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Table of Contents
Country Reports
Zambia, Landmine Monitor Report 2003

Zambia

Key developments since May 2002: In 2002, 721 kilometers of road along Lake Kariba were cleared to open up the area for a US$50 million World Bank development project. A level one survey was carried out in Western Province in November 2002. Zambia will destroy some of the 6,691 antipersonnel mines initially designated to be retained for training.

Mine Ban Policy

Zambia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 12 December 1997 and deposited its instrument of ratification on 23 February 2001. The treaty entered into force for Zambia on 1 August 2001. In May 2002, Zambia reported that the Legislative Drafting Department of the Attorney General's Chambers was in the process of incorporating the Mine Ban Treaty into domestic law.[1] At the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September 2002, the Zambia delegation said the process “is expected to be concluded by the end of this year or early next year.”[2] In January 2003, in his opening address to the Zambian Parliament, President Levy Mwanawasa urged parliamentarians to address the issue of landmines in Zambia.[3] Landmine Monitor is unaware of further action.

Zambia’s submitted its initial Article 7 report on 31 August 2001, covering the period from 1 April to 31 August 2001. As of July 2003, Zambia had not provided its two annual updates, due on 30 April of each year. At the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Zambia said that the failure to carry out a national mine impact survey had resulted in “difficulties in completing some parts of the Article 7 update report.”[4]

Also at the Fourth Meeting, Ambassador B.M. Bowa noted Zambia’s support “for the total implementation of the Ottawa Convention,” and cited “the finalization of a Mine Action Center and the fact that Zambia now has a small number of humanitarian deminers” as a concrete demonstration of that support.[5] Zambia participated in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February and May 2003.

Zambia voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74 on 22 November 2002, calling for the universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.

Production, Transfer and Stockpiling

Zambia has not produced or exported antipersonnel mines. In its August 2001 Article 7 report, Zambia reported that it had a total of 6,691 antipersonnel mines in its stockpile, and intended to retain all of them for training purposes.[6] The ICBL raised questions about the need to retain such a number.[7] At the May 2003 Stockpile Destruction Standing Committee meeting, Zambia stated that a decision had been made to destroy some of the stockpile of retained mines, but no numbers were provided.[8]

Landmine Problem and Survey

There are no well-defined minefields in Zambia.[9] According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Zambia has a landmine problem in six of its nine provinces on the borders with Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia.[10] At the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, the Zambia delegation stated, “The areas most affected are those along our border and former freedom fighters camps and we suspect there could be some mines around some of our many refugee camps.... [L]arge areas of potential productive land in affected areas have been inaccessible areas for over 30 years. In these areas, many infrastructures and essential services such as roads, schools, health center, airstrips, etc, are no longer in use due to fear of the presence of landmines. Indeed, it was only recently that a consultant with a World Bank-funded development project was killed by a landmine. That project has since stalled.”[11]

In a document issued in July 2002, the government stated that the landmine problem is particularly acute in southern Zambia’s Gwembe Valley, where some sections of the lakeshore and the Bottom Road are contaminated with landmines. Other affected areas include: Lower Zambezi and Siampondo in Kalomo, Southern Province; Sinjembela area, Lyangati and Mangango, Western Province; Nyimba and Petauke districts, Eastern Province; Chikumbi, Serenje, Mkushi and Mboroma, Central Province; and Kavalamanja in Luangwa, Lusaka Province.[12]

In July 2002, President Mwanawasa appealed to Namibia for help with the landmine problem in its Western Province from which SWAPO freedom fighters had operated.[13] In response, a team from the Zambian Mine Action Center (ZMAC) was joined by their Namibian counterparts to help establish the scale of the landmine problem in the Western Province. A level one survey was carried out at the end of November.[14] A national survey is anticipated to follow, to be funded by the United States and Zambia.[15]

Mine Action Coordination

In 1999, Zambia established a National Task Force on the Anti-Personnel Mine Convention to act as the “nucleus organ” for the full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.[16] On its recommendation, Zambia established a Zambian Mine Action Center (ZMAC) in August 2001, to set priorities for and coordinate mine action in the country.[17] In 2001, the US government supported a capacity building program for ZMAC, through the commercial company RONCO, in both operation and management of a national humanitarian demining program.[18]

In July 2002, the government stated that it needed more “support from the international community in areas of more training, technical assistance and equipment to improve the Zambia Mine Action Center (ZMAC).”[19] It also stated it planned to “develop a strategic integrated national mine action plan” to clear mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) to support the socio-economic development of the country. To achieve this goal it outlined the following objectives: develop a sustainable management and organizational structure through ZMAC, develop survey capacity (impact survey), develop and maintain community-based mine risk education programs, develop mine and UXO clearance capacity, develop quality assurance and quality control capacity, develop a landmine survivor assistance program, and develop the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) to assist in planning and priority setting.[20]

