The
Organization of American States (OAS) Mine Action Program (Spanish acronym -
AICMA) is an integrated effort to assist OAS Member States in addressing
the continuing problems caused by the existence of antipersonnel landmines. The
Program developed from the Assistance Program for Demining in Central America
(PADCA), which was created by the Organization of American States in 1991 at the
request of the mine-affected countries of Central America. Since its
initiation, AICMA has incorporated the previously existing demining program into
its structure, while serving as the focal point for the OAS on all landmine
issues throughout the Americas. Through its mandates, the OAS General Assembly
has extended the goals of the Program to include the total elimination of
landmines and the conversion of the Western Hemisphere into an
antipersonnel-landmine-free zone. It has also called on the component
organizations of the Inter-American System to participate in the development of
programs to support mine risk awareness and preventive education, the physical
and psychological rehabilitation of victims, and the socio-economic reclamation
of demined zones.
Program Coordination
Since May 1995, responsibility for the general
coordination and supervision of the Program has been assigned to the Unit for
the Promotion of Democracy (UPD), with the technical support of the
Inter-American Defense Board (IADB). The main responsibilities of the UPD
include fund raising in the international community, financial management,
political and diplomatic coordination, and ensuring that all essential
components of each national demining project are available and functioning
properly. The IADB is responsible for organizing two international teams of
about 30 demining supervisors and monitors from OAS Member States. These teams,
which cover both Central America and the Peru-Ecuador border, provide technical
support, training and certification of demining procedures in accordance with
international standards.
A distinctive feature of the Program is its multilateral nature, with
progress due, in large measure, to the support of member states including
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
Nicaragua, Venezuela, and the United States, and the contributions of
international donors, including Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Russian Federation, South Korea, Spain,
Sweden, and United Kingdom, among others. Over the course of 2002 and the first
quarter of 2003, these contributions amounted to approximately US$7.2 million.
The Program also relies upon a significant level of coordination with
international and non-governmental organizations. In the past year, AICMA
worked with a number of entities on significant mine action projects, among
these are the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), the Geneva
International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Center for International Rehabilitation, the
Mine Action Information Center (MAIC) of James Madison University and the Rotary
Club International.
Humanitarian Demining
Guatemala. AICMA-supported mine and
unexploded ordnance clearance operations continue with the participation of the
Volunteer Firemen’s Corps, the Guatemalan Army, former members of the
Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unit (URNG), and international supervisors of
the Inter-American Defense Board. In December 2002, mine-clearing operations
concluded in the department of San Marcos, second in importance on the national
priority list of dangerous areas to be cleared, due to the heavy concentration
of undetonated exploded devices found these areas. In January 2003, the
operational plan for 2003 and 2004 was updated to accelerate preventive
education activities in the remaining affected areas and conclude the Guatemalan
program by 2004.
Honduras. Due to unforeseen circumstances, completion of clearance
operations along the Nicaraguan border anticipated by the end of 2002 was
reprogrammed for October 2003. In April 2003, the demining unit was divided
into three groups to facilitate the conclusion of operations in the department
of Choluteca, an area that was not previously identified in the El Paraiso
department, where it is now suspected that landmines were emplaced, and a
munitions site that exploded in 1995 in Naco, in the Cortes Department.
Nicaragua. In 2002, Nicaraguan demining units supported by the OAS,
destroyed more than 5,000 mines and cleared approximately 300,000 square meters
of land. In December 2002, the Nicaraguan Army reported that of more than
135,000 mines originally emplaced, about 50,000 remained to be destroyed. The
OAS continues to provide funding for demining operations of three 100-member
demining units (Operational Fronts 3, 4 and 5), a 50-member independent demining
platoon and a canine mine detection unit consisting of ten dogs with handlers.
Two hundred deminers assigned to Operational Fronts 1 and 2, although funded
through bilateral arrangements with the Government of Denmark, also came under
the supervision of the IADB international team in 2001. To complement manual
and canine assets, a mechanical mine clearance capability is available using
equipment provided by the Government of Japan. In view of these developments,
the goal of the Nicaraguan Government continues to be completion of its National
Demining Plan by the end of 2005. As a result of a shortfall in donor funding,
however, AICMA was unable to support the rehabilitation of an additional medical
evacuation helicopter for Nicaragua as planned, which could affect programmed
operations for 2003.
Costa Rica. On December 10, 2003, Costa Rica became the first OAS
Member State supported by the AICMA program to declare itself mine-safe. With
the assistance of the OAS program, Costa Rican deminers located and destroyed
338 landmines spread along the Nicaraguan border, in addition to clearing
130,000 square meters of land. As a result, areas that had previously been mined
are now being reclaimed for agriculture.
Ecuador. Impact assessment studies were conducted in 2002 in the
provinces of El Oro and La Loja, and twelve zones in these provinces were
identified as dangerous and in need of clearance. Demining units of the
Ecuadorian Army subsequently cleared three of these zones.
