Handicap International, the French-based organisation dedicated to helping people with disabilities worldwide, co-founded the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. Karl Blanchet, director of Handicap International U.K., spoke to Katherine Arie about what the British branch of the organisation is doing to keep the campaign alive and the difficulties it faces because the United States has not signed the Mine Ban Treaty.

AN: What is Handicap International, how did it begin and why?

KB: Handicap International was created in 1982 in France, by three French doctors who had been working for other NGOs on the border of Thailand and Cambodia. They created Handicap International to produce prostheses for people in refugee camps who had been injured by landmines. They also tried to re-integrate these people into society in refugee camps, to help them find income-generating activities and have economic stability. Another section of Handicap International was opened in Belgium. Others followed -- Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, and then the U.K. in 1999.

AN: What does Handicap International U.K. do?

KB: Handicap International U.K. mainly provides technical support to the field. British people have some specific skills and development experience. It’s very useful for Handicap International to be in contact with British NGOs and British institutes. We work in the landmine field but also in the disability field, and we raise funds for programs with DFID (the British government's Department for International Development), the Diana Fund and other donors.

AN: What’s the idea behind landmine awareness week?

KB: To continue informing the British public about the danger of landmines and the importance of continuing the international campaign. The idea is to broadcast movies about education and de-mining programs that have been implemented by Handicap International and other organisations.

AN: And it coincides with a national campaign to get the British government to support new international legislation – the remnants of war legislation – that would require countries to clear landmines and cluster bombs after war.

KB: Exactly. We see landmines and cluster bombs as part of the same problem, the problem of unexploded munitions. With Landmine Action, which is the other organisation supporting the international landmine campaign in the U.K., we’re trying to convince MPs to increase the funds allocated to de-mining and education programs.

AN: What’s the environment like for you, given what looks like impending war in Iraq?

KB: It’s quite a hard time, actually, for anti-landmine organisations. People are focused on other issues, like possible war, and it’s been hard to keep landmines a high priority issue in the media and with the public. After the Peace Prize in 1997, we had momentum. Now, it’s very hard. And the only superpower has not signed the (Mine Ban) treaty.

AN: So you put a lot of stock in international agreements.

KB: Yes, I do.

AN: How difficult is it for you that the United States has not signed? It’s more than a symbolic issue, isn’t it?

KB: It’s quite a huge problem. They could have so much influence on other governments. But because they did not sign the treaty, we have delays in funding of activities in the field and delays in convincing other governments to sign. It’s quite hard to convince the governments who say, "the U.S. didn’t sign it." But, we have some U.S. organisations working in developing countries, and they do the same work as us. They do a really good job, and they’re supported by the general public in America, so I think the problem is with the American government, not the people. Some of the people are really, really pushing to have an international treaty signed by the U.S.

AN: Finally, what about the social and economic consequence of landmines?

KB: Another big problem. For example, if you try to work on the reconstruction of the health sector in Afghanistan, you have to take into consideration the costs of de-mining Afghanistan. For one landmine, it will cost you 10 dollars. And the value of that landmine is just one dollar. Plus you need to add the cost of health care for surgery, and prostheses, for rehabilitation of disabled people, then you have to work on the social aspects, like economic activities for people with disabilities, and on rights, at the national level, for people with disabilities. If you add the costs of all of these activities, it’s quite a high cost for the government for a government in a post-conflict situation.