Removing mines to make families safe in Kosovo

The HALO Trust team in Kosovo has been hard at work destroying landmines and ensuring all contaminated land is cleared before returning it to the local communities who depend on it for hunting, woodcutting and grazing animals, and also build shops and service stations along bordering roads.

Jetmir and his family are local residents in Ponoshec, Kosovo, and are just a few of the almost 600 individuals who will benefit from clearance here. Jetmir supports his family through agricultural work but knows he must avoid taking his animals to graze in certain areas that are contaminated with cluster munitions, despite it being good grazing land.

“Even when I am taking my animals past the area here on the low-ground, I still become nervous. You never know exactly where the safe area stops, and the dangerous area begins,” he told HALO. “There is a lot of land up on the hill where the cluster bombs fell – people do not take their herds there because it is not worth the risk. However, when it is cleared, people will definitely use that area – and I will go there, too!"

With high unemployment rates, most living in rural areas in Kosovo depend on the land for farming, foraging, and grazing animals, and with your help families like Jetmir’s will soon be able to do this without the danger and fear of landmines.

This holiday season you can give the gift of peace. Make a donation in honor of someone special and GlobalGiving will send the gift recipient a holiday card, email or print-at-home file. Not only will you be investing in a Kosovo free from mines, you are also crossing names off your holiday shopping list! Look for the 'Gift or In-Honor Of' tab below the orange donate button on the project site.