Governments plan to improve help for landmine victims

By Anastasia Moloney

CARTAGENA, Colombia (AlertNet)- As a little girl, Kosal Song often helped her mother collect firewood near her village in Cambodia. Then, aged five, a landmine exploded and she lost her right leg.

Since the accident 20 years ago, Song has had to rely on support from her family and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), who have provided prosthetic legs and sponsored her schooling and university English degree.

"I couldn't have survived without their help and my family," she told AlertNet at a major landmine conference in Cartagena, Colombia.

"When I was nine, I remember my father made me a wooden crutch so that I could walk one kilometer to school."

There are around 300,000 landmine victims around the world and many share Song's experiences. This week, the issue has dominated discussions among the 156 signatory countries of the Mine Ban treaty gathered at the conference.

While significant headway has been made towards destroying stockpiled mines since the landmine treaty was signed 10 years ago, far less progress had been made towards pushing governments to providing assistance to mine survivors.

"Most survivors have yet to see a substantial improvement in their lives and in access to medical care, physical rehabilitation, psychological support, social services, education and employment," said Christine Beerli, vice-president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in an address to delegates on Thursday.

She urged donor countries and state parties to invest more in victim assistance, an issue which has received roughly 5 percent of the $4 billion spent on mine action during the last decade.

"In the next five years, our action, or inaction, in this field will determine whether the Convention makes a real difference to the life of survivors," said Beerli.

While watching the conference, Song remembered a childhood growing up in isolation as she watched other children play and run around freely.

"Survivors are lonely, they lose their arms or legs, and then they lose their hope," she said and wiped away her tears.