Transforming Lives in Zimbabwe

Although conflicts end, landmines laid during years of fighting will continue to kill and maim innocent civilians. True peace does not arrive until the landmines are gone for good.

Zimbabwe is home to some of the densest minefields in the world. It’s estimated that up 5,500 mines were laid per kilometre during the Liberation War of the 1970s—in an attempt to counter the flow of freedom fighters across the borders with Zambia and Mozambique.

In the years since the fighting ended, the desperate search for land has led families to settle and build their homes right alongside the minefields—often with deadly consequences.

Over 1,500 people have lost their lives or been injured by landmines

Ordinary life is filled with risk. Every day hundreds of children make the dangerous trek through the minefields to reach school, farmers are stopped from expanding their crops and valuable livestock are lost to mine accidents at an unprecedented level—decimating the precarious existence of rural communities.

By removing the landmines, life for thousands of families is transformed

HALO’s deminers have been working across the Mt. Darwin and Rushinga Districts in the north of the country since 2013. Painstakingly they search the land metre by metre to ensure all the mines are located and destroyed.

In the last two years alone, they have made 49.5km of land safe, and at a handover ceremony today this land is being returned to the community, benefitting more than 27,000 people. Once the land is returned—families can start using it to grow crops, herd livestock, build homes and access vital resources, such as clean water, safely.

Making land safe is just part of the story.

HALO employs and trains local men and women to clear the landmines—often working on minefields that directly threaten their own communities. By creating jobs where opportunities are scarce, people like Noel, Section Commander for HALO in Chisecha, have the chance to help themselves, their family and become change-makers in their own communities.

Noel has been able to build a secure home for his family thanks to his job with HALO—but he hasn’t stopped there. He believes it is his duty to share his good fortune with the whole village and is developing an Early Childhood Centre where orphaned and disadvantaged children can receive an education.

Since we began work in in 2013, our dedicated teams of Zimbabwean deminers have worked tirelessly to clear the landmines that endanger lives and livelihoods. This week we reached a major milestone—75,000 landmines cleared—making safe almost half the land on the affected northern border area. This is landmine clearance on a vast scale - in 2017 HALO Zimbabwe alone cleared 9% of all landmines destroyed globally.

This work would not have been possible without the assistance of the Zimbabwe Mine Action Centre and the generous support of our donors, including: The UK Department for International Development, US Department of State, The Government of Japan, Irish Aid, OAK Foundation, World Without Mines, The Julia Burke Foundation and Actiefonds Mijinen Ruimen.