Team:Edinburgh/mapxmluganda



Uganda <![CDATA[Landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) in Uganda are the result of armed conflict and civil strife over the past four decades. The greatest threat is in the north of the country, following many years of conflict with the non-state armed group, the LRA/M, and includes mines, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and abandoned explosive ordnance.

Although the precise extent of mine contamination in Uganda remained to be clarified, by June 2008, based on evidence from re-survey and clearance records, it seemed that the mine problem was far smaller than previously thought. Danish Demining Group (DDG), which provides technical advice to the Uganda Mine Action Centre (UMAC), believes the mine contamination in Uganda is “limited,” observing that mines are often confused with UXO and that, more often, suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) prove to contain no contamination at all. In March 2008, UMAC, DDG and the GICHD conducted a desk study of 533 completed survey forms and concluded that Uganda had a “small-scale nuisance” mine problem. Only 24 landmines had been found after visiting hundreds of sites over a two-year period.

UNDP in Uganda also believes the remaining landmine problem is small. In April 2008, the resident representative said in a speech on International Mine Awareness Day that “Recent technical assessments have concluded that landmine contamination in the north is actually very small, and people’s fears of large minefields are unfounded. Landmines do not present a major threat to returning IDPs [internally displaced persons] if the people are given adequate mine risk education.” Also in April, the UNDP Crisis Prevention and Recovery Unit in Uganda said “Our surveys in Gulu, Amuru, Pader, Kitgum and Kasese districts, Lango and Teso regions, show no minefields exist.”

In 2007, the Association of Volunteers in International Service (AVSI) recorded 23 mine/ERW casualties in five incidents, including 10 people killed and 13 injured. Two casualties were military and the others were civilian (five boys, five girls, three men, two women, and six of unknown age/gender). Twenty-two casualties were caused by ERW and one by an unknown device. AVSI casualty data is not nationwide.

An incident on 21 July 2007 causing 14 casualties occurred while transporting ERW in Lira district. Other activities at the time of the incident were digging while farming (four), cooking (three), and burning ERW (two military). ]]> <![CDATA[]]>