CLEARING LAND MINES IS WOMEN'S WORK

February 8, 2001 – (Washington Post article in The Record – Waterloo, Ontario) In Kosovo, 100 women are removing land mines as technicians for the Slovenian-founded International Trust Fund (ITF) for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance.

"We are all surprised -- they are better, more careful, more disciplined and willing to follow the rules than the men," said ITF Director Jernej Cimpersek. Many locals, including former soldiers and fighters, have been recruited in the Balkans to clear the region of mines.

Cimpersek is here with ITF Chairman Vojislav Suc to help raise the last $3 million of a $28 million pledge from the United States. Those funds will match an equivalent sum being provided by the European Union, individual governments, private organizations, companies and individuals.

Though peace is holding in the Balkans, countless thousands of mines that were seeded along the front lines continue to take a horrendous toll. Since 1995, they have killed 400 people in Croatia and injured 1,200. Since 1996, 900 people have been injured and 390 killed in Bosnia. The figures in Kosovo since 1999 are 400 injured and 100 killed.

The ITF was established by Slovenia three years ago, and two-thirds of all de-mining activity in the Balkans is carried out by the organization's staff.

There is no need to clear mines in Slovenia because it largely managed to avoid the recent wars in the Balkans. But the country has experience from clearing old munitions from its border with Italy, which was the First World War front line between the Austro-Hungarian empire and the Italian army.

Over the years, Slovenia's equivalent of the National Guard has cleared 20 tonnes of old mines and munitions from the border and continues to find more, Suc said.

De-mining is carried out as a business. Bidders compete for ITF tenders, and as companies learn to do it more efficiently, the cost has come down from $50 per square metre to $2 or $3.

"We are successful because we know the region, its languages and culture," said Cimpersek, who suggested that similar organizations should be formed in Africa and other regions to get rid of mines there. "This concept could be implemented as a model for the rest of the world," he said.