Peru. In 2002, the IADB provided four groups of international
supervisors from the Central American program to give training and assistance to
deminers from the Army and Peruvian National Police. A team of military experts
from the United States trained a group of 26 national supervisors and helped to
build a center for demining operations in the city of Tumbes. Between June 2002
and March 2003, deminers from the Peruvian National Police received assistance
from the AICMA program in the destruction of 14,163 antipersonnel landmines
emplaced around electrical towers. In March 2003, the Peruvian Army conducted
impact assessment studies in the border areas of the Tumbes and Sullana
departments. The IADB established a permanent team of international monitors in
May 2003, to provide support for mine-clearing activities in Peru and Ecuador.
Mine Risk Education
The mine risk awareness efforts supported by the
AICMA program aim to reduce not only the risk of death and injury by promoting
safe behavior, but also to facilitate solutions to the high risk behavior that
is observed in some of the affected communities. The program recognizes the
importance of increasing the involvement of affected communities in mine
awareness initiatives, highlighting the double benefit obtained by the
participation of the affected communities in the landmine awareness activities.
Not only do community members learn about the danger of landmines, but also, in
specific cases where no landmines records exit, the communities are the main
sources of information for the location of the mined areas and explosive
devices. Mine risk education campaigns have been conducted through community
visits, a variety of national radio messages and school programs. In each of
the recipient countries, mine risk awareness campaigns were coordinated
simultaneously with demining operations. At the national level, significant
progress has been made in standardizing campaign materials based on national and
international guidelines and with financial assistance from AICMA, UNICEF and
national entities.
Victim Assistance.
The Program has assisted over 500 landmine
victims, primarily in Nicaragua, since the victim assistance component was
established with the assistance of the Government of Sweden in 1997. The
program addresses the specific needs of the communities involved by providing
victims who have no social security or military benefits with transportation
from their communities to the rehabilitation center, lodging, meals, prostheses,
therapy, and medications. In 2002, the AICMA program developed an innovative
job training and placement program for landmine victims in collaboration with
the National Technological Institute of Nicaragua (INATEC). In the first
training course, 25 landmine victims received technical job training in auto
mechanics, computer skills, carpentry, shoemaking, tailoring, and cosmetology.
In 2003, a second course will train 32 Nicaraguan landmine victims. The Program
has also established a mine victim database in Ecuador and Peru in order to
identify all the victims of landmine related accidents. So far, the Ecuadorian
program has provided 3 victims with prostheses and surgical care.
Stockpile Destruction
The AICMA program continues its support to the
elimination of stockpiled antipersonnel mines in the OAS Member States. In
August 2002, with the destruction of 136,813 mines, Nicaragua completed its
stockpile destruction program and joined Honduras, Ecuador and Peru as mine
stockpile-free countries in the Hemisphere. At the request of the governments
of Argentina and Chile, the AICMA program visited the above-mentioned countries
in April 2003 to coordinate OAS support for their national plans to destroy
stockpiled mines. The Government of Canada has pledged funding to facilitate
the process in Chile and Argentina in the course of 2003.
Mine Action Database.
A database of the Information Management
System for Mine Action (IMSMA) has been set up in all of the beneficiary
countries with the help of national AICMA coordinators and with technical
support from the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).
In January 2003, an updated version of IMSMA was distributed with the capacity
to store information on areas where preventive education campaigns are being
conducted.
Support for the Ban on Anti-Personnel Mines
The AICMA program promotes the interest
expressed by OAS General Assembly resolutions to universalize the Convention on
the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of
Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction. AICMA headed the OAS delegation
that participated in the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva, Switzerland
in September 2002. The AICMA delegation also participated in meetings of the
Standing Committees in Geneva in 2003, as well as the meeting of the Resource
Mobilization Group held in New Your in November 2002.
Agreement with Colombia
In March 2003, the Government of Colombia and the
OAS signed an agreement for technical assistance and cooperation in mine action.
Once funding from the donor community is secured, the AICMA program will assist
Colombia in the areas of preventive education and awareness, victim
rehabilitation and the creation of a database that will record information on
antipersonnel mine victims.
Portfolio and Donors Meeting
The AICMA has employed various media to inform the
international community of the achievements of its program as well as its
outstanding needs, including the “Portfolio of Mine Action
Projects,” published in August 2002. The Portfolio included profiles of
all the national programs of the AICMA beneficiary countries as well as the
financial requirements for their implementation in 2003. The Portfolio was
distributed to OAS Member States and representatives of the principal donors at
a meeting convened by the Secretary General in October 2002 in Washington. As a
result of this appeal for assistance, a number of donors responded positively
and immediately in supporting the activities of the program. An updated 2004
version of the Portfolio is under development and is expected to be distributed
at the Fifth Meeting of the States Parties, scheduled for Bangkok, Thailand in
September 2003.
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