United Nations Association of the USA Demining Initiatives, Africa and Lebanon
Millions of people the world over are affected either directly or indirectly by landmines. The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that landmines kill or maim approximately 26,000 people annually, including 8,000 to 10,000 children. In addition to the obvious threat to human life, minefields hinder development—by preventing use of the land for farming or grazing or construction—in the approximately 70 countries in which they have been found.

Removal of landmines is of utmost importance; however, this is impeded by the cost of clearing a minefield, which ranges from thousands to millions of dollars. “Landmine survivors worldwide long for a day when the weapon that scarred our bodies and killed our loved ones is forever abolished from the face of the earth,” wrote Jerry White and Ken Rutherford, co-founders of an organization called the Landmine Survivors Network.

In 1998, Targum Shlishi participated in and helped to support a UNA-USA Landmine Clearance Inspection Tour of Africa. The tour, which included Mozambique, Angola, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, consisted of fact-finding meetings with key local decision makers and investigation of the landmine situation and challenges to demining.

The trip yielded significant results, including the development of a series of programs aimed at accelerating demining efforts. Targum Shlishi has donated funding for one of these new programs, the K-9 Demining Corps. Administered by the Marshall Legacy Institute, the program supplies teams of explosive-sniffing dogs, which are extremely effective in detecting the weapons. The dog team that Targum Shlishi supported was sent to southern Lebanon in early 2001 to assist in demining efforts there.

“We greatly appreciate the support of Targum Shlishi, through which invaluable public/private partnerships were created to find innovative solutions to long-standing problems with critical issues, such as reducing the threat of landmines, UN Peacekeeping operations, and other international affairs,” said Ralph Cwerman, senior advisor for the Landmine Clearance Inspection Tour and president of the Humpty Dumpty Institute. www.unausa.org

UNA-USA, peacekeeping mission to Russia
Targum Shlishi’s director, Aryeh Rubin, took part in a peacekeeping mission to Russia to explore the US role in United Nations’ peacekeeping operations and to look into regional peacekeeping operations. The trip began in Moscow with a meeting with representatives of Russia’s foreign ministry to discuss Russia’s performance in peacekeeping operations. Other regions explored included Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and the Republic of Georgia. The tour then traveled to Abkhazia to explore the landmine situation there. Targum Shlishi supported the efforts of the UNA-USA.

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