Mine Clearance, Risk Education, and Funding

Zambia began clearance operations in May 2002.[21] In 2002, 721 kilometers along the Bottom and Nkandanzovu Roads along the Lake Kariba were cleared to open up the area for a US$50 million World Bank project known as the Tonga-Gwembe Development Project. The number and types of mines cleared have not been declared yet as a verification report has not yet been made public. The project was funded by the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the Zambian government. According to the Development’s Project Manager, “The certification of the completion of the de-mining of the Bottom Roads was according to UNMAS standard as applied by RONCO.”[22]

There have not been any sustained or organized mine risk education (MRE) programs in Zambia. Army and Ministry of Home Affairs officials give impromptu MRE when carrying out mine clearance in an area.[23]

In July 2003, the Japanese NGO Association for Aid and Relief (AAR) received about $69,000 from the Japanese government for a mine risk education project at the Maheba refugee camp to benefit people awaiting repatriation to Angola. The project is based on a survey on landmine awareness among refugees conducted by AAR in Maheba which revealed that most refugees had no knowledge of landmines or the signs of landmine presence, and did not know what precautions to take in mined areas.[24]

In its fiscal year 2002, the United States reports mine action funding for Zambia in the amount of $1,008,000. These funds supported staff management, survey and database management, mine clearance operations, medical support, and mine risk education conducted by US military personnel.[25]

Landmine Casualties and Survivor Assistance

In November 2002, a boy was injured by an antipersonnel mine in Kaongamesa Village in Western Province.[26] In 2001, no reports of landmine casualties were found.[27] Since 1980, there have been at least 200 landmine casualties, although the number could be higher as hospitals do not keep specific records on mine casualties.[28]

The public health service does not distinguish between landmine/UXO survivors and other persons with disabilities and the needs of landmine survivors are addressed within the existing public health care infrastructure. There are physical rehabilitation and socioeconomic reintegration programs for persons with disabilities, including the Chipata Community Based Rehabilitation Program, the Livingstone Community Based Rehabilitation Program, and the Solwezi Community Based Rehabilitation Program.[29]

In February 2003, Zambia made a presentation to the intersessional Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, and reported that although the Zambian Mine Action Center has no program for mine survivor assistance, facilities are available through the Cheshire Home[30] which operates in the Solwezi District, Kasama and in Lusaka Province, the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services, and the Association of the Blind and Handicap. However, the Ministry of Development and Social Services reportedly does not have sufficient funds to address the needs of mine survivors and other persons with disabilities. The University Teaching Hospital provides prosthetics at a low cost, while the Zambia-Italian Orthopedic Hospital offers higher-cost prostheses.[31]


[1] “Presentation on the Present Status of Ratification and Implementation of IHL Treaties and Conventions in Zambia,” made to the ICRC-hosted Southern African Regional Seminar on International Humanitarian Law, Pretoria, South Africa, 21-23 May 2002.
[2] Statement delivered by Ambassador Bonaventure M. Bowa, to the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 17 September 2002.
[3] “President Levy P. Mwanawasa’s Speech the Zambian Parliament,” Times of Zambia, 18 January 2003.
[4] Statement delivered by Ambassador Bonaventure M. Bowa, to the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 17 September 2002.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Article 7 Report, Forms B and D, submitted on 31 August 2001.
[7] ICBL intervention to the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 6 February 2003.
[8] Oral remarks to Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 15 May 2003 (Landmine Monitor/HRW notes).
[9] Statement to the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, 17 September 2002.
[10] United Nations Mine Action Service, “Mine Action Assessment Mission Report, Zambia,” 29 May-7 June 2000, p. 7.
[11] Statement to the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, 17 September 2002.
[12] "Zambia Landmine Problem," 25 July 2002. Document issued by the Government of Zambia.
[13] Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 529.
[14] Interview with Mr. Mark Singongi, Coordinator, Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Landmines, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 5 December 2002.
[15] Statement made by Dan Mozena, Charge d’Affairs, US Embassy in Lusaka, reported in Times of Zambia, 18 November 2002.
[16] For details of the National Task Force's function and mandate, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 174.
[17] Statement by Prof. Mwelwa C. Musambachime, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Zambia to the United Nations, New York, 21 November 2001.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Government of Zambia document, “Zambia Landmine Problem,” 25 July 2002.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Email from US State Department Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, 11 July 2002.
[22] Interview with Mrs. D.N.H Kaluwa, Tonga-Gwembe Valley Development Project Manager, Siavonga, 23 January 2003.
[23] UNMAS, “Mine Action Assessment Mission Report, Zambia,” 29 May-7 June 2000, p. 12.
[24] “Japan Donates to Maheba,” The Times of Zambia, distributed via COMTEX News, 11 April 2003.
[25] US Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” September 2002.
[26] Interview with Mark Singongi, Coordinator, Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Landmines, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 5 December 2002.
[27] Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 530.
[28] US Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” September 2002, p. 24.
[29] Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 530.
[30] See also ICBL Portfolio of Landmine Victim Assistance Programs, September 2002, available at www.landminevap.org.
[31] Zambia, Presentation to the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 4 February 2003.