To Walk the Earth in Safety 12th Edition (FY2012)

In 2013, we celebrate 20 years of U.S. Government agencies working together to lead the international donor community in supporting the clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), as well as the destruction of at-risk and unsecured weapons and munitions. The United States first became involved in humanitarian demining in 1988 by sending a team to assess the landmine situation in Afghanistan. In 1993, U.S. assistance took an important step forward when the Department of State (DOS), Department of Defense (DOD), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) formed an interagency partnership to coordinate U.S. humanitarian demining programs globally. U.S. efforts have helped numerous countries reduce the impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), contributed to a dramatic reduction in the worldwide annual casualty rate from these threats, allowed refugees and internally displaced persons to return safely to their homes, enhanced the political and economic stability of nations affected by landmines, and increased international security. This edition of our annual report, To Walk the Earth in Safety, examines how far we have come in two decades of sustained support for humanitarian mine action (HMA) and details the programs and partnerships that comprise the U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) Program, which includes HMA. Since 1993, the U.S. has contributed over $2 billion to more than 90 countries around the world to reduce the harmful worldwide effects of at-risk, illicitly proliferated, and indiscriminately used conventional weapons of war

To Walk the Earth in Safety 16th edition (CY2016)

Even after a conflict ends and the fighters have gone home, the threats from landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), and at-risk weapons and munitions remain. These threats foment instability; as long as men, women, and children fear to move about their communities due to the lingering threat of landmines and UXO, a society can never fully heal and rebuild. The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) works with foreign governments and nongovernmental organizations to deliver programs and services aimed at reducing the harmful effects of at-risk, illicitly proliferated, and indiscriminately used conventional weapons of war worldwide. These programs help remove landmines and UXO from former battlefields, keep weapons and ammunition out of the wrong hands, and aid countries to invest in proper stockpile management and security—including destruction of conventional weapons no longer needed. These programs play a key role in advancing the U.S. State Department’s core mission of shaping and sustaining a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world and fostering the conditions for stability and progress for the benefit of all people. Since 1993, the United States has provided more than $2.6 billion in assistance in more than 95 countries for CWD programs, delivering the expertise and equipment to secure and destroy at-risk and excess conventional weapons and safely clear mines and UXO. These funds also support mine risk education to prevent accidents, and provide prosthetics, physical rehabilitation services, and vocational training for the injured

Report to Congress on Proposed Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2021

The United States anticipates receiving more than 300,000 new asylum claimants and refugees in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. Pursuant to Section 207(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the President proposes resettling up to 15,000 refugees under the FY 2021 refugee admissions ceiling, and anticipates receiving new asylum claims that include more than 290,000 individuals. This proposed refugee admissions ceiling reflects the continuing backlog of over 1.1 million asylum-seekers who are awaiting adjudication of their claims inside the United States, and it accounts for the arrival of refugees whose resettlement in the United States was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic

2002 Trafficking in Persons Report

Over the past year, at least 700,000, and possibly as many as four million men women and children worldwide were bought, sold, transported and held against their will in slave-like conditions. In this modern form of slavery, known as “trafficking in persons,” traffickers use threats, intimidation and violence to force victims to engage in sex acts or to labor under conditions comparable to slavery for the traffickers’ financial gain. Women, children and men are trafficked into the international sex trade for the purposes of prostitution, sex tourism and other commercial sexual services and into forced labor situations in sweatshops, construction sites and agricultural settings. The practice may take other forms as well, including the abduction of children and their conscription into government forces or rebel armies, the sale of women and children into domestic servitude, and the use of children as street beggars and camel jockeys

To Walk the Earth in Safety 6th Edition (FY2004 and 2005)

