The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) was formed in October 1997 to
serve as focal point for mine action in the United Nations and to support the
UN’s vision of “a world free of the threat of landmines and UXO,
where individuals and communities live in a safe environment conducive to
development, and where mine survivors are fully integrated into their
societies.”
UNMAS is responsible within the UN system for policy development and
coordination, assessment of the landmine threat, programme initiation and
support, information management, quality management and technology, advocacy and
treaty implementation, and resource mobilization. To this end, UNMAS
coordinates the work of the 14 UN offices, departments, programmes and funds
involved in mine action. UNMAS also manages or supports mine action operations
in humanitarian emergencies and peacekeeping operations.
Funding
The Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action (VTF), established by
the Secretary-General in 1994, finances missions to assess the scope of the
landmine threat in affected countries, to support UN-managed or supported
mine-action programmes, to bridge funding gaps in UN mine-action programmes, and
to support UN mine action coordination and advocacy. In 2003, 20 donors
contributed a total of $56.8 million to the VTF.
UN Mine Action Strategy
Through resolution 57/159 in December 2002, the General Assembly requested a
formal review of the UN Mine Action Strategy for 2001-2005, taking into account
the "views of the member states and taking into consideration the impact of the
landmine problem on rehabilitation, reconstruction and development, in order to
ensure the effectiveness of assistance in mine action by the United
Nations.” In the first half of 2003, UNMAS launched a review and invited
UN and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), representatives of donor and
mine-affected countries to reassess priorities for the next two years. The
result was a revision that reflects recent progress made in the sector and
guides the United Nations in dealing with new or continuing challenges.
Gender and Mine Action
The revised UN Mine Action Strategy states that, “Just as women, girls
and boys tend to do different work, have differing mobility patterns and
contribute to family and community life in diverse ways, their possible exposure
to landmines and UXO and the impact upon them will vary considerably...The
unique needs and distinct perspectives of women and men, girls and boys must be
taken into consideration in the design, implementation and evaluation of
mine-action programmes.” In November 2003, UNMAS contracted a consultant
to lead the development of guidelines for integrating gender considerations into
all aspects of mine action. Although the guidelines are intended for UN staff,
they are also expected to benefit other organizations.
Advocacy
In 2003 UNMAS led the development of an inter-agency advocacy strategy to
ensure that UN system partners are contributing to advocacy for and with persons
affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war in ways that exploit the
capacities and comparative advantages of each agency or department. The new
advocacy strategy aims to inform or influence the general public, non-state
actors, NGOs, and UN, national and regional mine-action organizations. The
strategy’s goals include calling on all states to take legislative,
political and financial steps to combat the effects of landmines and explosive
remnants of war; raising the public’s awareness of landmines and explosive
remnants of war and of efforts to combat the problem; and making donors aware of
funding needs.
Resource mobilization
In December 2003 UNMAS, in collaboration with UNICEF and UNDP, published the
2004 edition of the Portfolio of Mine Action Projects, which featured more than
300 project proposals from civil society, NGOs and UN agencies, departments, and
funds. The record number of projects and combined budgets of $280
million—up from the previous year’s $200 million—resulted
largely from increased participation of field operators, especially NGOs.
Preparation of the 2004 edition involved, for the first time, country portfolio
coordinators, who were responsible for convening mine-action partners—from
the United Nations, NGOs and other organizations—to identify priorities
and ensure that projects support national mine-action strategies.
Support to Field Operations
Central to UNMAS-managed operations in 2003 were mine-action coordination
centres, or MACCs, which coordinate the work of international organizations,
NGOs, commercial companies, military organizations, donor-country
representatives and other actors. MACCs collaborate with stakeholders to
establish priorities; collect and disseminate data; prepare mine-action
strategies integrated with humanitarian, peacekeeping or development strategies;
coordinate accreditation and quality assurance; and assign tasks.
Afghanistan
UNMAS continues to manage the UN Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan (UNMACA),
which is responsible for planning, coordination and oversight of mine action on
behalf of the Government of Afghanistan. UNMACA coordinated the development of a
10-year strategy for making Afghanistan free from the effects of mines in
consultation with more than a dozen government ministries, donor
representatives, the NGO community and UN partner agencies in the field and at
their headquarters. The plan aims to clear all high-priority mined areas by
2007, with lower-impact areas cleared in the following five years. The plan also
integrates reconstruction and humanitarian tasks in order to ensure appropriate
assets are available to each, while also reflecting the ongoing production of
information through an updated national landmine impact survey still under way.
