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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Gender Mainstreaming In Mine Action | Powerful Linkages For Progress Across The Sdgs, Gichd, Laura Biscaglia, Vanessa Gomes Sampaio, Ursign Hoffman, Marion Provencher Langlois Dec 2018

Gender Mainstreaming In Mine Action | Powerful Linkages For Progress Across The Sdgs, Gichd, Laura Biscaglia, Vanessa Gomes Sampaio, Ursign Hoffman, Marion Provencher Langlois

Global CWD Repository

Mine action comprises a set of activities aimed at reducing the risks from landmines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war. By returning safe land, housing and infrastructure to people and assisting victims, it restores livelihoods, re-establishes an environment for communities to live, work and thrive in, and accelerates development. Mine action never occurs in a vacuum; it takes place in social and cultural contexts where different gendered power relations exist and therefore does not automatically benefit women, girls, boys and men from different backgrounds to the same degree. This article explores the intersection between mine action and inequality …


To Walk The Earth In Safety 17th Edition (Cy2017), Us Dos Pm/Wra Dec 2018

To Walk The Earth In Safety 17th Edition (Cy2017), Us Dos Pm/Wra

Global CWD Repository

This 17th Edition of To Walk the Earth In Safety summarizes the United States’ CWD programs in 2017. CWD assistance provides the United States with a powerful and flexible tool to help partner countries manage their stockpiles of munitions, destroy excess small arms and light weapons (SA/LW) and clear explosive hazards such as landmines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and UXO. Our assistance also helps countries destroy or enhance security of their man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) and their threat to civilian aviation, in addition to other weapons and munitions.

The United States is committed to reducing these threats worldwide and …


Geneva International Centre For Humanitarian Demining | Twenty Years Of Supporting Mine Action, Gichd Dec 2018

Geneva International Centre For Humanitarian Demining | Twenty Years Of Supporting Mine Action, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

This book was published on the anniversary of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining's 20th anniversary. In 1997, at the adoption of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC), Switzerland announced its intention to create a Centre of technical expertise and training in humanitarian demining, which would help implement the APMBC and bring greater professionalism to the sector.

This book highlights the Centre's achievements since its founding, accompanied by pictures and quotes from GICHD staff over two decades.


Implementation Of The Convention On The Prohibition Of The Use, Stockpiling, Production And Transfer Of Anti-Personnel Mines And On Their Destruction : Revised, Unmas Nov 2018

Implementation Of The Convention On The Prohibition Of The Use, Stockpiling, Production And Transfer Of Anti-Personnel Mines And On Their Destruction : Revised, Unmas

Global CWD Repository

Seventy-third session
First Committee
Agenda item 101 (m)

General and complete disarmament: implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction

Afghanistan, Austria and Norway: revised draft resolution

Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction


17th Meeting Of The States Parties To The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty (2018), Apmbc Nov 2018

17th Meeting Of The States Parties To The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty (2018), Apmbc

Global CWD Repository

The Seventeenth Meeting of the States Parties (17MSP) was a formal meeting of the 164 States Parties to the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. The 17MSP was held in accordance with Article 11 of the Convention and pursuant to decisions of the 2017 Sixteenth Meeting of the States Parties.

A total of 125 delegations participated in the 17MSP, including 93 States parties, 10 States not party and 22 organisations.

The 17MSP was presided over by Afghanistan which has strived to encourage mine-affected and other States as …


Ddas: Investigating A Metal Detector Reading, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas: Investigating A Metal Detector Reading, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

What follows are basic procedures that you can edit and refine to suit your equipment and working preferences. They presume that deminers operate in a "One-man procedure ", with the same deminer performing all tasks during a working shift. When there is not enough equipment for each deminer to be issued with a detector and tools, two-man teams can be deployed. In a two-man team, a one-man procedure is still used. One person works while the other rests, and each individual performs all the tasks required for clearance during his/her shift.


