On September 1, 2009, in Jaffna- a normal day in the lush fields of northern Sri Lanka, three children were herding cattle and found an unknown item in a dried-up water canal. It was 10-year old Livakaran who picked it up and started rubbing it against the grey concrete. The other two children tried to stop him but it was too late.

Nine- year old Shalini and her little brother suffered injuries to their head and neck. Livakaran died on the spot. The area was considered safe as people had been using it since 1996. This year, UNICEF and its partners recorded 13 similar incidents leading to 22 casualties", said Ms Desiree Jongsma, UNICEF representative ,at a seminar on ‘ International Law on landmines and Explosive Remnants of War’

The two- day meeting was organized in collaboration with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, supported by UNICEF.

" UNICEF’s activities in Sri Lanka seek to prevent such tragedies, focusing on mine risk education at community level and via the school system, together with actions to improve the situation of mine or UXO accident survivors.." she explained.

Mr Bernard Savage, Ambassador and Head of delegation , European Commission, pointed out that the EU in its mine action strategy 2005-2007 set itself the strategic objective ‘to drastically reduce the lingering threat an impact of landmines in the context of increased local security and regional confidence’.

This European Roadmap towards a zero victim target introduced prioritized mine clearance in high-impact areas and sought to encourage non- signatory states to accede to the mine ban treaty’ he said.

"The European Commission has paid due tribute to the leadership, which the Government of Sri Lanka has shown with the adoption of a national Strategy for Mine Action in 2006.

"As a island nation Sri Lanka now no longer has a military land border that could warrant the deployment of anti-personnel mines for defensive purposes. Next month, the Ottawa Convention will be reviewed in Colombia, ten years after it came formally into force. The accession of Sri Lanka to the Mine Ban treaty as its 156th signatory state would send a signal, which would not go unheard around the world, especially not in Brussels," he concluded

Earlier, SL Army Commander, delivering the keynote address said "…with regard to the Anti- Personnel Mine ban Convention, although Sri Lanka is not a party to the Convention in view of the past situation of conflict in the country, Sri Lanka has consistently maintained that Sri Lanka fully subscribes to the humanitarian objectives of the Treaty.’