5. Demining

Landmines don't discriminate; they are just as likely to kill a child as they are a soldier. And they keep on killing long after the guns of war have been silenced.

To help address this scourge, the UN is undertaking 'mine action' measures, which include demining, as well as victim assistance, mine-risk education, destruction of stockpiled landmines and advocating for a world free of the threat of landmines.

Demining activities make it possible for peacekeepers to carry out patrols, humanitarian agencies to deliver assistance, and ordinary citizens to plow their fields or walk to school without fear that a single misstep could cost them their lives.

Indian military engineers looking for mines at airstrip near Kongolo, North Katanga, Republic of the Congo.

United Nations Operation in the Congo (ONUC)

Kongolo, Republic of the Congo, 15 December 1962, UN Photo/BZ, 62349


 

Two deminers working in Mwanga, Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)

Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 4 April 2007, UN Photo/Martine Perret, 142640