The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is a division of the
Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the focal point for mine action in the
UN system. Its role is to ensure an effective, proactive and coordinated UN
response to landmines and explosive remnants of war through collaboration with
other UN departments, agencies, programmes and funds.
UNMAS chairs the UN Inter-Agency Coordination Group for Mine Action
(IACG-MA), comprising representatives from the 14 UN departments, agencies,
programmes and funds involved in mine action. It also chairs the Steering
Committee on Mine Action, comprising representatives of the IACG-MA and
nongovernmental organizations. In addition, UNMAS coordinates the United
Nations’ input to the Standing Committees of the anti-personnel mine-ban
treaty and meetings of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. UNMAS
coordinates threat-monitoring and inter-agency assessment missions and the
development and monitoring of all UN mine action policies and strategies.
Policies, strategies and guidelines
In 2004, UNMAS spearheaded a revision of the United Nations mine-action
policy of 1998. On 6 June 2005, Mine Action and Effective Coordination: the
United Nations Inter-Agency Policy, was approved by the principals of the
IACG-MA. The objectives of the policy are to ensure that all UN mine-action team
members are operating with the same purpose, to clarify the way in which
decisions are made and coordination is achieved among UN players, and to
describe the UN role in, and contribution to, mine action, including roles and
responsibilities.
The principals of the IACG-MA adopted a new UN mine-action advocacy
strategy, which is significant to the mine-ban movement because it draws on the
comparative strengths of various UN-system partners and encourages initiatives
that will inform or influence governments, the UN system, donors, the general
public, non-state actors, nongovernmental organizations and national and
regional mine-action organizations. This advocacy covers issues such as
encouraging universal participation in the anti-personnel mine-ban treaty and
“good humanitarian donorship” for mine action. UNMAS heads a working
group that developed and now helps implement the new advocacy strategy.
UNMAS also led the development of new Gender Guidelines for Mine Action
Programmes, which were issued in January 2005. The guidelines are intended to
help UN mine-action policy-makers and field personnel incorporate gender
perspectives into mine-action initiatives and operations.
Funding
The Voluntary Trust Fund was established by the Secretary-General in 1994 to
provide resources for mine action where other sources of funding are not
immediately available. It is used primarily to finance assessment missions to
monitor the scope of the landmine/ERW threat in affected countries, support
coordination and operations in UNMAS-managed mine-action programmes, bridge
funding gaps in mine-action programmes and support UNMAS’ ability to
implement its inter-agency coordination and global advocacy and outreach
mandate.
In 2004, 23 governments, the European Commission and the UN Office for
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs together contributed about $44 million to
the Voluntary Trust Fund for assistance in Mine Action, which UNMAS manages.
In addition, UNMAS received approximately $11 million in 2004 from the
assessed budgets of UN peacekeeping missions and about $650,000 from the UN
“peacekeeping support account.”
Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World
UNMAS coordinated substantive UN input into the first five-year review
conference of the anti-personnel mine-ban treaty (Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free
World) in late 2004.
In the lead-up to the conference, UNMAS coordinated assistance to
mine-affected countries to develop national plans to meet their mine-ban treaty
obligations and to list priorities and budget requirements for 2005-2009.
The plan development process revealed wide disparities in the scope of the
problem. Namibia’s national plan reflects only the need to address
isolated cases of mines and explosive remnants of war while countries such as
Malawi, Zambia or Guinea-Bissau can be cleared with limited investment. At the
other end of the spectrum are nine countries where mines contaminate more than
80 percent of their provinces. This group includes Afghanistan, Angola and
Mozambique, as well as Chad, Jordan and Yemen.
Programme management and project implementation
In specific peacekeeping, complex emergency and rapid response settings,
UNMAS establishes and manages mine-action coordination centers and operations
and is responsible for planning and resource mobilization. UNMAS also oversees
surveys, prioritizes work and assigns tasks, sets technical safety standards,
supports victim assistance initiatives, and provides technical advice on
stockpile destruction and the removal of explosive remnants of war. UNMAS also
conducts quality management and accident investigations.
Afghanistan
UNMAS is responsible for the UN Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan, which
coordinates the country’s mine-action programme on behalf of the
government.
In 2004, the Centre focused clearance operations on 281 highly impacted
communities and on reconstruction and recovery projects, such as major roads.
