Faced with the devastation caused by antipersonnel landmines, we soon realized that medical care alone would not be enough. Handicap International therefore made a commitment to victims of mines, their families and their communities to help them, as far as possible, to lead a normal life. The organization also carries out prevention work and political campaigning to stop the killing and maiming of farmers working the land or children on their way to school. Political action, healthcare, orthopaedic fitting, assistance, awareness raising and mine-clearance have become the corner stones of our anti-mine campaign.  

For victims mutilated by mine explosions, the road to recovery is long and finding their place in the community again difficult: healthcare, orthopedic fitting, rehabilitation, psychological support as well as assistance with social and economic inclusion and support from local organizations all ensure that the rights of people with disabilities are recognized.

In Mozambique, in Bosnia and in Cambodia, landmines and unexploded ordnance are a latent but ever present danger.  Such war debris blocks access to water and farmland and poses a threat to men, women and children.  Humanitarian mine-clearance is the only way by which these threatened populations can go back to living a normal life. Handicap International intervenes directly or supports local teams who carry out technical surveys, produce mine location maps, delimit and mark minefields, destroy mines and prepare the land for use.  

Knowing how to recognize a mine or how to behave when threatened by one can save lives. This kind of information is given to at-risk populations via Mine Risk Education Programs (MRE).  Through presentations in schools and at public meetings and the distribution of brochures, Handicap International works at both the national and regional level in eleven countries.  Staff usually work with the local education system as well as traditional and religious networks. 

Years of assisting victims ultimately made it impossible for the organization to limit itself to seeking humanitarian and technical solutions to the landmine problem and so Handicap International decided to campaign for a ban. The organization is currently campaigning for the universal adoption of the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty and for a ban on cluster munitions.

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