Engineering Skills in Mine Action

The global landmine problem came to the attention of researchers in the mid 1990's and by 1997 several advanced and expensive sensor research programs had started. Yet, by the end of 2004, there is still frustration with the apparent lack of productivity improvement in humanitarian demining, especially with new technologies. Given the motivation and dedication of researchers, public goodwill to support such programs, and substantial research resources devoted to the problem, it is worth asking why these programs do not seem to have had an impact on demining costs or casualty rates. Perhaps there are factors that have been overlooked. A possible explanation is that researchers have accepted mistaken ideas on the nature of the landmine problems that need to be solved. Another explanation may lie in the political and economic realities that drive the worldwide effort to eliminate landmines. Most of the resources devoted to landmine clearance programs come from humanitarian aid budgets: landmine affected countries often contribute only a small proportion because they have different priorities based on realistic risk-based assessment of needs and political views o