As a result of these operations, about 78 million square metres of cleared land
were returned to communities that year and reconstruction activities moved
forward.
Clearance teams destroyed 10,252 anti-personnel mines, 526 anti-tank mines,
1,297,028 items of UXO and 2,530 other devices. Clearance teams supporting
reconstruction projects destroyed an additional 291,482 items of unexploded
ordnance (UXO).
Mine action helped improve access to land for housing, farming, markets,
transport and reconstruction. It contributed to an improvement in personal
security and provided employment to over 8,700 people.
The Centre is facilitating the transfer of responsibility for the national
mine-action programme to the government.
Burundi
As part of the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB), established by a UN Security
Council resolution in June 2004, UNMAS set up a mine-action coordination centre
within one month of the mandate. In addition to supporting ONUB, the centre
assisted the national authorities and other partners in coordinating and
implementing emergency mine action to support humanitarian relief efforts,
including the repatriation of refugees and internally displaced persons. Mines
and UXO are a constant danger, hindering people’s movement and the
resumption of normal economic activities. A total of 318 mine/UXO victims were
reported from five of the 16 provinces in 2004.
Cyprus
Assisting the UN force in Cyprus, UNMAS provided technical support and
oversight to the UN Development Programme’s European Union-funded demining
project in the buffer zone in Cyprus in 2004. Demining began in November and has
been conducted by Armour Group. The Mines Advisory Group has provided quality
assurance. Through January 2005, the project had cleared 75,340 square meters of
minefields, resulting in the destruction of 399 anti-personnel mines and 874
anti-tank mines.
Democratic Republic of Congo
UNMAS manages the Mine Action Coordination Centre of the UN Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC). In 2004, five implementers were
involved in operations: MECHEM, Handicap International-Belgium, the Swiss
Foundation for Mine Action, Mines Advisory Group and DanChurchAid.
In total, 607 dangerous areas have been registered on the Centre’s
Information Management System for Mine Action.
Prioritisation of clearance operations focused on normalisation of
socio-economic activities in affected areas and on route clearance to allow for
the free movement of MONUC staff. In total, 636,780 square metres of land were
cleared. The reopening of routes facilitated the free movement of people and
goods between the Ituri district and North Kivu.
Operations in support of MONUC, carried out by MECHEM, focused on the
verification of the Bunia-Beni road in Ituri District, as well as area clearance
as required by MONUC. Survey activities by DanChurchAid identified 51 new mined
areas and 58 new UXO-contaminated areas.
Ethiopia and Eritrea
The Mine Action Coordination Centre of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and
Eritrea (UNMEE) coordinated mine-action operations in the Temporary Security
Zone and adjacent areas. The Centre supported the mission’s overall
objectives: the mobility and security of the peacekeeping force and the
activities of the Ethiopian Eritrean Boundary Commission’s demarcation
project. The Centre also provided assistance to the Eritrean Demining Authority.
Within UNMEE, the Centre, along with the Force Mine Action Centre, acts as
an integrated military-civilian mine-action coordinating body. Military and
civilian mine-action personnel plan, coordinate, implement and monitor all
mine-action operations in the mission area.
In total, UNMEE assets cleared 769,593 square metres of land, involving the
destruction of 1,108 anti-personnel mines, 10 anti-tank mines and 3,612 items of
unexploded ordnance.
Iraq
UNMAS transferred its lead responsibility for UN mine action in Iraq to the
UN Development Programme in January 2004. However, UNMAS continued to support
the National Mine Action Authority of Iraq through funding for two organisations
that had commenced work under UNMAS auspices in late 2003. The adverse security
situation in central and southern parts of the country significantly hampered
the implementation of the UN-supported mine-action activities with no UN
international staff member allowed to work inside the country. Mine Tech
International continued to work in Iraq through 2004, in support of the National
Mine Action Authority, clearing 372,367 items of explosive ordnance, including
2,972 anti-personnel mines, 722 anti-tank mines and 1,530 sub-munitions. Area
cleared totalled 6,405,541 square meters. A project with InterSoS was begun in
early 2004 to train Iraqis to create a national explosive ordnance disposal
capacity for southern Iraq. But in April of that year, the deteriorating
security situation caused InterSoS to suspend its activities.