Ddas: Crunching Data From The Database Of Demining Accidents, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas: Crunching Data From The Database Of Demining Accidents, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

In the database of demining accidents, injuries are classed as either Severe or Minor. Injuries likely to be life threatening, to require surgery or to result in permanent disability are rated as Severe. All others are rated as Minor. This distinction is for convenience and is not intended to reflect on the discomfort and/or hardship associated with the injury. In some cases, injuries were not recorded in detail but I have resisted the temptation to infer detail. Note that, in very severe injuries, only the most severe injury is generally recorded.


Ddas: Manual Demining Handtool Design Criteria, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas: Manual Demining Handtool Design Criteria, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The research I have carried out on tool development has been based on accident studies, field trials and my experience in both demining and in manufacturing in small workshops. The research led to the evolution of the following criteria and constraints. I believe that these are essential requirements when designing hand-tools for use when excavating anti-personnel blast mines. Tools used during other demining activities may not have the same requirements.


Ddas Suggested Training Uses: Management Training, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas Suggested Training Uses: Management Training, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

Increasingly, managers in HD are management specialists with little or no field experience. If so, they usually delegate responsibility for training and operational needs to another person, often an "Ops Manager". The manager or Ops Manager will be in charge of all training and/or refresher training, so they should read the training suggestions for deminers, paramedics and field supervisors as well as those given here.

Because the accident database is a collection of reports covering events when things did not go as planned, the examples drawn from it are usually "negative" - what not to do, rather than what to …


Ddas: Using The Database Of Demining Accidents, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas: Using The Database Of Demining Accidents, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The author has maintained a database of demining accidents for four years. It contains records of many of the explosive accidents that deminers suffer while going about their work. This article explains the uses and limitations of the database and the software developed to contain it.


Ddas: Metal Detector Set-Up, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas: Metal Detector Set-Up, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

There must always be absolute confidence in the metal-detector’s ability to locate the target device at the required depth before Metal-detector clearance drills are applied. It is important to set-up the metal-detector appropriately for two main reasons. First it gives the Supervisors confidence that the ground can be cleared to the required depth. Second, it gives the deminers confidence that they can and will find every mine.

What follows is a basic procedure for use with all the current models of metal-detector that I know. It is intended to provide a basis that you can edit and refine to suit …


Ddas Suggested Training Uses: Paramedic Training, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas Suggested Training Uses: Paramedic Training, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The examples of medical treatment in the database are rarely well detailed. When they are, they provide examples of both "positive" and "negative" responses to accidents. some of the worst negative responses are not the responsibility of the medic - who were simply not provided with the equipment or ambulance that they need. Parts of the reports may be used in lectures or presentations or they can be distributed for critical discussion.


Ddas Suggested Training Uses: Deminer Training, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas Suggested Training Uses: Deminer Training, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The database provides real-world examples that can be used as training aids. This will often reinforce what is considered to be common sense. Be aware that the database records prove (beyond reasonable doubt) that some commonsense wisdom is incorrect.

For example, it is a myth that the most dangerous time for deminers is shortly after their initial training. On the contrary, there is some evidence to suggest that deminers actually become more likely to have an accident the longer they work as a deminer.


Ddas: Suggested Training Uses, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas: Suggested Training Uses, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The most common use of these records in training is to provide an example of what happens when things are done in the wrong way. This can be a powerful reinforcement of a lesson about doing things the right way. The database can also be a training aid for paramedics and for field and office managers.


Ddas Suggested Training Uses: Supervisor/Field Management Training, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas Suggested Training Uses: Supervisor/Field Management Training, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

Field supervisors or managers should also read the suggested training needs for deminers because they will often be in charge of the deminers' training and/or refresher training. When they have any training concerns, they must report this in writing to the Senior Management in order to avoid censure if accidents result from inadequate training.

Because the accident database is a collection of reports covering events when things did not go as planned, the examples drawn from it are usually "negative" - what not to do, rather than what to do. They can be useful to explain the need for rules. …


Ddas Or Rapid?, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas Or Rapid?, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

In 2015, Tajikistan became the first country to make all of its demining accident data available. Congratulations to the Tajikistan National Mine Action Centre (TNMAC), a government controlled body that has set an international standard for transparency.