Implementation of the plan will be facilitated by the Mine Action Consultative
Group (MACG), established by the government in 2003. The group, chaired by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, includes officials from several ministries and
departments, donors, UN representatives and national and international partner
organizations. It is a mechanism for planning, policy development and resource
mobilisation. A Task Force of the MACG has been specifically established to
develop the framework plan for the transition of responsibility for the Mine
Action Programme for Afghanistan from the UN to the national authorities.
In 2003, UNMACA strived to integrate the mine action with the
government’s development and reconstruction efforts, with funding from
sources such as the Asian Development Bank, the European Commission, Japan and
the World Bank. One key achievement last year was the clearing of mines from
the Kabul-Kandahar road, which reopened in December. UNMACA and UNMAS made
considerable effort to mobilize funds to support these initiatives. In 2003,
Afghanistan received more than $30 million through the Voluntary Trust Fund for
Assistance in Mine Action. These funds supported the activities of the
implementing NGOs throughout the country.
Democratic Republic of Congo
UNMAS established the Mine Action Coordination Centre in Kinshasa (under the
auspices of the UN Organization Mission in Democratic Republic of
Congo—MONUC) and one regional office in Kisangani in 2002. Since then, the
Centre has provided mine-action expertise to MONUC, the humanitarian community
and national authorities and agencies, directed emergency landmine-impact
surveys to be used in the development of a national mine-action plan,
implemented emergency mine/UXO clearance, and assisted UNICEF and other
organizations in a nationwide risk-prevention campaign. In 2003, the Centre
completed technical surveys, cleared mines/UXO from the Bunia, Kindu and Manono
airfields and from the road connecting Bunia to Marabu.
Ethiopia/Eritrea
In 2003, a newly combined UNMAS-managed Mine Action Coordination Center and
Peacekeeping Force Mine Action Center (MACC/FMAC) in the Temporary Security Zone
between Ethiopia and Eritrea became responsible for prioritizing and assigning
mine-action tasks within UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). The
MACC/FMAC has coordination and operational functions in mine-risk education,
explosive ordnance disposal, medical services, clearance operations, marking and
mapping, and emergency response. The MACC/FMAC has overseen UNMEE’s
coordinated mine-action response in the mission area. Through the deployment of
the peacekeeping force’s demining assets, more than 12 million square
metres of land were cleared in 2003. This situation is significant in that it
represents the first occasion where both peacekeeping force and humanitarian
mine action assets have been fully integrated to work together under the
auspices of a single coordination mechanism. In addition, the MACC has provided
support to the Mine Action Capacity Building Programme of the UN Development
Programme, which took over responsibility for UN-managed mine-action capacity
building efforts in the country.
Iraq
Before the war in Iraq, the United Nations had implemented a new
rapid-response plan to lay the groundwork for post-conflict mine action in the
country. After the worst of the fighting was declared over, UN officials were
deployed to the country and established a Mine Action Coordination Team (MACT)
in Baghdad and an Area Mine Action Coordination Team in Basrah to oversee,
prioritise and assign mine-action tasks. In May 2003, when the UN Security
Council approved Resolution 1483 authorizing the United Nations to work with the
Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the MACT and AMACT reoriented their work
toward advising Iraq’s National Mine Action Authority. But the attack on
the UN headquarters in Baghdad in August 2003 forced the United Nations to
evacuate its staff. Through a memorandum of understanding signed in January
2004, UNMAS agreed to transfer lead responsibility for UN mine-action assistance
in Iraq to the UN Development Programme as soon as circumstances permit the
United Nations to return to the country.
Lebanon
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) established a Mine Action
Coordination Cell within the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in June 2000
to coordinate operations in the southern part of the country. The UNIFIL cell
gathered and analyzed minefield data to assist Lebanon’s National Demining
Office (NDO) in setting priorities for mine clearance. The cell also promoted
coordination of operations among the National Demining Office, the Lebanese Army
and UNIFIL. In 2002, UNMAS collaborated with the Government of the United Arab
Emirates and Lebanon’s National Demining Office (NDO) to establish a Mine
Action Coordination Centre in Southern Lebanon (MACC-SL). Since then, the
MACC-SL has been implementing Operation Emirates Solidarity (OES), a mine-action
programme funded by the United Arab Emirates. Services provided through the
MACC-SL include technical support, training to some OES and NDO staff, and
contracting of companies and NGOs. Since the start of the OES through December
2003, a total of 4,841,000 square metres of contaminated land have been cleared
and returned to communities in southern Lebanon. About 70,000 landmines and
items of UXO were located and destroyed.
