Until recently, mine action was widely perceived as a military and technical field where activitieswere un-problematically planned and implemented by almost exclusively male staff. A decadeafter the Mine Ban Convention has become effective and the United Nations Security Councilhas emphasised “the need for all parties to ensure that mine clearance and mine awareness programmes take into account the special needs of women and girls" , the mine action community has become more and more sensitised about the need to include both a gender perspective and women in mine action. However, in view of the approaching Cartagena Summiton a Mine Free World, there is still a need for a better understanding of what mine affected communities have to gain from including gender perspectives in mine action, and what that could mean concretely for States Parties wishing to implement it. This is the first of three articles presenting a fact based argument in favour of the inclusion of a gender perspective in threemine action pillars: Community Liaison/Mine Risk Education, Victim Assistance and Mine Clearance.

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