Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Mineland, The Endless War: A Photo Essay, Rocco Rorandelli

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Many modern conflicts leave behind unexploded ordnance (UXO) in their aftermath, inflicting severe human, social, and economic costs. Europe is not immune from this issue. Today, landmine-affected countries in Europe include Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Serbia. With an average removal cost of 1,000 euros per mine, reduced funding is the main reason why demining is still unfinished in this region after more than 20 years of work. Every year, deminers and civilians die or are injured because of ordnance explosions.

A common sentiment of all organizations involved in demining operations is that greater funds are required to increase …

Itf Enhancing Human Security In Serbia, Gregor Sancanin

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

ITF Enhancing Human Security has worked in Southeast Europe’s post-conflict countries since 1998. In states affected by the break-up of Yugoslavia such as Serbia, ITF works to support the country’s fulfillment of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC), and this involvement has proved critical to Serbia fulfilling its goals.

Minefield Clearance And Casualties - Holland 1945 - Military Operations Research Unit Report No.7, Roly Evans

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In June and July 1945, two Royal Canadian Engineer officers, on their own initiative, carried out a review of the ongoing minefield clearance in Holland. The local military authorities deemed the review to be of significant value and therefore directed the Military Operational Research Unit to take up the study and “carry out a complete survey and analysis of all aspects of minefield clearance and casualties.” The study, entitled Military Operational Research Unit Report No.7 – Minefield Clearance and Casualties, Holland 1945 was initially intended to gather lessons about minefield clearance casualties in relation to combat. It became a significant …

Accidents And Field Medical Provision, Andy Smith

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

No one knows for sure how frequently accidents occur in humanitarian demining. This is partly because the details of accidents involving state employees are rarely shared, and national laws often restrict access to police or military reports. It is also because there is a frequent failure to comply with the reporting requirement described in the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS). IMAS 10.60 requires that “an accident in which a mine, ERW or explosives harms a demining employee, visitor, or member of the local population” shall be investigated and the report made available. However, although it is a requirement to share …

Booby-Traps And Anti-Handling Devices: Common Tactics, Michael Cardash

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Booby-traps are designed to entice victims to perform a physical action with an apparently harmless object that hides an explosive device that leads to the device’s unexpected initiation. Many booby-traps are improvised explosives devices (IED) and feature some kind of bait targeted to exploit emotions and the anticipated actions of security forces or civilians, who will initiate the explosive device in close proximity. Baiting is designed to attract attention and cause the victim to approach the IED. It is intended to pique curiosity or instinctual feelings, such as the desire to help (bait in the form of a body or …

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.

Collaborative Demining Training In Cambodia, Jorge Rivero, Tom Gersbeck

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Since 2016, the Center for Fire and Explosives, Forensic Investigations, Training and Research at Oklahoma State University (OSU) has teamed up with Golden West Humanitarian Foundation to offer an extraordinary training opportunity to military and civilian bomb experts, as well as OSU medical personnel and students. During the second half of January 2018, a group of civilian law enforcement bomb technicians, military explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians, medical personnel, a lawyer, and educators visited Cambodia to participate in the OSU Explosives Ordnance seminar conducted by Golden West.

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.

The Challenges Of Humanitarian Mine Clearance In Ukraine, Toby Robinson, Rosanna O'Keeffe

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The HALO Trust has been working in Ukraine since 2015, a year after the hostilities in the east of the country began. Both the ongoing conflict in the Donbas and tensions on the border with Russia have left large areas of land contaminated with landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW). In places where the frontline has moved on and the fighting has stopped, mines and other ERW remain, preventing the lives of civilians from returning to normal.

Apopo Annual Report 2019, Apopo

Global CWD Repository

APOPO originated from the idea of its founder Bart Weetjens to trains rats for the detection of landmines. Now, over 20 years later, APOPO deploys rats to find landmines and tuberculosis in many affected countries, and continues innovating to use its African Giant Pouched Rats in the battle against other scourges.