Serbia & Montenegro (Kosovo)
In Kosovo in 2003, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Management Team served as
focal point for all UXO and mine-clearance activities for the UN Mission in
Kosovo (UNMIK). The section also continued developing the mine- and
UXO-detection and clearance capacities of the Office of the Kosovo Protection
Corps, clearing remaining dangerous areas, and carrying out a community-level
mine-risk education and public-information campaign. The Explosive Ordnance
Disposal Management Team also continued coordinating the clearance efforts of
the Kosovo Protection Corps and Handicap International, which were funded in
part through the Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action.
Sudan
In Sudan, the National Mine Action Office (NMAO), established in 2002 by the
Emergency Mine Action Programme, which UNMAS manages, continues to ensure that
mine-action is coordinated, planned and carried out in accordance with the
principals of impartiality and neutrality and with prior agreement of the
Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. In 2003,
the Emergency Mine Action Programme further developed two regional offices: the
Nuba Mountains Regional Mine Action Office (NRMAO) in Kadugli and the Southern
Sudan regional Mine Action Office (SSRMAO) in Rumbek. The SSRMAO will
co-ordinate mine action throughout SPLA-controlled southern Sudan. Assistance
to survivors of landmines and UXO is central to the Emergency Mine Action
Programme’s work. The NMAO and the SSRMAO are gathering and analyzing
casualty data, which are shared with the World Health Organization and others to
guide the provision of emergency medical care and the development of
rehabilitation centres and prosthetic facilities.
Assessment Missions
In January 2003, UNMAS led an inter-agency assessment mission to Tunisia.
The group found that the most significant antipersonnel and antitank mine threat
lies within nine marked and fenced areas along the borders with Libya and
Algeria. Some threat of UXO exists throughout the country. The mine-affected
areas are sparsely populated with little economic or social development.
Consequently, the overall impact of mines is limited, and the number of
casualties from both mines and UXO is small. A number of minefields, however,
are hampering the construction of a highway and oil pipeline along the main road
from Tunis to Tripoli. Tunisia’s desire to address its mine and UXO
problem today stems from the country’s participation in the antipersonnel
mine-ban treaty. The mission recommended that mine-risk education would further
reduce casualties and that the government and the United Nations together
explore establishing a small-scale mine-action programme.
In August 2003, UNMAS also led an inter-agency mission to Malawi that found
landmines affect the 1,000 kilometre border with Mozambique and stem from a
conflict in Mozambique that spilled over into Malawi in the early 1990s. In
addition, 33 defunct training camps of the paramilitary Malawi Young Pioneers
are thought to be contaminated. Recurrent flooding in Malawi has caused
mined-areas to shift over the years, exacerbating the problem. The mission
recommended that the government and the United Nations explore options for a
more detailed assessment of affected areas. The group also recommended that a
national awareness campaign and mine-risk education programme be launched as
soon as possible.
An UNMAS official traveled to Monrovia in September 2003 before the
deployment of the UN Mission in Liberia to assess the extent of the landmine and
UXO problem stemming from the 1999-2003 conflict. Drawing on information from
government and peacekeeping officials in the capital, the UNMAS official
identified no serious threat from landmines to the civilian population, the
peacekeeping operation or humanitarian aid workers but did, however find that
UXO poses a threat, which could be mitigated through mine-risk education and by
tasking peacekeeping engineering units to conduct explosive ordnance
disposal.
UNMAS continued to manage the Landmine and Unexploded Ordnance Safety Project
(LSP). While mine-risk education is intended to reach the general public in
mine-infested communities, the LSP targets institutions working in hazardous
settings to minimize mine-related accidents. In 2003 UNMAS convened eight
"train-the-trainer" workshops for 150 participants working in 60 different
organizations from 12 countries/territories, exceeding the original target of 10
countries. These workshops covered Burundi, Chad, Chechnya (Russian
Federation), Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Sri
Lanka, Vietnam, Western Sahara (Morocco). The UN Mission in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (MONUC) participated for the second time. The workshops
were conducted by Handicap International-France.
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