*22 Clearance of Anti-personnel Land Mines and the Support of Victims

On a monthly basis, there are approximately 2,000 land mine casualties among non-combatants throughout the world. In September 1997, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction was adopted. The Tokyo Conference on Anti-Personnel Land mines, held in March 1997, adopted the Tokyo Guidelines for achieving "zero victims." To work toward the achievement of this goal, in November 1997 Japan announced that it would provide approximately $10 billion in assistance over a five-year period beginning in 1998.