1997 Photo Contest, People in the News, 1st prize
Photographer

Francesco Zizola

Contrasto

01 June, 1996

Angolan children, mutilated by land mines, in an ruined church in Kuito, Angola. Of the estimated nine to 15 million mines in Angola, only 80,000 have been cleared. Throughout the anti-colonial rebellion of the 1960s, the civil war following independence and the period when the country became a focus of international power politics, land mines have been deployed here, particularly by UNITA and the Angolan army. Since the signing of the Lusaka Protocol in November 1994, peace has gradually returned. An ambitious UN-instigated program is attempting to rehabilitate Angola's infrastructure. The land mine problem is being addressed through clearance, surveying and marking, while 'mine awareness training' helps civilians avoid dangerous areas. In 2002, Angola ratified the Ottawa Convention on anti-personal mines. However, in 2004 there are still more than 4 million land mines to be cleared from Angolan soil.

About the photographer

Francesco Zizola

Born in 1962, since 1980's he has documented the world's major conflicts and their hidden crisis, focusing on the social and humanitarian issues that define life in the developin...

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