The Inter-American Monitoring Group on Humanitarian Demining in Colombia (GMI-CO), a mission of the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) in support of the Comprehensive Action Program against Antipersonnel Mines of the Organization of American States (OAS), competes for the traditional “Make a Difference” award, in the World category, awarded annually by the Brazilian newspaper “O Globo”.
The nomination reflects the recognition of governments, academia, the press, private organizations and civil entities, around the world, for the valuable work carried out during the last 30 years, towards the noble purpose of eliminating the scourge of antipersonnel mines from the American hemisphere, devices that indiscriminately affect innocent people, destroy economies and compromise lives.
The IADB has supported humanitarian demining in Latin America since 1993, with military personnel from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela and Uruguay.
Said support, always in conjunction with OAS programs, began with the Assistance Mission for Mine Clearance in Central America, which operated from 1993 to 2010 in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, in addition to providing technical advice to Surinam. From 2002 to 2013, the South American Mine Clearance Assistance Mission operated in Ecuador and Peru. In Colombia, the IADB has operated since 2006, with the Group of Inter-American Monitors, and since 2015, with the Group of Inter-American Technical Advisors. Thus, for the last eighteen years, GMI-CO has supported the efforts of Colombian authorities to reduce the effects of antipersonnel mines and improvised devices, which have penalized the country's population for around six decades.
The results achieved represent a strong incentive for those dedicated to this difficult but essential humanitarian activity: between 2006 and 2023, the annual number of victims caused by landmines, including deaths and injuries, fell from 2,200 to 166, while Colombia left the second position in the ranking of countries with the most landmines in the world (only behind Afghanistan), moving to ninth place. Likewise, the proportion of Colombian municipalities free of mines practically doubled, reaching 80% of the total. Thanks to the support of GMI-CO, the country currently has approximately 8,700 military and civilian personnel qualified for mine action.
We are all extremely proud to be part of this fight and this beautiful story!
