Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUnifeed
AFGHANISTAN / MINE AWARENESS
STORY: AFGHANISTAN / MINE AWARENESS
TRT: 1.20
SOURCE: UNAMA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 3 APRIL 2013, KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
1. Pan left, from audience to podium
2. Med shot, audience
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Abigail Hartley, Programme Manager UN Mine Action Service Program in Afghanistan:
“Since 1989 over 21,000 minefields and battlefields have been cleared.”
4. Wide shot, audience
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Abigail Hartley, Programme Manager UN Mine Action Service Program in Afghanistan:
“As a result, 2,200 communities and 121 districts are completely free of mines.”
6. Wide shot, audience
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Bowden, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan:
“Every mine cleared reduces the threat of death and injury to Afghan civilians and furthermore, MACCA’s work enables other humanitarian agencies, both UN and NGOs to safely access communities in need.”
8. Wide shot, audience
9. Zoom out, Mine Action Day Exhibit
10. Pan left, demining team
11. Close up, deactivated mines
12. Wide shot, deactivated mines
13. Tracking shot, demining team
In the Afghan capital, Kabul, a ceremony marking the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action took place Wednesday (3 April) with the high-level participation of representatives of the Afghan government, the diplomatic community, and international and national organizations.
The widespread and indiscriminate use of mines and munitions during more than 30 years of conflict has made Afghanistan one of the most heavily contaminated countries in the world.
Abigail Hartley, who is the Programme Manager for the UN Mine Action Service Program in Afghanistan told the audience that “since 1989 over 21,000 minefields and battlefields have been cleared” in Afghanistan.
As a result, she said “2,200 communities and 121 districts are completely free of mines.”
The Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan, Mark Bowden, told the audience that “every mine cleared reduces the threat of death and injury to Afghan civilians.”
Furthermore, he said the work done by the Mine Action Programme in Afghanistan (MAPA) “enables other humanitarian agencies, both UN and NGOs to safely access communities in need.”
MAPA is one of the largest mine action programmes in the world, with a 20-year history of activity.
From the start of the programme in 1989 up to now, 21,585 casualties by mines and explosive remnants of war have been recorded.
In 2012 alone, 356 casualties were recorded – an average of 30 casualties per month – representing a decrease from 2,027 in 2001, which had an average of 169 casualties per month.
The event in Kabul included performances and displays of de-weaponized mines and other explosive ordnance.
In December 2005, the General Assembly declared April 4 the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. The declaration stemmed from recommendations by UN Member States, which wanted to create an opportunity to sustain public awareness about the problem of landmines and explosive remnants of war and the efforts to eliminate them.
Download
There is no media available to download.