Lebanon
The United Arab Emirates and UN-supported Mine Action Coordination Centre in
southern Lebanon continued to support Operation Emirates Solidarity through task
planning, prioritisation, monitoring, coordination and quality assurance in
2004. This facilitated the clearance of some 60,000 landmines in 24 months, thus
releasing nearly 5,000,000 square meters of contaminated land back to the local
communities. The most recent phase of Operations Emirates Solidarity began on 19
January 2004 and was successfully completed in May that same year. While
individual mines and UXO will still be reported and dealt with for some time,
the area of operations to date may now be considered free from the impact of
landmines.
The Mine Action Coordination Centre continued to provide support to the UN
Interim Force in Lebanon, including landmine safety and mine-risk education,
technical advice and coordination, and other support in 2004. Operation Emirates
Solidarity addressed 66 dangerous areas, resulting in the clearance of over
91,000 square meters of mined land and the destruction of 1,461 landmines.
Sudan
In late 2004, UNMAS’ mine-action programme took on additional
responsibilities to support the UN Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS),
established by Security Council Resolution 1547 (2004). UNAMIS’ mandate
was, inter alia, to bolster the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between
Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan. The UNAMIS
mandate entailed the development of a mine-action programme to coordinate and
conduct mine-action activities in the mission’s area of operations. In
March 2005, Security Council Resolution 1590 established the UN Mission in Sudan
(UNMIS) and called on it “to assist the parties to the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement in cooperation with other international partners in the mine action
sector, by providing humanitarian demining assistance, technical advice and
coordination.” The resolution added that “The United Nations will,
in addition, support the National Mine Action Office and the New Sudan Mine
Action Directorate to plan and coordinate all mine action operations in Sudan
after the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement and progressively assist
in building a sustainable mine action programme to meet long-term mine action
needs...”
The emergency mine-action programme continued to support the development of
the National Mine Action Office for the north and the New Sudan Mine Action
Directorate for southern Sudan in 2004. The programme coordinated the demining
efforts of implementing partners: RONCO, DanChurchAid, Landmine Action UK, the
Swiss Federation for Mine Action, MECHEM, Norwegian People’s Aid, and
Mines Advisory Group.
The roles of the National Mine Action Office and the New Sudan Mine Action
Directorate have been to ensure that all mine-action activities are planned in
accordance with the humanitarian principles of impartiality and neutrality, and
have the prior agreement of the government of Sudan and/or the Sudan
People’s Liberation Movement. The Nuba Regional Mine Action Office in
Kadugli and the Southern Sudan Regional Mine Action Office in Rumbek continued
to coordinate all mine-action activities in their areas. Mine-action sub-offices
were established in Kassala, Ed Damazin, Malakal, Juba and Wau.
Several surveys identified 233 affected communities with 646 associated
dangerous areas as of mid-2005. Also as of mid-2005, the programme had
destroyed 167,485 items of UXO, 52,143 small-arms munitions, 475 anti-personnel
mines and 464 anti-tank mines. In the first half of 2005 alone, the programme
cleared 319,394 square meters of suspected dangerous area and destroyed 23,643
pieces of UXO, 51,298 small-arms munitions, and 132 anti-personnel mines and 64
anti-tank mines.
In the Nuba Mountains, road clearance, including that of the Kauda Heiban
road, resulted in trade between villages and access to routes for delivery of
humanitarian aid. Other road-clearance projects, including the Al Reila-Salamat
road, resulted in improved trade and access to rural villages. Area clearance in
Katcha opened land for villagers to plant additional crops and build homes.
Clearance in Krongo resulted in the elimination of the mine threat in the
vicinity of a water source, which created access to grazing land. These positive
effects are also seen in southern Sudan where route clearance has opened the
Lokkichoggio-Rumbek road as far as Kapoeta, the Yei road as far as Juba, the
Kosti Road as far as Malakal, and has allowed access to land in Yei itself.
Technology
UNMAS develops and maintains technical safety
standards for mine action and is the guardian of the International Mine Action
Standards. The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining and UNMAS
together regularly revise and update the standards. UNMAS also coordinates
updates to a database of lessons learned in mine action. This database is
managed for UNMAS by the James Madison University. In addition, UNMAS
coordinates the analysis of a database of demining accidents to identify safety
messages, which are available to mine-action practitioners.
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