Demining in the mountains

Chris Chenavier, Handicap International’s Head of Mission in Lebanon, reflects on the organization's operations in the country:

"Handicap International is a leading actor in demining in Lebanon. We cleared 343,000 m2 of land between January 2011, when we first launched our operations, and October 2015, affecting 30,000 people in 13 different villages.

The zones we have been working in have two defining characteristics: they are all on sloping terrain, which is often extremely steep! This means we cannot use our heavy-weight demining machines. Everything has to be done by hand. In addition, some of the land is at 1,000 - 2,000 meters altitude. We can only work in these areas from March to October due to the snow cover in the winter.

Some of these zones are extremely heavily contaminated: in the area around the village of Niha, in the period from July to September, we destroyed 290 mines!

The region we work in is primarily farmland: we clear the land and hand it back to the small landowners who very rapidly start growing crops again, in particular olive trees. The presence of mines has also blocked development projects, mainly in the tourism sector. These are now free to go ahead and many areas are now open for hiking trips.

We still have 130,000 square meters to demine in the province of North Lebanon. Four demining teams of 12 people (including eight deminers) are hard at work in the area. With each team capable of clearing 30,000 square meters of mines each year, we estimate that the work will be finished by the start of 2017.

Lebanon aims to be "free of mines and explosive remnants of war" in 2020. Although the country is not signed up to the Ottawa Treaty,[1] it does strive to comply with its requirements."

About Handicap International

Handicap International is an independent international aid organization. It has been working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster for 30 years. It has been conducting anti-mines action since 1992 in four humanitarian demining sectors: demining, risk education, victim assistance and advocacy. Its “global” approach enables it to act consistently in each of these four fields of action, in which it has acquired a unique technical expertise. The organization works in 43 countries affected by mines and explosive remnants of war. Handicap International was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for its anti-mines actions.