Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Innovative Approach To The Mental Health Needs Of Humanitarian Mine Action Personnel, Ken Falke, Bret A. Moore Psy.D., Abpp, Richard Tedeschi, Ph.D.

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In the fields of humanitarian demining and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), physical traumas related to blast and fragmentation injuries receive a great deal of research attention. In contrast, focus on the psychological health and wellness of humanitarian mine action personnel (HMAP) is lacking. Although research on the incidence of mental health disorders among HMAP is extremely limited, compared with the general population, this group likely suffers more from psychiatric conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. HMAP work in a high state of hypervigilance because at any given moment in a demining operation, there is risk of …

Measuring Explosive Munitions Use With Open-Source Data: A New Tool For Enhancing Humanitarian Mine Action, Jonathan Robinson, Christoph Baade

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Since 2011, there has been widespread use of explosive weapons—including conventional weapons, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and landmines—by all sides in the Syrian conflict.¹ As is known from other contexts, a proportion of these either fail to detonate, becoming unexploded ordnance (UXO), or are abandoned by combatants to become abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO).² Long after conflicts have ended, these explosive remnants of war (ERW) endure as multi-generational threats to a community’s population and future development.³

Applying "All Reasonable Effort" In The Falkland Islands Mine Clearance Programme: Encouraging Efficient, Confident, And Timely Evidence-Based Land Release Decision Making, David Hewitson, Guy Marot

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Falkland Islands Mine Clearance Programme (FI MCP) ran from 2009 to 2020, through five operational phases, some lasting only a few months, some extending across several years. A core objective was to release land as efficiently as possible, only applying technical assets to those specific areas of land that justified such attention. This article describes the approach that was adopted to determine whether all reasonable effort (ARE) had been applied to each task in such a way that current (and future) stakeholders would have confidence in that decision so as to manage the fear of mines being missed.

Linking Mine Action And Development: The Case Of Komyshuvakha, Nick Vovk

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The protracted crisis in Ukraine raises many developmental, humanitarian, and mine action challenges, and while these are interconnected, the response to them continues to be dichotomous. In part perpetuated by donor preferences and reinforced by technical specialty, humanitarian mine action (HMA) organizations often run parallel to the rest, leaving much of the potential for integration untapped. At the onset of the conflict in 2014, Danish Refugee Council-Danish Demining Group (DRC-DDG) returned to Ukraine and became the first international nongovernmental organization (INGO) to initiate a response to the acute need for HMA in its eastern regions. Throughout, DRC-DDG has been leveraging …

Developing National Landmine Clearance Capacity In Ukraine, Tobias Hewitt, Ronan Shenhav

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The mine action sector in Ukraine has seen significant growth and progression since the outbreak of hostilities along the eastern border in 2014. Continued development of government capacity is required to respond to the scale of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination. The HALO Trust (HALO) has supported the Ukrainian authorities to address mine contamination since 2015, through survey and large-scale mine clearance, as well as by assisting state entities such as the State Emergency Services (SES) to strengthen humanitarian mine clearance practices and procedures. HALO’s ongoing capacity-development efforts aim to enhance existing resources in order to establish …

Whither Hma Policy: Linking Hma And Development Assistance, Lewis Rasmussen, Ph.D.

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In 1988 The HALO Trust was credited with coining the term “humanitarian demining” as it differentiated military demining in Afghanistan from efforts designed specifically to reduce the ongoing threat to civilians, livelihoods, communities, and public infrastructure in terms of post-war reconstruction. Since then, many donor governments began to shift policy and programming to reflect this distinction. As but one example, the U.S. established an inter-agency Humanitarian Demining Program in 1993, which included the Agency for International Develop (USAID). Unfortunately, for many years the demining and development assistance communities proceeded more along parallel tracks, acknowledging each other and vectoring off to …

Confidence-Building Through Mine Action On The Korean Peninsula, Guy Rhodes, Ph.D.

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Korean Peninsula is divided by a strip of land, the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which represents the de facto border between North Korea, and South Korea. Contrary to its name, the DMZ is the most militarized zone on earth, and it delineates a stand-off between militaries composed of several million professional and reservist soldiers on both sides. It is the “Cold War’s last divide and one of the most symbolic barriers between two nations. It is also heavily mined with both anti-personnel and anti-vehicle landmines, and contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO) from extensive ground battles and heavy aerial bombardment.

