Deminers: Women excavating the explosive remnants of war

The Conversation

Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to Angie Chioko and Nika Kokareva about clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance, in order to return safe land to their communities. At the end of 2024, The Landmine Monitor Report revealed that children suffer disproportionately from landmines across the world. The remnants of war remain in the ground for decades, claiming civilian lives, long after the fighting had ended.

Angie Chioko is a Supervisor at the Mazowe Camp in Zimbabwe, working for The Halo Trust. Zimbabwe is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. The minefields were laid in the 1970s during a civil war by the country’s ruling army. In Zimbabwe today, the landmines cut off access to water supplies, pasture land, and cause children to take longer routes to school.

Nika Kokareva is a Team Leader in the Mykolaiv region of Ukraine, working for Mines Advisory Group. The country has seen a rise in landmines and unexploded ordnance since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The United Nations Development Programme has said Ukraine is now the most mined country in the world, with potentially 23 percent of its land at risk of contamination with landmines and unexploded ordnance.

Produced by Elena Angelides

Image: (L) Nika Kokareva credit Mines Advisory Group. (R) Angie Chioko credit The Halo Trust.)