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Uganda

Last Updated: 08 November 2010

Mine Action

Contamination and Impact

Landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination in Uganda is the result of armed conflict and civil strife, especially over the past two decades with the non-state armed group (NSAG), the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).[1]

Mines

In April 2010, the director of the Uganda Mine Action Center (UMAC) reported that Uganda had one remaining mined area, in Agoro sub-county, which contained four separate suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) covering approximately 100,000m2.[2] The last known casualty in Agoro, a hilly and densely vegetated area, was in 1999, and the last mine incident occurred on 24 November 2008, when an animal strayed into the mined area on Mica hill.[3] Danish Demining Group (DDG) has reported that all of the SHAs are partially fenced.[4]

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) reported in May 2010 their belief, based on their demining activities in the areas, that there may be other mined areas in Kajo, Keji, Koboko, Moyo, and Nimule districts near the border between Sudan and Uganda. NPA believes these areas should be surveyed if they have not been already.[5] UMAC said after the quality control teams complete their work on the Ngomoromo minefield in August the teams will move to the northwest part of the country where NPA believes there might be mines and determine if the area is clear of mined areas. UMAC’s director, Vicent Woboya, is confident there are no remaining mined areas but he confirmed mines are found during explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) as in 2009 when 31 antipersonnel and nine antivehicle mines were found.[6]

 Kasese district in western Uganda has never been systematically surveyed but UMAC believes that any antipersonnel mines in the province are so-called nuisance mines,[7] that is, individual mines scattered about without any easily discernible perimeters. UMAC did not receive any reports of mines in Kasese in 2009. UMAC expects that any mine contamination will be reported as a result of Handicap International’s (HI) mine/ERW risk education (RE) program in the province.[8]

Even after clearance of the four SHAs is completed, Uganda faces a potential residual threat in other areas as small numbers of mines are believed to have been laid in a number of separate locations and EOD operations in 2008 and 2009 continued to find occasional mines in Amuru, Gulu, Kasese, Kitgum, Koboko, Masaka, and Pader districts.[9]

Cluster munition remnants

Uganda has had a problem with cluster munition remnants in the past, but UMAC has claimed to Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor that none remained as of April 2010.[10] The Minister of Defence claimed it was NSAGs such as the LRA and the Allied Democratic Forces that had used cluster munitions and not the Ugandan army.[11] Deminers in Gulu found RBK-250/275 cluster bombs and AO-1SCh submunitions although Uganda could not provide the year they were found.[12] All known unexploded submunitions have been cleared.[13]

Other explosive remnants of war

SHAs in Uganda are said to be “littered” with ERW.[14] A 2007 survey identified 428 such SHAs. Uganda reported that as of April 2010 they had cleared 329 SHAs containing UXO, cancelled 35 others, and that 64 remained to be cleared.[15] By the end of February 2010, UMAC had cleared 1,327 villages of mines and UXO through EOD call-out response and battle area clearance, resulting in total clearance of 165,945m2. This included the area cleared at Ngomoromo and clearance of one of the smaller mined areas at Agoro hills with the MineWolf machine borrowed from NPA’s program in Sudan.[16]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

Body

Situation on 1 January 2010

National Mine Action Authority

National Mine Action Steering Committee

Mine action center

UMAC

International demining operators

DDG; technical advisors to UMAC

National demining operators

Ugandan army and police seconded to and supervised by UMAC

International risk education operators

International Service Volunteers Association (Associazione Volontari per il Servizio Internazionale, AVSI), World Vision International, DDG, Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief, HI

 National risk education operators

Anti Mine Network-Rwenzori (AMNET-R)

Uganda’s national mine action authority is its National Mine Action Steering Committee (NMASC), which is located at the Office of the Prime Minister in Kampala.[17]

The Office of the Prime Minister, through UMAC, is responsible for the management and coordination of mine action in the country, with the exception of victim assistance, which falls under the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and the Ministry of Health. UMAC, which was set up in Kampala in 2006, is responsible for quality management of demining operations, RE, and accreditation of mine action operators. A regional mine action center was established in Gulu in 2008.[18]

The government of Uganda established the mine action program in 2005 through a UNDP project supported by international funding and technical advisors. As of May 2010, the transition of the project to a nationally executed program under the auspices of the Department for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees of the Office of the Prime Minister had not been finalized.[19] DDG provides technical assistance to UMAC. UNDP has re-tendered a contract for technical assistance to the program and as of May 2010 the government of Uganda and UNDP were evaluating bids from international NGOs.[20]

Mine action is integrated in the government of Uganda’s Peace, Recovery, and Development Plan one of the aims of which is to facilitate the return and resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs).[21] As of the end of 2009, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported 437,000 IDPs in Uganda.[22]

The main challenges in 2010 to the demining program included:

  • Clearing the remaining four mined areas within Agoro hills in Kitgum district;
  • Conducting quality assurance and quality control in the Ngomoromo mined area; and
  • Continuing to carry out EOD activities throughout northern Uganda.[23]

Land Release

In 2009, UMAC cleared two mined areas and 85 other SHAs containing ERW, compared to 244 SHAs cleared in 2008.[24] The decline in the number of SHAs cleared of ERW was offset by the doubling of the results of battle area clearance (see Mine clearance in 2009 section below).

