The right of the child to special protection in armed conflicts is being violated every day by the estimated 100 million land-mines that adults have planted in the soils of at least 62 countries.
Fertile farmland is left uncultivated, roads abandoned, and water sources made unsafe.
Children are particularly vulnerable to the mines, most of which are triggered by pressure, even the light weight of a child, or by a trip-wire. Some kill or maim by explosive force, others spew metal fragments. Angola, with about 9 million, is a close second. Cambodia, where the 12-year civil war has left the countryside littered with 4 to 7 million mines, comes third in the lethal league table. More than 362 types of land-mine are currently made in 55 countries.