December 6, 2000— Bus, subway, and trolley passengers in the San Francisco Bay Area are about to be confronted with the menace posed by landmines and given the opportunity to help rid these "hidden killers" from a mine-affected region of the world—the Balkans.

The U.S. Department of State's Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs and Roots of Peace, a California-based non-governmental organization, have teamed up to create backlit bus shelters throughout San Francisco that convey the message, "What if landmines were in the USA?" The bright orange shelter advertisements are designed to provoke Bay Area commuters to imagine how their lives would be affected if the U.S. was infested with landmines—and to provide information on how they can participate in making the world mine-safe for innocent civilians through Roots of Peace and the Slovenian International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victim Assistance.

The United States was one of the first nations to initiate humanitarian demining assistance starting in late 1988, when it began supporting clearance of the landmines laid in Afghanistan. Since 1993 alone, the U.S. has spent over $400 million dollars on minefield surveys, mine clearance, demining equipment, development of new mine clearance technologies, mine awareness programs, medical evacuation procedures, victim assistance, and mine survivor rehabilitation around the world. The U.S. will contribute nearly $100 million dollars more to mine action in this fiscal year. The Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs currently manages humanitarian demining assistance to 37 mine-affected countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the province of Kosovo, and Macedonia.

The Slovenian International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victim Assistance, commonly referred to as the International Trust Fund, was established to serve as a means for the United States and other donor nations to support demining in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by matching private and official donations with equal amounts underwritten by the U.S. Department of State. Thus, money for demining in the Balkans that is raised by Roots of Peace from Bay Area commuters will be doubled through the International Trust Fund.

Roots of Peace works with leading California vintners, Silicon Valley software manufacturers, and several top California-based outdoor apparel firms to provide funds and in-kind contributions to mine action in the Balkans. Inspired by Roots of Peace's "Mines to Vines" project, the vintners have been particularly sympathetic to demining vineyards and other valuable arable lands in the Balkans that go untended due to landmine infestation.

Now with the support of the Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, Roots of Peace is expanding its outreach to citizens in San Francisco through this backlit bus shelter campaign, in cooperation with Digitas, Infinity Outdoor, and BelAire Displays. This new initiative has evolved from an ongoing partnership with the U.S. Department of State arranged by the Office of the Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State for Global Humanitarian Demining. This Office reinforces official humanitarian efforts by encouraging public-private partnerships, such as that with Roots of Peace, to accelerate the pace of mine action worldwide in order to advance the President's Demining 2010 Initiative which seeks to make the world mine-safe for innocent civilians by the end of the decade.

To learn more about the Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs or public-private partnerships in support of mine action, contact John Stevens, Public Affairs Officer for the Office of the Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State for Global Humanitarian Demining, at 1-202-647-0676, send an email to stevensje@t.state.gov, or visit the Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs Web site at www.state.gov/www/global/arms/pm/hdp.