Clearing landmines is not a high-tech operation. In fact, according to Mr Per Norgaard of Norwegian People's Aid, "de-mining" uses Stone Age technology and that is the biggest problem. "We only have metal detectors and bayonets and on a terribly good day, one man will clear just 20 square metres of mined land."
Mr Norgaard is co-ordinator of Norwegian People's Aid, one of the largest organisations dedicated to de-mining. A former member of the Norwegian military, he learned his expertise in landmines in the Middle East and worked with Ireland's UN peacekeepers.
There are up to 100 million active landmines in countries such as Cambodia, Mozambique, Angola, Iraq, Bosnia, Laos and Western Sahara. But it is not the number but the fear of mines that is terrifying. In an area where a landmine explodes and someone is killed or injured, people think the landmines are everywhere. "There may be two or three mines in a very large area," he says.
The problem with metal detectors is they cannot distinguish between a metal bottle top, a piece of shrapnel or a mine. A de-miner could spend laborious hours clearing an area - for a bottle top. However, considerable amounts of money is being spent on sophisticated technology to clear landmines quickly but this will not be ready for some time.
The reverse problem, however, is that more is being spent on the development of new technology in the hope that it will resolve the problem later rather than ensuring that the current, slow day-to-day method is funded and continues.
Another difficulty, Mr Norgaard said, was that after the interest shown by the late Princess Diana in landmines and the signing of the treaty by Britain and other countries, "people thought `problem over', it is law". But the treaty only becomes law after 40 countries ratify it and a year after it was agreed they are still waiting for two more countries to sign up.
What regions should be cleared of mines first is a major issue being discussed by the delegates. In one African country mines were removed in an area that turned out to be a race track owned by the president's nephew while in a village less than 20 km away there was a landmine accident every week.