This sixth edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety summarizes the accomplishments of the inter-agency U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program for fiscal years 2004 and 2005. In a strict sense, it is a combined annual report for two years on what was then and still is the world’s largest such program. But it is also a chapter in a real-life story that has a beginning, middle, and, we now know because of more than fifteen years of practical experience, an end. Public safety and regional stability can be endangered by illegally traffi cked small arms and light weapons, abandoned ordnance, and poorly secured munitions as well as by persistent landmines left from past conflicts. Some countries are affected by several of these often-interrelated problems. Therefore, this edition also chronicles the efforts of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Offi ce of Weapons Removal and Abatement to address the adverse effects in all these areas. The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program envisions assisting mine-affected countries in becoming “mine impact-free,” or having the indigenous national capacity to achieve such a condition with little to no further outside assistance. A country that is mine impact-free is one where there is no economic or humanitarian justification for large-scale humanitarian mine clearance. Achieving that goal entails more than mine clearance alone. For example, one facet of the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program described in this report is training indigenous senior and mid-level national mine action managers so that they may “take ownership” of their countries’ programs, run them efficiently, and rationally direct resources to mine-affected areas that have an immediate impact on safety and well-being. This edition also refl ects progress by its omissions. The previous edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety, published in 2004, no longer included an entry for Costa Rica. This is because Costa Rica was finally rendered mine impact free, thanks in large part to the United States. We are also delighted to omit Djibouti, Guatemala and Honduras from this edition for the same reason. Again, thanks largely to the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program, Djibouti became the fi rst mine-affected country in all of Africa to attain mine impact-free status in January 2004. Honduras followed in October 2004 and Guatemala completed demining in December 2005. Country by country, the United States’ humanitarian mine action and small arms/light weapons abatement programs are helping to remove dangerous threats and enabling more people everywhere to be able “to walk the earth in safety.

To Walk the Earth in Safety 14th Edition (FY2013)

The 13th edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety describes the programs and partnerships that comprise the U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) Program. Since 1993, the U.S. has led the international donor community in reducing the harmful effects of poorly secured, unstable or illegally traded conventional weapons of war. We have contributed over $2.3 billion to more than 90 countries around the world. This mission resonates with my own experience. I started my career in Afghanistan, where explosive remnants of war had already claimed thousands of lives. I am proud to be in a position to oversee U.S. efforts to address this threat. Our work, combined with contributions from the rest of the donor community, has significantly reduced the impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance. The worldwide annual casualty rate from these threats has plummeted. Communities are safer. Citizens are better able to rebuild their homes and livelihoods, fostering regional stability and international security. Collaboration with host nation governments has been critical to this progress, as have significant contributions from the private sector and civil society. Our programs are part of a broader U.S. framework on conventional weapons destruction. For example, at the Third Review Conference of States Parties to the Ottawa Convention in Maputo, Mozambique in June 2014, the United States announced that the United States will not produce or otherwise acquire any anti-personnel munitions that are not compliant with the Ottawa Convention, including to replace stockpiles as they expire over the coming years. Meanwhile, we are diligently pursuing other solutions that would ultimately allow us to accede to the Convention. In fiscal year 2013, the Department of State provided over$142 million in CWD assistance to 49 countries. Our program helped post-conflict communities and countries recover and rebuild by clearing landmines and other explosive remnants of war, providing victim assistance and mine/unexploded ordnance risk education, and destroying or securing conventional weapons. This report details the significant accomplishments and milestones we achieved in fiscal year 2013

To Walk the Earth in Safety 7th Edition (FY2006-FY2007)

We are pleased to offer the 7th Edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety, the report of the interagency U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program for Fiscal Years 2006 and 2007. This report also describes the conventional weapons destruction efforts of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement located in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. This office directs programs that encompass humanitarian mine action, and elimination of at-risk small arms, light weapons, man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), and munitions. Every edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety, archived at www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth, is a look back in time. This edition examines the United States’ mine action and conventional weapons destruction work in 2006 and 2007. Why the lag? It takes awhile to compile the information for these reports; however, the effort was worth it as 2006 and 2007 marked two more years of solid accomplishments. For example, thanks in part to United States’ assistance, in 2006 Macedonia was rendered free from the humanitarian impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war (“impact free”), and the last “hidden killers” were finally cleared from Mozambique’s Sena Railway. Also in 2006, progress was made with the NATO Partnership for Peace destruction initiative in Ukraine, which included the elimination of 1,000 MANPADS that were excess to Ukraine’s defensive needs. In 2007, the annual number of reported casualties from landmines and explosive remnants of war worldwide decreased to 5,751, down sharply from approximately 26,000 just four years ago. Even factoring in the difficulty of accurately accounting for all casualties, it is clear that the United States, other donors, the mine-affected countries themselves, and brave deminers all working together have made the landmine problem surmountable in our lifetime. In 2007, the United States’ destruction of at risk MANPADS surpassed 24,000 since we first began to prevent these threats to global aviation from falling into the wrong hands. Also in 2007, we celebrated the destruction of a symbolic millionth light weapon in five countries, a major milestone in the United States’ efforts to reinforce peace and the rule of law. Finally, in 2007 we marked the 10th Anniversary of our Public-Private Partnership program in which the United States encourages civil society participation to help make our world impact free from all conventional weapons. I invite you to examine this report in order to see the scope of the U.S. conflict-remediation and peace-building efforts around the world, and to learn about the organizations with which we cooperate closely to allow more people to “walk the Earth in safety.

