The Organization of American States (OAS) Mine Action Program, known formally
as “Comprehensive Action against Antipersonnel Mines” (or AICMA by
its Spanish acronym), has undergone significant growth since its initiation more
than twelve years ago. Originally conceived as an assistance program for mine
clearance in Central America, the AICMA Program currently supports a wide range
of mine action activities in six Member States, including:
Support for humanitarian demining activities, including survey, mapping,
marking, and clearance;
Mine risk education for people living in affected areas;
Victim assistance, including physical and psychological rehabilitation and
the socioeconomic reintegration of cleared zones;
Supervision and assistance for the destruction of stockpiled mines;
Development of mine action databases; and
Support for a total ban on use, production, stockpile, sale, or transfer of
antipersonnel mines.
Mandates
The Program functions under a series of General Assembly mandates. The most
recent of these include:
AG/RES. 1995 (XXXIVI-O/04) “Support for the Program of Integral Action
Against Antipersonnel Mines in Central America;”
AG/RES.2002 (XXXIVI-O/04) “Support for Action Against Mines in Peru
and Ecuador; and”
AG/RES. 2003 (XXXIVI-O/04) “The Americas as an Antipersonnel Land
Mine-Free Zone.”
Organization
The Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) of the General Secretariat
provides overall coordination and management of the Program, including
solicitation of financial contributions from the international community. The
Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) provides technical assistance through teams
of international supervisors and monitors in the mine-affected countries. The
progress achieved by the AICMA Program is, in large measure, due to the generous
support of several Member States (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela, and the United
States), who have provided demining trainers and supervisors through the IADB.
The financial contributions of major international donors (Australia, Brazil,
Canada, Denmark, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, the
Russian Federation, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United
States, among others) have made the work of the Program possible. Finally, the
Member States supported by the Program continue to provide substantial human and
material resources, based on their individual abilities and needs.
Demining Activities
Between June 2003 and June 2004, the Program made significant progress in its
efforts to eliminate the threat of antipersonnel mines in the Americas. During
2003, with the support of the AICMA program, a total of 29,047 mines and
unexploded ordnance were destroyed and a total of 641,867 square meters cleared
in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Peru. Military trainers and
other technical experts provided by the IADB conducted training courses for
national deminers from mine-affected countries benefiting from the program.
Noteworthy activities in each recipient country include:
In Guatemala, demining activities were completed in the departments of
Quetzaltenango, Totonicapán and Retalhuleu, in addition to the previously
cleared departments of El Quiché and San Marcos. The Guatemalan program
continues toward projected completion in early 2005.
Demining operations in Honduras concluded in June 2004. The final stage of
demining was supported using heavy equipment provided by the United States
Government to facilitate enhanced clearance procedures in an area of the
department of Choluteca, where mines had been discovered at a depth that
surpassed normal detection measures.
During 2003, Nicaraguan demining units destroyed nearly 10,000 mines and
cleared more than 400,000 square meters of land, as the Nicaraguan program
reached 75 per cent completion of the clearance of more than 135,000 mines that
were originally emplaced. Nicaragua is projected to complete mine clearance
work by the end of 2005.
In Ecuador, demining operations were concluded in the province of El Oro in
December 2003 and were projected for completion in the province of Loja by
mid-2004. Much of the work in these areas was done in close coordination with
Peruvian authorities. Correspondingly, mine clearance activities in the Peruvian
departments of Tumbes and Piura were completed in late 2003.
In 2003, Peruvian National Police deminers completed a project to remove
mines around high-tension electrical towers in central Peru, clearing a total of
over 19,000 mines from 415 towers.
The AICMA program opened a coordination office in Colombia in November 2003
which has begun collaboration with national authorities and other international
entities on the development of projects to survey the impact of mines in several
affected areas in the country.
Mine Risk Education
The mine risk education programs supported by the AICMA program aim to reduce
the risk of death and injury by promoting safe behavior and 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. It is
particularly important to highlight 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 exist, the communities are the main
sources of information for the location of the mined areas and explosive
devices. Mine risk education campaigns have been carried out through community
visits, a variety of national radio messages and school programs. Additionally,
national personnel and AICMA staff have been trained to provide mine risk
education in schools and communities in affected areas. In each of the
recipient countries, these campaigns are closely coordinated with demining
operations.
