Printed from: www.icbl.org/Treaty/MBT/Annual-Meetings/6MSP/Old/Media/John-Rodsted
«Halfway» - Photo exhibition by John Rodsted opening today in Zagreb at the 6th Meeeting of State Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty.
In 1995, as the war in Bosnia came to an end, Australian photographer John Rodsted documented the landmine situation on the ground. Ten years on from the Dayton peace agreement, he went back to see what has changed.
The exhibition is called «Halfway» - Halfway to where?
John Rodsted - Basically, viewers can make their own minds up about this, but to me it is halfway to finishing the job of freeing Bosnia from landmines. Going back after 10 years I saw some definite improvement in demining activities. It is heartening to see heavily mined lands being returned to local communities and reconstruction happening in places that had been literally shot to pieces. But it was sad to see that some things seem to be getting worse. You would hope that after a decade things would improve, but some of the people I met ten years ago are actually worse off these days. The needs of landmine survivors are being neglected because of insufficient funding and there is a danger that this could deteriorate further as demining gets done and funding starts moving elsewhere.
You are showing this exhibition at the meeting of States that have committed to a ban on landmines. What is the message for government representatives?
The message to donor countries is «Don't walk away on a job half done. Stay committed, stay involved.» Demining will eventually be completed one day but the problem of mine survivors will not go away – not until the last one of them dies of old age… Granting landmine survivors appropriate assistance, giving them their lives back is going to require permanent engagement and commitment on the part of all Mine Ban Treaty members.
John Rodsted has been working in mine affected countries for 20 years and has been involved in the mine ban movement for the past ten.