This …

Developing A Sustainable National Training Capacity: Non-Technical Survey Training In Colombia, Marc Bonnet, Helen Gray, Giulia Matassa

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In January of 2014, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) conducted its first non-technical survey (NTS) training course in Colombia with the objective of enabling participants to plan and conduct NTS. At the time, however, Colombia had the second highest number of landmine accidents in the world,[i] with non-state armed groups (NSAGs) producing explosive ordnance (EO) “mostly in the form of victim-activated improvised explosive devices.”[ii]Descontamina,[iii] the National Mine Action Authority (NMAA), planned for fulfilling its Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) commitments, and national dialogue was initiated on a Plan de Choque, “a plan of …

Providing Imas Training To Local Military Forces And Mitigating Long-Term Erw Risks In Vietnam, Allan R. Vosburgh

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Residual risk from unexploded ordnance (UXO) is a by-product of all modern conflicts. Developed by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), the Management of Residual Explosive Remnants of War (MORE) program seeks to characterize risk and carefully examine the factors involved in reducing long-term risks from munitions.¹ MORE looks at many factors, including the impacts of time on munitions, explosives, and fuzing systems. Other critical considerations are the resources available to manage residual UXO and best practices from former conflict areas used to successfully overcome the risk reduction challenges. In Vietnam, the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation (Golden …

Game-Based Learning: An Innovative And Scalable Approach To Mine Risk Education, Ta Thi Hai Yen

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

More than 40 years after the war, Vietnam remains highly contaminated with 800,000 tons¹ of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) such as artillery shells, bombs, missiles, and mortars contaminating 6.1 million hectares of land. According to the Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor, landmines and UXO were the cause of 129 deaths and 241 injuries between 2008 and 2017.² Survey findings show that children are one of the most high-risk groups in many provinces in Vietnam, including in heavily-affected provinces such as Quang Tri, Quang Binh, Binh Dinh, and Quang Nam.³ Since the end of the war, …

Improving The Prioritization Process Of Uxo Lao, Hayashi Ontoku Akihito

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Prioritization of clearance activities continues to be a central issue in the unexploded ordnance (UXO) sector in Laos. Although the government set a policy on prioritization, it has not functioned well as a guide for operators to prioritize their tasks. The majority of operators tended to prioritize their operations based on their past experiences. This has resulted in uncertainty about how to prioritize clearance operations and has led to a strong demand from stakeholders for greater transparency. UXO Lao, the national clearance operator, has implemented a trial to introduce a clear planning and prioritization process for operations in order to …

Explosive Ordnance In The Baltic Sea: New Tools For Decision Makers, Torsten Frey, Jacek Beldowski, Edmund Maser

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The global ocean economy is predicted to grow by more than 100 percent between 2010 and 2030. By then, more than 40 million people are going to be employed by the maritime industry.¹ Recognizing this potential, the European Union (EU) devised a “Blue Growth” strategy that seeks to reap the anticipated economic benefits.² While technological advancements allow for an increased utilization of marine resources, the newly gained access to untapped opportunities forces coastal nations to simultaneously face the challenge of explosive remnants of war (ERW) and chemical warfare agents (CWAs) in the sea.

The Development Of A Humanitarian Ied Clearance Capacity In Afghanistan, Alexander Tan

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have been widely used in Afghanistan since the mid-2000s, presenting a significant and life-threatening hazard to the civilian population. As areas become free from conflict and permissible for humanitarian clearance, an effective response is required to protect civilians. With the support of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the German Federal Foreign Office, and in coordination with the Directorate of Mine Action Coordination (DMAC; the Afghan national mine action authority) and other stakeholders, The HALO Trust (HALO) has developed and implemented a successful proof of concept for manual clearance of victim operated IEDs (VOIEDs). While …

Community-Based Inclusive Development: Integrating Survivors Into A Broader Victim Assistance System, Bernard Franck, Donna Koolmees, Sarah French