Despite its popularity, and the frequent reference made to the database when updating international and national Mine Action standards, the DDAS has no formal support.

The nominal Humanitarian Mine Action industry leader is the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS). UNMAS make no effort to collect and study accident records but, in 2011 when I left the IMAS Review Board, they began to …


Ddas: "Accidents" Or "Incidents", Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas: "Accidents" Or "Incidents", Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

When I started writing about demining accidents I tried to form a sensible distinction between the terms "accident" and "incident". I decided to call an unintended explosive event (or an intended explosive event that resulted in injury) an "incident". This was because an "Incident report" would be generated from which lessons that might prevent repetition of the event might be derived. I noted that the word "accident" was used for all unintended occurrences, from dropping the kettle to a car crash, but did not always apply to an intentional event that resulted in an injury. So, at that time, the …


Ddas: Introduction, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas: Introduction, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The DDAS software was designed by me in 1998 using the Microsoft Access engine and a Visual Basic front-end. This was revised and became a relational database in 2003. The software can be used to display existing datasets or to record your own. Field names can be edited and replaced with names in another language and the content of dropdown pick-lists is easily customised. Originally distributed on CD, it is not generally given out any more but despite being dated and cludgy, it can still be used many later operating systems.


Ddas: Metal Detector Search, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas: Metal Detector Search, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

What follows are basic procedures for use with all the current models of metal detector that I know. It is intended to provide a basis that you can edit and refine to suit your equipment and working preferences.


Ddasaccident813, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddasaccident813, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The report of this accident is compiled from press reports, edited for anonymity. Text in square brackets [ ] is editorial.

In a land mine clearance operation along the China-Vietnam boarder in Yunnan Province, Southwest China on October 11, [the Victim] chose to handle the complex situation by himself after asking his partner to step back. The explosion took [the Victim]'s both hands and eyes.

The Victim was defusing a mine when the accident occurred. Although no particular mine is mentioned, a Chinese Type 58 anti-personnel blast mine is inferred because it is shown in photographs and a fragmentation mine …


Ddas: The Database Of Demining Accidents - A Driving Force In Hma, Hd-Aid Oct 2018

Ddas: The Database Of Demining Accidents - A Driving Force In Hma, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

I started the Database of Demining Accidents (DDAS) in 1998 using public data gathered for the United States Army Communications-Electronics Command, Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate. When they declined to publish and update the database, I did so with their tacit approval but no funding support. I did this in the hope of improving safety for deminers. The database is an easy-to use system containing the original demining accident reports overlaid with easy-search summaries.


The Eighth Meeting Of States Parties To The Convention On Cluster Munitions (2018), Ccm Sep 2018

The Eighth Meeting Of States Parties To The Convention On Cluster Munitions (2018), Ccm

Global CWD Repository

The Eighth Meeting of States Parties of the Convention on Cluster Munitions will take place from 3 to 5 September 2018 in Geneva, at the Palais des Nations, Conference Room XVIII.


The Reduction Of Weapons-Related Violence: A Global Approach To Saving Lives, Hi Aug 2018

The Reduction Of Weapons-Related Violence: A Global Approach To Saving Lives, Hi

Global CWD Repository

HI's history is closely intertwined with the fight against armed violence, including the use of anti-personnel landmines, cluster munitions, and other explosive remnants of war, and the proliferation of light and small caliber weapons. The history of Humanity & Inclusion has been marked by our humanitarian commitment to reducing the impact of conventional weapons on civilian populations. HI was founded in 1982 to help Cambodian victims of landmines, and in 1992, we launched the first of many demining programs. Today, the organization continues to advocate for the landmine and cluster munitions ban treaties and runs victim assistance, demining, and risk …


U.S. Agency For International Development (Usaid) Risk Appetite Statement, United States Agency For International Development Jun 2018

U.S. Agency For International Development (Usaid) Risk Appetite Statement, United States Agency For International Development

Global CWD Repository

The purpose of this Risk Appetite Statement (hereinafter “Statement”) is to provide U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) staff with broad-based guidance on the amount and type of risk the Agency is willing to accept – based on an evaluation of opportunities and threats at a corporate level, and in key risk categories – to achieve the Agency’s mission and objectives.

