Pacific dialogue hears call for survivor-led response to wartime explosives

By Elilai Rengiil KOROR, Palau – Pacific governments and international partners must measure progress against unexploded ordnance not only by the bombs they clear, but by whether survivors and affected communities can rebuild their lives, a Solomon Islands survivor told a regional dialogue in Palau. Bomb Free Solomon Islands founder Maeverlyn Pitonoe. By: Elilai Rengiil Maeverlyn Pitonoe, founder of Bomb Free Solomon Islands, said unexploded ordnance, or UXO, remains a daily threat for families who farm, fish, gather food and raise children in places where wartime explosives may still be buried. Pitonoe, herself a UXO survivor, spoke during the Regional Stakeholder Dialogue on implementation of the Convention on Anti-Personnel Mines, held at the Palasia Hotel after the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting.

“There were other survivors in Solomon Islands, families who had lost loved ones, people living with injuries and disabilities, and the community continued to farm, fish, collect food, and raise their children in places where UXO may still be hidden beneath the ground,” Pitonoe said. “That is when my personal experience became a responsibility. ” The three-day dialogue started on September 7 and brought together Pacific officials, humanitarian organizations, survivors, and mine-action partners to discuss risk education, national implementation, reporting, clearance, and the economic effects of explosive remnants of war. Delegates visited Peleliu on Monday, where World War II ordnance remains a continuing concern. Pitonoe said UXO should be treated as a humanitarian issue, not only as a clearance challenge. “UXO is not simply an explosive device lying on the ground, waiting to be found,” she said. “It is a humanitarian issue because it can take lives, change…