Mine action entails more than removing landmines from the ground. It includes actions ranging from teaching people how to protect themselves from danger in a mine-affected environment to advocating for a mine-free world.
There are five aspects or pillars of mine action:
- Removing and destroying landmines and explosive remnants of war and marking or fencing off areas contaminated with them.
- Mine-risk education to help people understand the risks they face, identify mines and UXO and learn how to stay out of harms way.
- Medical assistance and rehabilitation services to victims, including job skills training and employment opportunities.
- Advocating for a world free from the threat of landmines and encouraging countries to participate in international treaties and conventions designed to end the production, trade, shipment or use of mines.
- Helping countries destroy their stockpiles of mines as required by international agreements, such as the 1999 anti-personnel mine-ban convention.