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Localization In Mine Action: Where The Possible Meets The Necessary, Markus Schindler

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

While arguments for greater localization in humanitarian aid are strong, in humanitarian mine action (HMA) the case is not always as clear and requires detailed discussion. Despite these challenges, however, the development of national nongovernmental organizations (NNGOs) in mine action is advocated for, as they can offer local knowledge, reduce costs, improve efficiency, and contribute to national ownership. HMA stands out from other sectors due to its resource-intensive and highly regulated nature, often necessitating the use of expensive equipment and specialized expatriates. This article discusses the concept of localization in HMA, emphasizing its distinct challenges compared to other humanitarian sectors. …

27.1 Endnotes

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

No abstract provided.

Director's Letter, Suzanne Fiederlein

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

No abstract provided.

Mine Action In Support Of Yemen's Peace Process, Josh Ridley

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Between April and October 2022, the two major parties of Yemen’s ongoing conflict, the internationally recognized government (IRG) and the de facto authorities (DFA), agreed to a truce brokered by the UN’s Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen (OSESGY). A central component of the UN-brokered truce included the re-opening of roads around Yemen’s third largest city, Ta’iz, which all parties agreed to in principle. While an expected extension of the truce did not extend beyond October 2, there has not been a significant escalation in violence since the truce expired. The re-opening of roads in Ta’iz …

When A Safety Measure Becomes A Risk Accelerant: Removing The Option To Blast-In-Place When Clearing Explosive Remnants Of War, Lieutenant Colonel Geir P. Novik

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Accessible pdf attached.

The legacy of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and abandoned ammunition following armed conflict will, in many cases, have a severe impact on society and daily life, even for years or decades after hostilities end. These explosive remnants of war (ERW) represent a grave threat in many aspects, and the human, societal, and environmental impact can be severe. These explosive objects must therefore be located and disposed of—a job in itself that involves serious risks. Therefore, various safety measures are implemented to mitigate these risks. Some safety measures, however, could prove to have less than the desired effect, and …

Inspiring The Next Generation Of Humanitarian Mine Action Researchers, Madison Tuohy, Eva Greenspan, Sofia Fasullo, Jasper Baur, Gabriel Steinberg, Linda Zheng, Alex Nikulin Phd, Garrett M. Clayton Phd, Timothy De Smet Phd

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Accessible pdf attached.

Humanitarian mine action (HMA) is a critically under-researched field when compared to other hazards fields of similar societal impact. A potential solution to this problem is early exposure to and engagement in the HMA field in undergraduate education. Early undergraduate education emphasizing technical and social aspects of HMA can help protect lives by building a robust pipeline of passionate researchers who will find new solutions to the global explosive ordnance (EO) crisis. Early engagement of the next generation of HMA researchers and policy makers can occur through various classroom experiences, undergraduate research projects, and public outreach events. …

The Bigger Picture: Considerations Toward The Sustainable Localization Of Mine Action, Mark Wilkinson Ph.D., Albert Schevey, Ahmed Al Zubaidi Phd

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Accessible pdf attached.

DanChurchAid (DCA) is an international nongovernmental organization (INGO) at the forefront of mine action interventions globally. Currently working in nine countries around the world through projects that have a specific focus on the pillars of mine action, DCA supports a plethora of activities seeking to promote the delivery of an integrated programming approach across the triple nexus, bringing humanitarian interventions, development work, peacebuilding, and advocacy initiatives closer together. This approach is used to bridge the gap between policy and practice at all levels and ensure long-term impact and sustainability.[1] A key element of the DCA global …

Gender And Diversity Mainstreaming In Mine Action: Where Are We In Colombia?, Salomé Valencia Aguirre Md, Angela Desantis Phd, Sandra Salas-Quijano, Sebastián Tovar Jaramillo, Liliana Dulca-Amaya Phd

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Accessible pdf attached.

Women, girls, boys, and men are affected differently by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) and hold different views on the challenges presented by them. Gender and other diversity factors, such as ethnicity and disability, condition individual views on vulnerability, needs, and coping capacities. This paper aims to identify the progress made by the humanitarian mine action (HMA) sector in Colombia toward gender equity and diversity through various methodological approaches and indicates that gender and diversity gaps persist. The greatest progress has been made in terms of policies and data disaggregation. We understand that public and …

The Road Ahead: Clearance Toward Sustainability In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Sean Sutton

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Accessible pdf attached.

The 1992-1995 Yugoslav wars resulted in landmines and explosive remnants of war that continue to contaminate the Balkans. In 2021—over 25 years after the end of the wars—the Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor considered Bosnia and Herzegovina to be the most explosive ordnance-contaminated country in Europe, and characterized the landmine contamination alone as "massive." As of March 2022, The Landmine Monitor reported that Bosnia and Herzegovina had more than 945 km2 of suspected hazardous areas (SHA) and more than 20 km2 of confirmed hazardous areas.