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

During the Vietnam War, an estimated 580,000 or more bombing missions were carried out over Laos, dropping two million tons of ordnance across the country.¹ This contaminated Laos with approximately 80 million items of unexploded ordnance (UXO),² including ‘big bombs,’ cluster munition and sub-munition bomblets, grenades, rockets, and other types of ammunition.³ There also remain an unknown number of landmines across the country which are further remnants of the war. Today, fifteen out of eighteen provinces and approximately 25 percent of villages are still affected.⁴ Between 1964 and 2017, 50,754 people were killed or injured as …

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

Long-Term Risk Management Tools For Protocols For Residual Explosive Ordnance Mitigation: A Pretest In Vietnam, Katrin Stauffer, Christelle Mestre

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The transition from proactive survey and clearance to reactive risk management represents a crucial moment in the life of a mine action program. Relevant frameworks and standards, including the International Mine Action Standard (IMAS) 07.10, usually require that all reasonable effort is applied and a tolerable level of risk with regards to a mine or explosive ordnance (EO) threat is achieved in order to move to a residual state. Such transition requires the application of risk management principles, as stressed in the IMAS 07.14: Risk Management in Mine Action.

Cluster Munition Remnant Survey In Southeast Asia, Kimberly Mccosker, Jan Erik Stoa, Katherine Harrison

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Efficient and effective land release is a core global priority for MAG (Mines Advisory Group), Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), and The HALO Trust (HALO), as significant and ongoing investment of resources and expertise continually improve procedures and approaches. Cluster Munitions Remnants Survey: Best Practice in South East Asia is the result of many years of close cooperation between MAG, NPA, and HALO on survey and clearance of cluster munition remnants (CMR) in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Ahead of the 9th Meeting of States Party (9MSP) to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), held in Geneva in September 2019, operational and …

Ieds And Urban Clearance Variables In Mosul: Defining Complex Environments, Mark Wilkinson Ph.D.

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

More than any other post-conflict environment in Iraq, the complexity of west Mosul and its improvised explosive device (IED) threat challenges our fundamental perceptions and definitions of mine action. From here, 400 km (248.5 mi) north of Baghdad in the al-Maedan District on the west side of the Tigris River, ISIS ran its caliphate and made its ill-fated last stand against attacking Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).

The Impact Of Landmines And Explosive Remnants Of War On Food Security: The Lebanese Case, Henrique Garbino

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The year 2017 was the third in a row of an exceptionally high number of mine victims. According to the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, in 2017 alone, 7,239 people became casualties of landmines or explosive remnants of war (ERW), of which at least 2,793 were killed.^1,2 Apart from their direct physical effects, landmines and ERW also restrict access to basic resources such as food and water, limit the use of key infrastructure, and both force and restrict migration.² This article focuses on the impact of landmines and ERW on food security, with an emphasis in food …

Iraq: A Photo Essay, Sean Sutton

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

MAG, Mines Advisory Group, has worked in Iraq since 1992 to make land safe for populations affected by decades of conflict. Landmines, cluster munitions, other unexploded bombs, as well as new contamination from the recent conflict with ISIS, have left a deadly legacy that prevents communities from using their land, and displaced populations from returning home safely.

Ammunition Stockpile Management: A Global Challenge Requiring Global Responses, Nora Allgaier, Samuel Paunila

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Ageing, unstable, and excess conventional ammunition stockpiles pose the dual risk of accidental explosion at munition sites and diversion to illicit markets, thereby constituting a significant danger to public safety and security. More than half of the world’s countries have experienced an ammunition storage area explosion over the past decades, resulting in severe humanitarian and socioeconomic consequences.¹ Thousands of people have been killed, injured, and displaced, and the livelihoods of entire communities have been disrupted. The humanitarian impact of unintended explosions is amplified when they occur in urban areas, as illustrated by ammunition depot explosions in a crowded area …

More Bang For Their Buck: Enhancing The Sustainability Of Surplus Ammunition Destruction Programs, Joe Farha, Matthias Krotz, Einas Osman Abdalla Mohammed

