To Walk the Earth in Safety 23rd Edition (FY2023)

Authors

CISR JMUFollow

Document Type

Other

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Publication Date

4-2024

Keywords

TWEIS, 2023, 23rd Edition, Risk Education, Victim Assistance, ERW Clearance, Conventional Weapons Stockpile Destruction, Advocacy and International Law, Centers and Organizations, State Department, Humanitarian Mine Action, Landmine, Clearance, Victim Assistance, Risk Education, Funding, PM/WRA, MANPADS, HMA, Training, Research, Development, PSSM, CISR

Abstract

In this year’s edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety, we highlight the many ways that U.S. conventional weapons destruction assistance promotes post-conflict recovery. For example, our humanitarian demining funding enhances food security by helping to revitalize agricultural fields in countries like Sri Lanka and Vietnam. This funding is especially critical in Sri Lanka where more than 6 million people—nearly 30 percent of the population—are currently food-insecure. In Vietnam, our commitment to promoting agricultural security is a key component to successful post-conflict recovery, even decades after war ended.

The United States is the world’s top supporter of conventional weapons destruction, providing more than $5.09 billion in assistance to over 125 countries and areas since 1993. The Department of State, Department of Defense, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) work with foreign governments, private companies, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations to reduce excess small arms and light weapons, and ammunition stockpiles (including MANPADS), implement physical security and stockpile management, and conduct humanitarian mine action.

In fiscal year 2023, the Department of State invested more than $348 million* in conventional weapons destruction, and continued to lead the U.S. Interagency MANPADS Task Force, which coordinates MANPADS counter-diversion efforts by the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, and other stakeholders. Through these coordinated efforts, the U.S. government helps partner nations eliminate excess MANPADS and better secure the systems they keep. In addition, the Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Training Center trains deminers, ammunition handlers, and stockpile managers from partner countries. Additionally, the Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program improves conventional weapons destruction technologies, increasing the efficiency and safety of humanitarian demining worldwide. USAID’s Leahy War Victims Fund assists survivors of encounters with landmines and explosive remnants of war.