APOPO trains these ‘HeroRATs’ using positive reinforcement – they receive tasty treats when they identify a target scent. HeroRATs are at the core of the organization and it’s reflected in the way they are protected and responsibly raised.

Our Training and Research center is based at the foothills of …

Demining The Tajik-Uzbek Border: What Have We Learned From The Tajik Experience?, Henrique Garbino, Erkin Huseinov

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Following the recent political rapprochement between the governments of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in March 2018, a joint commission was created to investigate the minefields along the Tajik-Uzbek border and schedule their clearance. The Uzbek government first expressed the intention to remove the landmines along its borders in 2004 and later reported the start of unilateral demining operations in 2005 by the Uzbek military. Less than three years later, Uzbek demining teams had reportedly cleared 95 percent of the minefields along the Tajik border. However, this has not been verified by independent organizations, and civilians still fall victim to landmines in …

Ppe Development And Needs In Hma, Andy Smith

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

As written in the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) 10.30 on personal protective equipment (PPE), “the primary means of preventing explosive injury in the workplace is by the supervised use of demining tools and processes that reduce the likelihood of an unintended detonation.” The IMAS goes on to state that PPE “should be the final protective measure after all planning, training and procedural efforts to reduce risk have been taken.” To date the “final protective measure” has been to provide PPE that is practical but that does not provide full protection.

Apopo Annual Report 2018, Apopo

Global CWD Repository

APOPO is a non-profit organization with roots in Belgium. For 20 years we have trained African giant pouched rats to detect landmines and tuberculosis around the world. APOPO trains the ‘HeroRATs’ using positive reinforcement – they receive tasty treats when they identify a target scent. HeroRATs are at the core of the organization and this is reflected in the way we protect them and provide loving care and attention.

The main hub of the organization, the Training and R&D center, is located in Tanzania, where all the HeroRATs are trained before being sent to global operations. This is where all …

The Journal Of Conventional Weapons Destruction Issue 21.2 (2017), Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Feature: The Evolving Nature of Survey | Special Report: 21st Century Survey in Eastern Ukraine and the use of Technology in Insecure Environments | Spotlight: Southeast Asia | Field Notes | Research and Development

Apopo Annual Report 2017, Apopo

Global CWD Repository

APOPO is a global nonprofit organization that researches, develops, and implements scent-detection technology to combat global humanitarian issues. APOPO’s detection rats currently detect landmines or tuberculosis in 5 affected countries around the world.

The rats are trained through clicker/reward methods, receiving tasty food treats when they identify explosives or tuberculosis. They are never harmed, because they are too light to actually set off any landmines and are cared for under strict animal welfare guidelines.

APOPO has mine action programmes in Angola, Cambodia, and Mozambique and is preparing operations in Zimbabwe and Colombia. APOPO also detects tuberculosis in Tanzania and Mozambique, …

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.

The Journal Of Conventional Weapons Destruction Issue 20.2 (2016), Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Mobile Technologies in CWD

South and Central Asia

Field Notes

Research and Development

The Journal Of Conventional Weapons Destruction Issue 20.1 (2016), Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Best Practices in CWD | Spotlight on Eastern Europe and the Caucasus | Notes from the Field | Research & Development

Technology Research In Mine Action: Enough Is Enough, Russell Gasser

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Twenty years ago I started work on a doctorate thesis asking the question: “Why has research into new technologies for mine action had so little success?” My research discovered that about one billion dollars had been spent by the year 2000 on fundamental and applied research to produce new technologies to solve the mine problem. The resulting benefit for humanitarian mine action was indeed very small. Since then, large-scale spending has continued with limited success. Researchers and their funders have not learned from continued, expensive failure. There is clear cause and effect at work, which means that many research projects …

Apopo Annual Report 2016, Apopo

Global CWD Repository

APOPO is a global non-profit organization registered in Belgium that researches, develops and implements detection rat technology for humanitarian purposes. Detection rats, nicknamed HeroRATs, save lives by detecting landmines and tuberculosis. APOPO is headquartered in Tanzania and clears landmines in Mozambique, Angola and Cambodia, and soon in Zimbabwe. APOPO also detects tuberculosis in Tanzania and Mozambique and soon in Ethiopia. APOPO’s research and development center is based in Tanzania.