To Walk the Earth in Safety 19th Edition (CY2019)

The United States is a strong and historic partner for affected states and a leader in donor assistance. Since 1993, the United States has provided more than $3.7 billion in CWD assistance to over 100 countries. These programs are implemented by commercial contractors, nongovernmental organizations (NGO), and international organizations. In 2019, the United States had active CWD programs in 58 countries, spanning Africa, the Middle East, South and Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. This 19th edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety catalogs the U.S. government’s achievements in CWD in each country and highlights the important partnerships building the foundation of a more secure world, in which children have the freedom to explore

Department of State - Global Affairs

The Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP) is pleased to announce a two-stage competitive process for 2010 funding of projects that will improve the response to trafficking in persons outside the United States. The first stage is submission and competitive panel review of two-page Statements of Interest (SOI) from organizations interested in submitting proposals for projects that combat human trafficking. In the second stage, G/TIP will invite applicants whose Statements of Interest are reviewed favorably to submit proposals that expand on their SOI. These proposals will also be reviewed by a panel for consideration of funding. This announcement initiates the first stage, and G/TIP is now requesting applicants to submit a Statement of Interest, as described in this solicitation. U.S.-based non-profit and nongovernmental organizations (NGO), public international organizations (PIO), foreign NGOs, and institutions of higher education are encouraged to apply by submitting a Statement of Interest. Pending appropriations, G/TIP anticipates awarding grants of up to $750,000 per project

To Walk the Earth in Safety 9th Edition (FY2009)

In 2009, the Department of State continued to lead the international donor community in providing assistance for the clearance of landmines and other explosive remnants of war, as well as the destruction of at-risk and unsecured weapons and munitions, by providing $130 million in aid to 32 countries. Although significant progress has been made over the last decade, including several countries which have been declared mine impact-free, there still remains much to do to make the world a safer place for everyone. This ninth edition of our annual report, To Walk The Earth In Safety, describes the programs and achievements of our conventional weapons destruction efforts. Where this document once referenced only our work in what we call humanitarian mine action, the report has now been expanded to include coverage of our efforts to destroy excess, loosely secured, or otherwise at-risk small arms and light weapons and related munitions, as well as partnership with a number of countries aimed at improving security at weapons and munitions storage sites around the world. None of this is done alone. The Department of State works closely with the Department of Defense, the United States Agency for International Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Department of Health and Human Services. The United States Government also works with other governments and international organizations to coordinate efforts, enact stricter controls on weapons, and provide assistance to victims of landmines and unexploded ordnance. We also engage civil society in a Public-Private Partnership program to raise awareness and expand resources for humanitarian mine action. Our shared commitment to the cause is reflected in the passion of these individuals and organizations, and together, we augment the work of other donor nations and international organizations, and help raise awareness of these issues. The United States is proud to be the world’s single largest financial supporter of efforts to address these threats, as well as the positive contributions of these programs to help countries promote stability and set the stage for post-conflict reconstruction and development. Since 1993, the United States Government has led all international donors in providing a total of nearly$1.8 billion to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance and treat accident victims. This total investment will grow as we continue to address the problem of surplus weapons and munitions. I invite you to read this report to learn about the United States’ programs and what is being done to allow everyone “to walk the Earth in safety.