BAMYAN CITY (SW): In a landmark development, the Danish Demining Group (DDG) has initiated training women to defuse landmines in Bamyan province.
This exclusive training for women de-miners began on May 15 and would conclude on June 10. As many as 15 women have been selected for this professional training course for defusing a variety of landmines.
Yasuhero Eicheshe, technical adviser at the DDG, informed Salam Watandar this program for women in Bamyan is in collaboration with the DRC organisation. She informed this program would not only help clear the areas of deadly mines, but would also provide job opportunities for many women.
The DDG plans to expand the scope of this program for potential women de-miners to other provinces of Afghanistan as well considering the cultural values of the country.
A number of participants of the program informed not many women and children are educated about unexploded landmines, which is why a lot of them become victims. Nakbakht Husni, one of the participants of this training program, said she learned a lot about landmines through this program.
Najiba Qasemi, another participant of the training program, said the training has helped them overcome fear, and be able to defuse landmines.
According to the DDG, after years of war, Afghanistan is one of the countries in the world most affected by landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW).
Since 1967, there have been over 24,300 casualties from mines and ERW, making Afghanistan the country with the highest number of recorded mine/ERW victims in the world. In recent years, victim activated pressure-plate IEDs (PPIEDs) have also caused a significant number of accidents among civilians. According to the Landmine Monitor, in 2014 there were 1,296 casualties from mines (4%), ERW (33%) and IEDs (63%), which represents a rise of 23% in the number of civilian victims compared to 2013’s casualty figures.
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