Actor Danny Glover urges more action on mines

Hollywood actor Danny Glover on Saturday urged world leaders to do more to protect children from landmines. "Our leaders talk about peace in the world yet the first thing they should start with is this deadly threat to our children," Glover told IRIN after coming face to face with victims of the deadly weapons. "It is the most painful thing when somebody is injured by these weapons," he added. "But it is an additional injustice when it is a child." During his visit to Ethiopia, Glover met 14-year-old Aberhet Amha, who lost her left leg after treading on a landmine close to her school . The youngster had longed to be a runner, after winning medals in athletics competitions. "This little girl once had dreams that pompous men decided to take away," Glover, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said. Each day 60 people are killed or maimed around the world by landmines, according to UNICEF. Ten of them are innocent children who tread on or play with weapons years after soldiers have ended their wars and gone home. "Landmines kill, maim and orphan children," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy. "When mothers are maimed or killed, children are less likely to receive adequate nutrition, to be immunised or to be protected from exploitation. When fathers fall victim to landmines, children are often forced out of school and into work to supplement family income," she added. The Ottawa Convention bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of antipersonnel mines and calls for mined areas to be cleared within 10 years. "Countries have a moral responsibility to ratify the Mine Ban Treaty and rid the world of these devastating weapons," Bellamy said. Africa is the most heavily mined continent with more than 40 million weapons still planted in the ground. Angola, Afghanistan and Iraq are among the most heavily mined countries. While each mine can cost as little as US $3 they can cost $1,000 to find and destroy. According to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, 14 countries are producers of landmines, including China, India, Egypt, Russia and the United States. There are between 300,000 and 400,000 landmine survivors in at least 121 countries. But funding to help victims has dropped in recent years. SEE: IRIN Web Special on Humanitarian Mine Action, (with special focus on the 2004 Nairobi Summit of a Mine Free World)