Apopo Annual Report 2015, Apopo

Global CWD Repository

I first met the amazing HeroRATs in 2008 when I was an APOPO deminer detecting landmines in Mozambique. I had been invited to APOPO’s HQ and Training & Research Center in Tanzania and was about to embark on my new career as a Mine Detection Rat Handler. Although I had worked with trained dogs before I was still amazed at the rat’s abilities; their speed and accuracy. The Tanzania team taught me about scent detection theory and technology, as well as animal welfare and veterinary skills. In return I told them about the suffering in my country. At that time, …

Effects Of Mixed Teams On Land Release, Arianna Calza Bini, Nyske Janssen, Abigail Jones

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Gender and Mine Action Programme (GMAP) investigated the impact of mixed gender teams on land release. Based on the opinion of the respondents, as well as gender baseline assessments conducted by GMAP, the organization found that in most cases mixed teams in the land release process are primarily associated with the employment of women and its effect on the teams. Some mine action managers indicated that mixed teams actually enable better access to information while only a few respondents indicated that more accurate and inclusive information will allow mine action organizations to prioritize tasks where the impact is highest. …

Get More Value For Money: The Benefits Of Multiyear Funding, Fabienne Moust, James De La Vingne

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In the experience of the government of the Netherlands, multiyear funding plans increase the efficiency and effectiveness of humanitarian mine action programs for donors, operators and national authorities.

Quality Management Systems In Mine Action Programs, Pascal Simon, Stefan De Coninck

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The United Nations Mine Action Service in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is in the process of implementing a new quality management system (QMS) for mine action in DRC. The QMS was implemented in July 2013 and its progress continues to be carefully monitored each quarter.

Scalable Technical Survey For Improved Land-Release Rates, Håvard Bach

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) tailors technical survey (TS) to allow for more efficient use of mine action assets and improved land-release rates. Many organizations consider TS an isolated activity and fail to streamline and effectively implement TS as a tool to reduce unnecessary, time-consuming and costly deployment of mine action resources.

Environmentally Responsible Saa Disposal, Ian Biddle

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The need to dispose of small arms ammunition (SAA) for short-term stability and security concerns has traditionally outweighed the long-term need for environmentally responsible disposal. The author suggests the international community should change its procedures concerning SAA disposal and promote more environmentally friendly disposal methods.

Understanding The Use Of Prodders In Mine Detection, Andy Smith

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Can prodding reliably detect mines? Though it may seem obvious to many in humanitarian mine action (HMA) that prodding alone cannot safely and reliably detect mines, recent accidents show that some expatriate newcomers to HMA do not know the risks involved in prodding or that prodding to a depth of 30 cm (12 in) is impossible.

Apopo Annual Report 2014, Apopo

Global CWD Repository

APOPO is an organization geared for positive social impact through the energy and dedication of our people. In 2014, with over 800 staff we nurtured and supported new, diverse and passionate talent from all over the world. As Chairwoman of APOPO I am pleased to introduce you to them, as well as share with you the news of our successes and challenges.

Sustainability is integral to our work and we aim to improve people’s lives by breaking down the barriers to development. Testament to this is almost two and half million square meters of mine-free land we handed back in …

Survivor Success Story: Mezgebu Abiyu Tesfaye, Bekele Gonfa

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Mezgebu Abiyu Tesfaye, an Ethiopian landmine survivor, was born in the East Gojjam zone, Amhara region, in 1967. Raised in a farming family, Mezgebu left school after the eighth grade to help his parents care for their cattle and do daily chores.

Has The Ccm Accommodated Gender?, Dalila Mahdawi

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

While the Convention on Cluster Munitions has taken steps to include gender, it missed the opportunity to mainstream gender into a disarmament treaty.