A wealth of international attention has been appropriately directed to identifying the geographic extent of contamination, de-mining of affected areas, and primary and secondary care for victims. However, minimal research has been conducted to explore the wider social and economic impact of ERW on individual well-being, family prospects and community development over time. A human security framework will be utilized in the proposed study to evaluate these psychosocial and economic parameters. The research design uses a quantitative population-based survey, qualitative interviews of key respondents and focus groups. The study will be conducted in Colombia, Afghanistan and Angola because these countries have suffered extensive and long-lasting exposure to ERW. The relevance of the proposed study to public health includes the identification and specification of long-term effects of ERW on human populations. Quantitative and qualitative outcomes include injuries and death to individuals; psychological, social and economic losses to families of landmine victims; and community impacts, such as health indices, economic development, social cohesion and investment behaviors. The proposed study aims to identify and quantify the relative contribution of de-mining activities on the parameters of individual, family and community well-being. This type of long-term information has not been systematically gathered for any ERW-affected population in the world to date. ? ? Research sites within the three focus countries are expected to be primarily based in mined areas that are accessible in terms of logistics and security for survey activities. Research sites in Afghanistan are expected to be in the rural and peri-urban areas of Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif and the Panshir Valley region. Research sites in Angola are expected to be in the provinces of Die and Moxico because the concentration of mines is known to be high in these areas. Security concerns are not paramount in Angola because landmines are distributed throughout the majority of the country. Research sites in Colombia are expected to be in the Medellin area because landmines are known to be present and active de-mining efforts are underway in this region. However, security issues will determine the ultimate research sites in Columbia. ? ? ?
