By Lucas Musetti
The word ‘landmine’ is often used in a metaphorical sense to mean an obstacle. For example, distrust between parties is often a landmine in the path to peace. In some larger context it may be worth an exploration into the militarization of modern language, but for now, I’m comfortable with continuing the landmine metaphor. Mine clearance is a huge global concern because of the inherent dangers of the indiscriminate weapon. As such, clearance is an evolving practice with new tools and strategies being developed to make the process more efficient and effective. One of these tools is gender and diversity mainstreaming. This mainstreaming has had a profound impact on physical mine clearance, and perhaps by utilizing some of the same tools, the metaphorical mine clearance in the peace process may also benefit.
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