Open-Source Research And Mapping Of Explosive Ordnance Contamination In Ukraine, Andro Mathewson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the scale of explosive ordnance (EO) contamination in Ukraine has reached unprecedented levels, necessitating new methods to assess and track the different types of ordnance and the level of contamination across the country. As the most documented, active war on social media to date, The HALO Trust (HALO) has successfully harnessed open-source research to better plan and conduct survey, clearance operations, and explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) across the country.

Mapping Unexploded Ordnance In Syria: Harnessing The Power Of Open-Source, Hampton Stall, Jennifer Hudson, Evan Leendertse, Hari Prasad, Chris Mcnaboe, Rana Shabb, Jonathan Robinson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

For over a decade, the widespread use of explosive weapons by all sides in the Syrian conflict has been well documented by a litany of public sources. Many of these explosive munitions fail to detonate as intended, thereby becoming unexploded ordnance (UXO) that threaten post-conflict recovery. To begin the process of clearing these explosive remnants of war (ERW), desk studies/non-technical studies can be utilized to initially assess the concentration and distribution of explosive weapons across a conflict zone, which in turn suggest the risk of UXO in an area. Traditional methods in non-technical surveys (NTS) focus on unweighted conflict intensity …

The Deadly Legacy Of World War Ii In Alaska, Kenneth Rutherford

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In the middle of the Bering Sea—closer to Japan than the continental United States and more than 1,000 miles from Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage—sit the Alaskan islands of Attu and Kiska. It was the summer of 1942, nearly six months after Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, that Japanese forces invaded these islands in what was some of World War II’s most brutal fighting and use of explosives.

Ukraine: Coordinating The Reponse, Greg Crowther

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The war in Ukraine has seen the use of ground and aerial weapons on a scale not seen in Europe for decades, causing immense devastation and human suffering. And the legacy of explosive hazards since the onset of the war, in the form of unexploded ordnance, landmines, and cluster munitions, will take decades to address. It’s a legacy that will kill and injure civilians long after the conflict has ended. This is not just a problem for the future, however but a challenge for the present: explosive ordnance risks civilian lives, hampers efforts to deliver emergency humanitarian aid, and prevents …

The Journal Of Conventional Weapons Destruction Issue 23.3 (2020), Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Southeast Asia | Risk Management | Cluster Munitions Remnants Survey | IMAS Training in Vietnam | Mine Risk Education | Victim Assistance | Underwater Clearance | Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality in HMA | HMA in the Gray Zone | IED Clearance Capacity in Afghanistan

The Journal Of Conventional Weapons Destruction Issue 23.1 (2019), Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Ukraine | Interviews with HMA Directors | Southeast Europe | Lessons From the Past: Holland | Field Notes | Research and Development

Epidemiological Study Of Landmines/ Erw Accidents And Victims In Kachin, Kayah, And Shan States, Burma, Julien Zwang, Pascal Simon

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In Burma, there is no systematic and organized victim information system (VIS) of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) victims, and few studies have been conducted on the topic, in particular in Kachin, Kayah, and Northern Shan States (NSS), where most of the accidents have recently occurred. Between 2015 and 2016, casualty reports compiled by the Mine Risk Working Group (MRWG) chaired by the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) showed that the number of mine/ERW victims increased by 58% in the country, particularly in Kachin and Shan States, while the number of victims decreased in Kayin State. Documenting victims’ …

Emerging Patterns Of Erw Injuries In Laos, Stacey Pizzino, Colette Mcinerney, Jo Durham

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The year 2016 marks the beginning of a new era for international development, with the adoption of seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that will drive global development efforts until 2030. In post-conflict countries, humanitarian mine action will be an important enabler in achieving a number of SDGs, including goal 3: “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” Of particular relevance is target 3.9 of the SDGs, which specifies the need to reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from soil pollution and contamination. At present this relates primarily to indoor and outdoor air pollution. However, since …

From The Director, Ken Rutherford

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Here at CISR, our team is busy planning the 13th Senior Managers’ Course (SMC), which will take place in Biograd na Moru, Croatia, from 20 March to 7 April 2017. With the help of our local partner, the Croatian Mine Action Centre, CISR will implement a course designed specifically to address the needs of senior managers working in greater Southeast Europe as the region’s mine action programs undergo planned transitions. The course in Croatia will be our third regional SMC (Tajikistan in 2014 and Vietnam in 2015) since we began implementing the regional format in 2014; we hope to facilitate …

The Journal Of Conventional Weapons Destruction Issue 20.3 (2016), Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Feature: SA/LW and CWD | Spotlight: Libya | Special Report: Solomon Islands’ Explosive Legacy | Plus: Editorial, Field Notes, Research and Development