This Statement is a critical component in USAID’s overall effort to achieve effective Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), and the leadership of the Agency will review and update it annually as the ERM program matures and our needs evolve.


Management Of Residual Explosive Remnants Of War In Cambodia Report, Gichd Jun 2018

Management Of Residual Explosive Remnants Of War In Cambodia Report, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

In post-conflict countries, there will always be some risk from residual ERW threats when construction is undertaken, as witnessed by ongoing efforts to manage risk from UXO in Europe. Investing in Infrastructure (3i)6 is a development project funded by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and managed by Palladium International, to provide support for the development of small-scale infrastructure in Cambodia. It is a private-public partnership that seeks to incentivise the Cambodian private sector in the provision of such infrastructure, through the provision of “output-based grants, currently for the provision of electricity and drinking water networks.

3i took …


Gender & Diversity Annual Report 2017, Gichd Jun 2018

Gender & Diversity Annual Report 2017, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

In 2017, GICHD has affirmed its commitment to fostering gender equality and ensuring that gender and diversity aspects are properly taken into account in mine action. The Centre entered its second year as a member of the International Gender Champions (IGC), and has adopted its second annual Gender and Diversity Action Plan, building on good practices and lessons learned from the previous year to ensure long-term sustainability.

Key areas of focus were the organisation of and participation in gender balanced and diverse panels, training sessions and workshops; ensuring GICHD staff is equipped with gender and diversity competencies; and mainstreaming gender …


The State Of Play In Safe And Secure Management Of Ammunition, Gichd May 2018

The State Of Play In Safe And Secure Management Of Ammunition, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

he recognition of the dual threat of poor management of conventional ammunition in terms of uncontrolled proliferation and devastating explosions has placed the safe and secure management of ammunition (SSMA) ever more firmly on the international political and normative agenda.

Operationally, international cooperation and assistance is stepping up to strengthen national efforts. This heightened attention to the topic makes it ever more judicious and timely to review the state of play in SSMA.

This GICHD report discusses if current practice addresses the challenge at hand and identifies bottlenecks requiring further action to overcome the challenge more effectively, sustainably and in …


United Nations Improvised Explosive Device Disposal Standards, Unmas May 2018

United Nations Improvised Explosive Device Disposal Standards, Unmas

Global CWD Repository

These IEDD Standards have been designed for the safe, effective and efficient disposal of IEDs. They aim at ensuring uniformity and technical specificity related to the generation of an IED disposal capability. They establish the minimum competencies required for IEDD operators and frame the methodology for the clearance of IEDs. The Standards provide guidance on how to carry out IED disposal planning, the competencies and associated training and equipment required to conduct IED disposal operations, as well as the appropriate approaches to IED clearance in rural and urban areas, IED information management and IED risk education.

The United Nations IEDD …


Global Mapping And Analysis Of Anti-Vehicle Mine Incidents In 2017, Gichd May 2018

Global Mapping And Analysis Of Anti-Vehicle Mine Incidents In 2017, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

This report presents and analyses AVM incident data from 2017. It follows up on and compares findings with earlier reports published by the GICHD and SIPRI examining AVM incidents in 2015 and 2016.

Data in this report stem from field reports from states, mainly national mine action authorities/centres, as well as mine action and other humanitarian organisations, and from media reviews in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Urdu and Ukrainian.


Ddasaccident816, Hd-Aid Mar 2018

Ddasaccident816, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

Three workers of the [International demining organisation] have been killed and two injured in a mine explosion in Azerbaijan's separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region. All the victims were local residents.

Employees of the [International demining organisation] … were in a vehicle conducting surveys when the explosion occurred. Two individuals were also wounded and have been taken to hospital with both requiring surgery.