Victim Assistance
The Program has assisted over 590 landmine victims since it was established
in Nicaragua with the assistance of the Government of Sweden in 1997. To
address the specific needs of affected communities, the Program has provided
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 collaboration with the National Technological
Institute of Nicaragua, the AICMA program has developed an innovative project
for training and job placement for landmine victims. Since its inception, the
project has provided technical job training for 106 landmine survivors in trades
including auto mechanics, computer skills, carpentry, shoemaking, tailoring, and
cosmetology. The Program has solicited donor support and has begun to train an
additional 70 victims during 2004. In Ecuador and Peru, the Program has
developed a database in order to identify all victims of landmine related
accidents. Thus far, the Ecuadorian program has provided five victims with
prostheses and surgical care and has provided partial funding for the training
of an Ecuadorian prosthetics technician in El Salvador. Finally, in November
2003, the AICMA program co-sponsored a regional seminar on victim assistance in
Bogotá, in collaboration with the Colombian Government and the Mine
Action Information Center at James Madison University. This event was attended
by more than 125 representatives from across the Hemisphere for the purpose of
sharing victim assistance program experiences and evaluating possibilities for
new partnerships.
Stockpile Destruction
The AICMA program continues to support the elimination of stockpiled
antipersonnel mines in OAS Member States. In September 2003, the Government of
Chile met its obligations under the Ottawa Convention by finalizing its
destruction of 275,637 mines in its national stockpiles, with the AICMA program
providing financial assistance to the final phase of the Chilean effort. With
the support of the Program, the Government of Argentina also completed the
destruction of its 89,604 stockpiled mines in December 2003, as these two
nations joined Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru as stockpiled mine-free
countries in the Hemisphere. In June 2003, the Government of Colombia also
initiated a stockpile destruction program for some 22,000 antipersonnel mines
remaining in stock, with the possibility of completing the process before the
November 2004 Review Conference of the Ottawa Convention to be held in Nairobi,
Kenya. Each of the past year’s efforts was made possible through
contributions from the Government of Canada totaling approximately US$
220,000.00.
Mine Action Database
The database of the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) has
been established for each of the beneficiary countries with the help of national
AICMA coordinators and technical support from the Geneva International Center
for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD). IMSMA has taken on an increasingly important
role in each of the programs with respect to recording and tracking data on
landmine victims; on suspected, confirmed and cleared minefields; and on areas
where mine risk education campaigns are conducted. During the second half of
2004, the GICHD is projected to provide training to AICMA and national personnel
in Ecuador and Peru on the use of an integrated global positioning
system/direction finder that will improve the efficiency of minefield survey
activities and ensure accurate data is entered into IMSMA.
Advocacy for the Landmine Ban
The AICMA program continued to promote the interest expressed in OAS General
Assembly Resolutions to make the Americas a landmine-free zone. As a key
element in Hemispheric coordination and cooperation on mine action issues and to
assist the Member States in preparation for the Ottawa Convention Review
Conference, which will take place in November 2004 in Nairobi, Kenya, the AICMA
program, in conjunction with the Governments of Canada, Peru and Ecuador, has
sponsored two regional seminars. The first was held in Lima, Peru in August
2003, and the second will be held in Quito, Ecuador in August 2004. Similar
regional meetings were previously held in Miami and Managua with a view toward
improving mine action cooperation among the nations of the Americas. The AICMA
program has also continued to participate in various meetings related to the
Convention in order to share practical achievements and lessons learned with
other global mine action programs, as well as to strengthen contacts with
international donors.
Coordination with International Entities
A notable element of the AICMA Program relates to collaborative efforts with
other international and non-governmental organizations. Cooperation with
international entities over the past year has improved the efficiency and
effectiveness of mine action programs throughout the Hemisphere by marshalling
available resources from these organizations, particularly in the fields of
preventive education and victim assistance. The Program has maintained close and
productive relationships with:
United Nations, primarily through the U.N. Mine Action Service and the U.N.
Children’s Fund;
Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining;
Mine Action Information Center at James Madison University;
World Rehabilitation Fund;
Physicians for Human Rights; and the
South Florida Landmine Action Group.
Resource Mobilization
The AICMA program has employed various media to inform the international
community of the achievements of its program as well as its outstanding needs.
In August 2003, the Program published the “Portfolio of Mine Action
Projects,” which included profiles of all the national programs of the
AICMA beneficiary countries as well as the financial requirements for their
implementation in 2004. Over the course of 2003 and the first quarter of 2004,
financial contributions amounted to approximately US$ 8.2 million.
Conclusions
The AICMA Program continues its efforts to support the mine-affected Member
States in addressing their landmine problems. With the continued generous
support of the international donor community, the prospects for conclusion of
the programs in Honduras this year and in Guatemala and Nicaragua in 2005 will
remain positive. The Program’s beneficiary countries have sustained their
national efforts, but continued international financial support is critical to
the full success of the Program.
About Us
Our Research Products