Mine Action April

Annually, the 4th of April is observed as the United Nations’ International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action (or Mine Action Day for short).

As one of the first commercial operators in the mine action space, having worked in the sector since inception in 1989, we take our commitment to raising awareness of each Mine Action Day’s objectives seriously; the objectives are central to our own mission of enabling the safe and sustainable realisation of our clients’ ambitions and aspirations. 

Therefore, this April we’re taking our commitment a step further, and launching Mine Action April. 

Throughout this month we’ll introduce you to some of our colleagues who staff our mine action projects in a wide variety of roles – from a cook to a medic, from an improvised explosive device disposal mentor to a logistics executive.

Using their stories and experiences, and in their own words they’ll explain how the wide range of activities that come under the mine action umbrella make a critical difference in some of the most heavily contaminated nations globally, where explosive remnants of past and present wars are an ongoing impediment to safety.

What is mine action?

Mine action is a sector within which multiple actors operate to identify and reduce the impact and risk of explosive hazards – from landmines to cluster munitions, from improvised explosive devices to small arms and ammunition.

The purpose of the work done under the banner of mine action is to reduce the threat to a level where people are actually safe.

The work is more than removing the explosive threat, it includes protecting people from risk, supporting victims and providing opportunities for stability and sustainable development.

What is UN mine action?

According to the United Nation’s Mine Action Service (UNMAS), its work is focussed on saving lives, facilitating the deployment of UN missions and delivering humanitarian assistance.

Further, the UN’s mine action focus is about protecting civilians, supporting the voluntary return of the internally displaced and refugees, enabling humanitarian and recovery activities and advocating for international humanitarian and human rights law.

How does SafeLane support the mine action sector?

SafeLane’s international work is often done in direct support of UN missions and objectives.  All the work we have done in terms of demining nations, clearing explosive remnants of war and training armed and peacekeeping forces to mitigate explosive threats comes under the banner of mine action.

In addition to quite literally clearing ground and breathing new life into contaminated environments, we commit to risk education, and employing and training local national capacity.  But as you will see throughout April, the work any operator does in this critical humanitarian sector is not about the individual operator or the company they are employed by – it’s about returning safe land to communities, making a positive discernible difference, and protecting life.