Survey in 2009

A November 2008 General Mine Action Assessment conducted by UMAC with assistance from the Ugandan People’s Defence Force and DDG had confirmed the Agoro Mountains in Kitgum district and Ngomoromo on the border with Sudan as mined areas. UMAC followed up with technical surveys in 2009. As a result of the technical survey in Agoro, the mined area was further divided into five SHAs with an estimated total size of 130,000m2. The Ngomoromo area is approximately 140,000m2.[25] In 2009, all 270,000m2 of SHA were covered by technical survey.[26]

Mine clearance in 2009

From January 2009 through 31 March 2010 UMAC cleared two of the six remaining mined areas covering more than 170,000m2, destroying 260 antipersonnel mines.[27] As of the end of 2009, mine clearance capacity consisted of six teams comprising a total of 37 deminers.[28] Uganda planned to add 40 deminers by August 2010 through support from Australia.[29]

 

Mine clearance in 2009–31 March 2010

District

Mined area cleared (m2)

No. of SHAs cleared

No. of antipersonnel mines destroyed

No. of antivehicle mines destroyed

No. of UXO destroyed during mine clearance

Agoro

24,077

1

37

0

0

Ngomoromo

149,693

1

223

0

0

Total

173,770

2

260

0

0

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, and in accordance with the three-year extension to its deadline granted by the Second Review Conference in 2009,[30] Uganda is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 August 2012.

In July 2009, Uganda declared that it had underestimated the complexity of clearing its known remaining mined areas and the time required to clear them. As a result, it would not meet the 1 August 2009 deadline and applied for a three-year extension.[31] In its Article 7 report for April 2009 to April 2010, Uganda stated that it was unable to meet the deadline “due to the late commencement of demining operations and poor weather conditions.”[32]

An essential element in Uganda’s three-year plan is the use of a MineWolf vegetation cutting machine belonging to NPA in Sudan. The MineWolf significantly speeds up clearance by quickly preparing the densely covered land for manual clearance. The use of the machine may also allow some land to be released without manual clearance, as happened to a large extent in Rwanda in 2008.[33] The extension was approved at the Second Review Conference. In March 2010, UMAC reported to Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor that NPA had brought the MineWolf into Uganda and that it had helped to clear the Ngomoromo area by the middle of that month, several months ahead of schedule, lending optimism that Uganda might be in a position to complete its Article 5 obligations before 2012.[34]

At the Second Review Conference, Uganda said it would be free of landmines by August 2012 if sufficient funding was available.[35] The Minister of Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, called on donors to expedite the commitment and release of funds in order that Article 5 deadlines can be met as scheduled.[36] In June 2010, at the intersessional Standing Committee meetings, Uganda stated that it believed it had identified all mined areas in Uganda.[37]

Since 2008, UMAC has cleared 159,116m2 of mined areas, leaving 111,000m2 of mined areas to be released as of 1 January 2010.[38]

Battle area clearance in 2009

In 2009, clearance teams completed 820 EOD tasks in 772 villages compared to 434 tasks and 442 villages in 2008, despite reducing the number of EOD teams from 12 to four. During operations in 2009, 31 antipersonnel mines, nine antivehicle mines, and 1,802 items of UXO were found, as well as 6,634 pieces of small arms ammunition.[39] No unexploded submunitions were found in 2009.[40]

As of the end of 2009, there were three EOD teams comprising a total of 47 clearance personnel.[41]

Battle area clearance and EOD in 2009[42]

Year

No. of antipersonnel mines destroyed

No. of antivehicle mines destroyed

No. of UXO destroyed

No. of small arms ammunition destroyed

Villages covered

Completed tasks

2009

31

9

1,802

6,634

772

820

Community liaison

UMAC teams meet with communities to sensitize them to the level of risk and train them how to report the presence of ERW and landmines for clearance.[43]

Quality management

National Mine Action Standards were passed and approved in December 2008.[44] A five-person quality assurance team conducted quality control and quality assurance in Kaberamaido district in Teso sub-region where UMAC had cleared 55,208m2.[45] As of April 2010, UMAC was conducting quality control and quality assurance on the 140,000m2 Ngomoromo mined area NPA cleared using the MineWolf machine. UMAC expected to complete the work in August 2010.[46]

Other Risk Reduction Measures

In coordination with UMAC, DDG and HI, in partnership with the local NGO, AMNET-R, have conducted RE in the two known mine-affected regions of Uganda. RE supports the government’s IDP return and resettlement program.[47]

In December 2009, HI launched a 12-month RE and victim support project, based in Kasese district, in western Uganda.[48]



[1] Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 17 August 2009, p. 3.

