Our ongoing operations \u2013 March 2026 As of March 2026, more than 450…<\/p>\n

\n Humanitarian demining<\/span>\n Ukraine<\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/a>\n \n

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Interview with Olivier Shu \u2013 La Ligne de c\u0153ur (RTS La Premi\u00e8re)<\/h3>\n

\u25b6\ufe0f Listen now \u00a9 Interview broadcast on RTS La Premi\u00e8re, in the programme La Ligne de c\u0153ur About Olivier A demining expert…<\/p>\n

\n Landmines and explosive remnants<\/span>\n Machines, drones and technology<\/span>\n Humanitarian demining<\/span>\n Ukraine<\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 This is regularly illustrated by press reports of accidental explosions or discoveries of devices dating from the First and Second World Wars: \u2022\u00a0\u201cGerman WWI grenade found in potato shipment\u201d\u00a0(Feb. 2019)\u2022 \u201cD\u00fcsseldorf: 13,000 residents evacuate after WWII bomb dug up\u201d\u00a0(Aug. 2023)\u2022 \u201cFour injured after old WWII aircraft bomb explodes in Munich\u201d\u00a0(Dec. 2021) Despite the passage of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"news_country_category":[],"custom_post_format":[],"class_list":["post-4985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-landmines-and-explosive-remnants"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4985"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6368,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4985\/revisions\/6368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4985"},{"taxonomy":"news_country_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_country_category?post=4985"},{"taxonomy":"custom_post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/custom_post_format?post=4985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}