Landmines still to be cleared 25 years after Princess Diana’s minefield visit
Howard Lake | 15 January 2022 | News
Twenty five years ago today Princess Diana walked in a minefield in Angola to highlight the urgent humanitarian need to clear landmines and ban their use.
The international press obliged and the photos of the Princess of Wales, one of the most photographed people on the planet, walking in protective clothing in Huambo, Angola, are still memorable today.
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Yet 25 years on from her visit 1,100 minefields are still to be cleared in Angola alone. Darren Cormack, CEO of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), says:
“Diana’s bravery in speaking out on the landmine issue 25 years ago was a decisive catalyst for so much positive change. Angola and the world will never forget her work and the role she has played in helping to free millions of women, girls, boys and men from the daily fear of landmines.”
After seeing the indiscriminate horror caused by landmines up close, the Princess of Wales lent her support to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), run by a coalition of organisations, including MAG.
At an event co-hosted by MAG in the summer of 1997, Diana lamented “the waste of life, limb, and lands which anti-personnel landmines are causing amongst some of the poorest people on earth.”
She added: “The mine is a stealthy killer, long after conflict has ended its innocent victims die or are wounded.”
MAG has been working in Angola since 1994 and, in the last decade, has cleared more than 12 million square metres of land and supported more than 600,000 women, girls, boys and men to live, work and play free from fear.
Princess Diana’s public support for a ban on landmines drew criticism from some politicians close to a UK government reluctant to back a global ban.
In 1997, MAG shared the Nobel Peace Prize for its role in the campaign.
Prince Harry
During a trip to Angola in 2019 to follow in his mother’s footsteps, Prince Harry acknowledged the scale of the remaining problem. He wondered what his mother might have gone on to achieve, saying: “There are still more than 1,000 minefields in this beautiful country that remain to be cleared. I wonder if she was still alive whether that would still be the case.”
Honouring Princess Diana’s work
To honour Princess Diana’s legacy, Darren Cormack argues:
“Now is the time for the international community, including the UK, to restore and renew its commitment to Angola.
“Diana’s campaigning helped galvanise world governments to support landmine clearance in Angola and beyond. But more funding is needed if we are to realise her vision of a landmine-free future for the 60 million people across the world who still live in fear of these deadly devices.”
Diana and fundraising
Diana’s profile and adoption of the cause — and her association with MAG and other ICBL organisations, alongside HALO — had an undoubted public awareness impact. This lead to an increase in public support and, following the effect of the treaty she helped usher in, from institutional funders.
A MAG spokesperson told UK Fundraising “we still have donors today talk about mine action as the “Princess Diana cause”.”
- The death of HRH Princess Diana (31 August 1997)
- Princess Diana Memorial Fund grants £3 million (11 December 2000)
- Diana Award launched as independent charity (18 February 2017)
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.