[2] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Vicent Woboya, Director, UMAC, 1 April 2010; and Statement of Uganda, Second Review Conference, Cartagena, 1 December 2009.

[3] UMAC, “Planning Document for Technical Survey of Kitgum Agoro Hills at Uganda-Sudan Border,” 2 December 2008, p. 1; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 29 March 2009.

[4] UMAC, “Planning Document for Technical Survey of Kitgum Agoro Hills at Uganda-Sudan Border,” 2 December 2008, p. 2; and UMAC, “Planning Document for Technical Survey of Ngomoromo, Kitgum,” 14 March 2009, p. 2.

[5] Email from Hans Eric Haug, Deputy Director, Mine Action Department, NPA, 27 May 2010.

[6] Interview with Vicent Woboya, UMAC, in Geneva, 22 June 2010.

[7] Email from Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 8 April 2010.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Statement of Uganda, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 27 May 2009; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 1 April 2010.

[10] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 1 April 2010.

[11] Article 7 Report (for the period 2 April 2008 to 2 April 2009), Form J.

[12] Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), p. 173; and Human Rights Watch, “Timeline of Cluster Munition Use,” www.stopclustermunitions.org.

[13] Email from Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 8 April 2010.

[14] Statement of Uganda, Second Review Conference, Cartagena, 1 December 2009.

[15] Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), p. 173; and Human Rights Watch, “Timeline of Cluster Munition Use,” www.stopclustermunitions.org.

[16] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 1 April 2010.

[17] Uganda’s Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 17 August 2009, pp. 12–13.

[18] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 29 March 2009.

[19] Email from Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 12 June 2008; and response to Monitor questionnaire, 29 March 2009.

[20] Email from Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 8 May 2010.

[21] Government of Uganda, “Report Presented by the Office of the Prime Minister, Republic of Uganda to the Second Review Conference of the AP Mine Ban Convention,” May 2009, p. 1.

[22] Global Statistics, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), www.internal-displacement.org.

[23] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 1 April 2010.

[24] Email from Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 8 April 2010

[25] Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 17 August 2009, p. 7.

[26] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 29 March 2009.

[27] Email from Afedra Robert Iga, Information Management System for Mine Action Officer, Uganda Mine Action Office, 20 June 2010; and statement of Uganda, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 22 June 2010. Uganda’s Article 7 report covering April 2009–April 2010 states 204 antipersonnel mines and nine antivehicle mines were destroyed during this period. Article 7 report (for the period April 2009–April 2010), Form G.

[28] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 1 April 2010.

[29] Statement of Uganda, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 22 June 2010.

[30] Email from Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 9 July 2009; and letter to Jurg Streuli, President of the Ninth Meeting of States Parties, from Pius Bigirimana, Permanent Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister, 2 July 2009.

[31] Ibid.

[32] Article 7 report (for the period April 2009–April 2010), Form J.

[33] NPA, “Rwanda Project Report,” 12 December 2008, pp. 6–8.

[34] Interview with Vicent Woboya, UMAC, in Geneva, 15 March 2010; and ICBL, “Critique of Uganda’s Article 5 deadline Extension Request,” www.icbl.org.

[35]Statement of Uganda, Second Review Conference, Cartagena, 1 December 2009.

[36] Ibid, 3 December 2009.

[37] Statement of Uganda, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 22 June 2010.

[38] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 1 April 2010.

[39] Ibid, 29 March 2009; and see Article 7 Report (for the period 2 April 2008 to 2 April 2009), Form G.

[40] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 1 April 2010.

[41] Ibid.

[42] Ibid

[43] Ibid.

[44]Response to Monitor questionnaire by Elina Dibirova, Risk Education/ Victim Assistance Specialist, DDG, 27 February 2009.

[45] Email from Vicent Woboya, UMAC, 8 April 2010.

[46] Article 7 Report (for the period April 2009–April 2010), Form I.

[47] Statement of Uganda, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 22 June 2010.

[48] HI, “Uganda: Our Actions,” www.handicap-international.fr.