| المستخلص: |
Africa has a large proportion of landmines in the world, helped by the large number of wars and conflicts, old and contemporary, on the continent, in addition to the ease and affordability of mine manufacturing. Mines are dangerous because they cause a loss of humans (both the dead and the injured) and biodiversity, and prevent access to land and reduce its productivity. The number of mines in Africa at the beginning of current century was about 44.9 million. The states that suffered most were Egypt (23 million mines), Angola (15 million mines) and Mozambique (3 million mines). Forty nine member states of the African Union joined the Mine Ban Treaty (Ottawa, 1997), along with three others (i.e. Egypt, Libya and Somalia), in addition to the Western Sahara. The Convention obliges States Parties to destroy their stockpiled mines in four years, and remove all anti¬personnel landmines in their territories in ten years. Between 1999 and 2008, the number of mine victims in Africa amounted to 16,390 (22.3% of mine victims in the world), and in Middle East and North Africa 8,558 (11.6%). Angola topped the African countries (2,664 victims), followed by Somalia (2,354 victims). Space spatial mine accidents increased in 2012 and hit 18 African countries, with Sudan (109 victims) in the forefront. The total international contributions to assist mine-affected countries in 2012 were nearly $497 million, with African countries receiving nearly $142 million. Mine combating in Africa and the world requires raising awareness of the dangers of mines, more international cooperation, and inventing new untraditional methods of landmine clearance operations
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