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Dealing with stockpiles of surplus ammunition remains a key challenge for many African countries. In the last 10 years, at least 38 ammunition sites across Africa reportedly experienced unplanned explosions, causing injury and loss of life as well as significant damage to infrastructure and the environment. Numerous reasons such as overstocking, inadequate storage facilities due to insufficient resources, inadequate capabilities of storage sites, or simply unstable ammunition may be the cause of these unplanned detonations. These factors are often exacerbated by personnel having a limited knowledge and awareness, or insufficient training on relevant subjects such as explosive compatibility groups or …

Key Performance Indicators And Hma: Time To Standardize?, Roly Evans, David Hewitson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Measuring performance is the norm across a range of human activities. But is it a norm in humanitarian mine action (HMA)? Some might suggest that it is. However, if we measure our performance, it is unclear whether we do so in a standardized way so that meaningful comparisons can be made. HMA lacks standardized indicators, whether it is for items of explosive ordnance (EO) found and destroyed, m² of land released, or more general outcomes such as internally displaced persons returning to an area once cleared. Indicators can of course be ignored, misused, misreported, or misunderstood and some fear …

From The Director, Ken Rutherford Dr.

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Having just returned from an educational leave for these past five months, I return energized and even more passionate about the work we have ahead of us in the humanitarian mine action (HMA) field. During this time, I had an opportunity to study the terror that landmine use caused civilians during the 1943-1944 Italian campaign and how many of those mines were cleared. They are stories not dissimilar from today’s conflicts, including in Yemen. On 13 June, the Embassy of the Republic of Yemen held a landmine briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., during which I presented on the …

The Challenge Of Managing Mine Action In Jordan, Hrh Prince Mired R.Z. Al-Hussein

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Over the course of two decades, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan worked diligently to rid itself of landmines despite monumental challenges. In comparison to other mine-affected countries, the difficulties that Jordan faced may have been miniscule, but for a developing country with minimal natural resources in a very volatile region of the world, the task was enormous. The initial estimate of landmines buried in Jordanian territory was over 300,000, the vast majority of which were laid by the Jordanian military along the kingdom’s western border after the 1967 Arab– Israeli War and along its northern border after the Syrian incursion …

Ied Threat Consistency And Predictability In Fallujah: A 'Simple' Model For Clearance, Mark Wilkinson Ph.D.

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

When in control of the area of Iraq north of Baghdad, including the city of Fallujah, ISIS prepared to defend its position from inevitable government counterattack through the widespread use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) laid as defensive obstacles in patterns similar to conventional minefields.¹ The subsequent destruction of bridges over the Tigris River further strengthened the ability of ISIS to defend the city and prevent the civilians trapped within from escaping.

Practical Notes On The Application Of Thermite Systems In Mine Action, Robert Syfret, Chris Cooper

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

There are numerous documents available online relating to the use of thermite systems for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD). However, most of the documents are either scientifically focused or address specific technical questions. This article provides broader practical information for mine action operators at the field and program levels. Although previously employed on a relatively small scale over the last five years, use of thermite as opposed to explosives for the destruction of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) has increased. This has been driven by greater engagement across the sector in countries with unstable security situations, and places with …

Ukraine's Newly Adopted Mine Action Law: What Does This Mean For Hma Programs?, Henrique Garbino

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Recent contamination in the region is the result of the ongoing conflict between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.³ Although the full extent of contamination is unknown, conservative estimates suggest that about 20 sq km (7.72 sq mi) are contaminated.

Currently, at least three government institutions are directly involved with humanitarian demining, with the support of three international NGOs. Many more organizations are involved in mine risk education (MRE), victim assistance, stockpile destruction, advocacy and training, advisory, and coordination of the mine action program. However, until January 2019, there was no strong legal framework …

Interviews With Hma Directors: Major General J.M. Cowan, Major General J.M. Cowan

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction is introducing a section dedicated to sharing the insights and experiences of those working in the field. This issue features HMA directors. Future issues will feature interviews with photojournalists, survivors, and veterans of the HMA community.

Interviews With Hma Directors: Arianna Calza Bini, Arianna Calza Bini

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction is introducing a section dedicated to sharing the insights and experiences of those working in the field. This issue features HMA directors. Future issues will feature interviews with photojournalists, survivors, and veterans of the HMA community.