Adapting The Erw Community To Combat Ied Threats, Brad Alford, Michael Kennedy

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In Iraq and other regions soon to be liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), recovery and stability efforts are hindered by improvised explosive devices (IED), which threaten civilians returning home and/or assisting with reconstruction. According to Relief Web, the Anbar Provincial Council “discourage[d] the premature return of internally displaced persons (IDP) to Fallujah due to the remaining IEDs left behind by the Islamic state of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants.”This threat, coupled with the consequences of an asymmetrical conflict, has changed the operating environments encountered by organizations that respond to explosive remnants of war (ERW). …

Working From A Distance In War-Affected Libya, Nikolaj Søndergaard

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

A unique partnership between DanChurchAid (DCA) and Lebanese authorities facilitates explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) training for Libyan authorities, who can now start their own national EOD teams and begin the clearance process.

Mobile Data Collection: Interoperability Through New Architecture, Elizabeth Vinek, Sulaiman Mukahhal, Olivier Cottray

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Information management (IM) requires close collaboration between all parties in a mine action program and cannot be carried out in isolation. Effective IM involves tools as well as organizational processes that clearly define how different parties interact and function with IM. Without adequately defining processes through National Mine Action Standards (NMAS) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), even the most advanced and fit-for-purpose IM tools will lack the foundation to be effective.

Mobile Technologies: Uxo Lao's Easy Sketch Map, Hayashi Ontoku Akihito

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Established in 1996, the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao) promotes risk education and clears land for agriculture, community purposes (e.g., schools, hospitals, temples and water supplies) and other development activities. UXO Lao is working in the nine most impacted Lao provinces nationwide. Although recent changes occurred to UXO Lao’s survey procedure, the program continues mapping out contaminated areas throughout the country.

Explosive Remnants Of War: A Deadly Threat To Refugees, Ken Rutherford, Andrew Cooney

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The deadly legacy of explosive remnants of war (ERW), including landmines, improvised explosive devices (IED) and unexploded ordnance (UXO) is increasingly a threat to refugee populations, economic migrants and internally displaced persons (IDP) in countries throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Maximizing The Effectiveness Of Mobile Technology, Howard Rudat

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Mobile technology has transformed the way we live our lives and has the potential to dramatically assist in demining. However, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) systems coupled with explosive remnants of war (ERW) related applications leave capability gaps and create potential risks that must be closed. A more tailored and deliberate ecosystem approach when employing mobile technology will yield greater benefits and avoid the problems encountered when Alexa, Cortana, Google Now or Siri do not provide the necessary information. It seems that at the times when you need information the most, the smart personal assistants provided by Google, Apple and Microsoft either …

Transition And National Capacity After Article 5 Compliance, Hans Risser, Christian Ruge

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In June 2014, State Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) met in Maputo, Mozambique, for the 3rd Review Conference of the APMBC, fifteen years after its entry into force. As the review conference approached, State Parties faced a growing call from civil society and some State Parties to commit to complete all obligations in the treaty as rapidly as possible. The majority of State Parties have already completed their APBMC obligations to destroy stockpiles of anti-personnel (AP) mines. However, surveying and clearing all known mined areas in a state’s territory in accordance with obligations under Article 5 of …

Arms Management And Destruction Programming: Taking Stock, Chris Loughran, Djadranka Gillesen

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Arms Management and Destruction (AMD) sector— an element of conventional weapons destruction (CWD) that includes several elements of physical security and stockpile management (PSSM)—has experienced dynamic growth over the last 18 months. An increasing number of programs address illicit and poorly stored weapons, enhance the safety and security of arms storage, and support the development of national capacity, including MAG’s regional initiative in the Sahel and West Africa. As a distinct AMD sector emerges, now is the time to analyze what makes programming strategies effective as well as ineffective. The industry must resist the temptation to talk about best …

An Overview Of Mozambique’S Mine-Free District Process, Antonio Belchior Vaz Martíns, Hans Risser

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In the 1990s, Mozambique ranked among countries such as Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, and Iraq as one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world. At the time, experts estimated that clearing all landmines in Mozambique would take 50 to 100 years. Landmines were widely used by all sides during the conflicts that ravaged Mozambique from the mid-1960s until 1992. These nuisance minefields usually consisted of small numbers of mines in seemingly random or undefined areas mostly around paths, wells and rural infrastructure. Large-pattern minefields tended to be the exception rather than the norm in Mozambique. Given the …

Endnotes Issue 20.1, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction 20.1 Endnotes

From The Director, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Welcome to our 20th edition of The Journal! This is an exciting year for us as we celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR) as well as The Journal. Since our founding in 1996, CISR’s mission, programs and publications have continuously evolved with the ever-changing face of mine action, reflecting the training, informational and program needs of the field. As mine action is absorbed into the broader scope of conventional weapons destruction, CISR and The Journal are prepared to be the information leader for this community of practice. With great anticipation we begin this …