Cambodia looks back at 20 years of mine action in a unique exhibition at the Phnom Penh Railway Station

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Phnom Penh, 23 November 2011. The exhibition “Landmines in Cambodia: Twenty Years of Action”, organised at the Phnom Penh Railway Station from the 24th November to the 18th December 2011, offers a retrospective of 20 years of mine action in Cambodia. The retrospective features a visual history of mine action in Cambodia and how it evolved from a humanitarian emergency response to a development priority. Finally, the exhibition shows how, as one of the most mine-affected countries in the world, Cambodia sparked the international movement to ban anti-personnel mines, and is at the forefront of the promotion of a universal ban on these weapons.

This exhibition organised by the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, Cambodia Mine Action Centre and UNDP with contribution from more than twenty partner-organisations (national and international operators and NGOs, development partners, private sector organisations, etc.) aims at informing the Cambodian public of the history of landmines and mine action in Cambodia, including the current state of contamination and the impact of landmines and Explosive Remnants of War on human and economic development. The exhibition will be opened to all with no entry fee.

This exhibition is an event of the Eleventh Meeting of the States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (11MSP) hosted by the Royal Government of Cambodia from 27th November to 2nd December 2011 in Phnom Penh. It will be the largest international meeting ever held in the Kingdom of Cambodia with more than 1,000 planned participants from Governments, international organizations and civil society.

Cambodia`s landmines are a result of 30 years of armed conflict. Financial support from development partners has helped to remove and destroy 902,913 landmines from 1992 until January 2011. It is estimated that some 650 million square meters of land are still contaminated by mines; one-third of landmine survivors are children.