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| New feet for landmine survivors, made by landmine survivors in Cambodia. Photo: Peter Dudley |
Donors and affected states contributed a record $771.5 million in 2017; an increase of $203 million over 2016 (all figures in USD).
Unfortunately, Canada has not kept pace with other countries and finds itself well down the list of total contributions made by donors.
In 2017, Canada contributed $10.9 million to global mine action in eight countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Columbia, Ukraine, Syria, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Lao PDR.
This represents a $2.4 million decrease from the previous year.
Has Canada walked away from this humanitarian issue?
“I do not think they have intentionally walked away,” said Mr. Hannon, executive director of Mines Action Canada in an email interview.
“Part of the reason the funding is down may be a change in the reporting period (from fiscal year to calendar year). However, there is no trend towards increasing funding which is where Canada should be. That is more likely due to the fact that Canada currently does not have a national plan on mine action. Such a plan will make it clear how much of a priority the government sees mine action to be. In the past Canada had an ambassador for mine action and also a five-year dedicated fund that was renewed once. It is unlikely either of those will be reinstated so in their absence a coherent and comprehensive plan is needed to provide focus in particular on the steps Canada needs to make to meet its obligations under the Ottawa Treaty on landmines and the Convention on Cluster Munitions.”
Twenty years ago the world came to Ottawa to sign the Mine Ban Treaty. The government of the day – led by Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Foreign Affairs Minister, Lloyd Axworthy – dedicated a significant amount of time and energy working on the treaty.
Mr. Hannon is hopeful Canada will return to being a top five donor (as Mines Action Canada has longed called for) and take on more of a leadership role.
One pillar of mine action that desperately needs more support is victim assistance. Only two percent of identifiable support in 2017 went toward helping victims.
The 2018 Landmine Monitor recorded 7,239 casualties in 2017. This includes people who were either killed or injured by landmines or other explosive remnants of war.
As in previous monitor reports, the majority of the victims were civilians and nearly half were children.
“To me it is both curious and disappointing that victim assistance is always underfunded since survivors of landmines and cluster munitions were central to the global efforts to ban those two weapons (landmines and cluster bombs),” said Mr. Hannon.
“A considerable amount of victim assistance funding comes from the Leahy War Victims Fund in the US. There is a dedicated fund and it is easy to track. Perhaps more countries should consider such an approach,” added Mr. Hannon.
Global Affairs Canada did not respond to Canadian Newsblog’s request for information.
To read Landmine Monitor reports, click here.
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