Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Past, Present, Future: Mine Action In Motion, Ambassador Stefano Toscano Ph.D.

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The story of mine action is one of an adaptive and solution-oriented sector. Time and again, mine action has developed new approaches, tools, and standards to meet evolving challenges and circumstances at the field level. A strong partnership among all key actors has characterized the sector since its early years and has been instrumental to its agility and evolution.

Mine Action: The Early Years, Ian Mansfield

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

At the global level, the year 1997 was undoubtably the pinnacle of interest in mine action. This was the year that saw the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Jody Williams and the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines (ICBL), the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the opening of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) for signature in Ottawa, the establishment of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) as the UN focal point for mine action, the formation of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), the genesis of the Mine Action Support Group (MASG), …

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.

The Exploitation Of Landmines In The Falkland Islands, Colin King

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Throughout the eleven-year mine clearance program in the Falkland Islands, the exploitation (disassembly, detailed analysis, and testing) of live mines was a regular feature. In addition to assessing the condition of the mines in order to optimize the safety and efficiency of the clearance process, there was intense interest in the subject of long-term residual risk.

The rigorous demining program was highly successful, and the Falkland Islands have now been declared clear. However, a mine recently washed up on the shore near the Capital, Stanley, and it’s possible that others will do so over the next few years. It is …

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 …

The Journal Of Conventional Weapons Destruction, Issue 25.1, Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Issue 25.1 of The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction. A special double issue celebrating our 25th anniversary

Landmine Clearance And Socioeconomic Development: A Study In Colombia, Oliver Ford, Amazia Zargarian, Eric Keefer

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The HALO Trust (HALO) arrived in Colombia in 2009 and, once accredited, began operations in 2013. HALO is currently the largest civilian humanitarian demining organization in the country, operating in twenty-five municipalities across eight departments.¹ The United States has supported HALO from the outset in Colombia and remains the single biggest donor for demining in the country. In 2019, through U.S. Department of State support, HALO began an innovative study to investigate the causal link between landmine clearance and socioeconomic development in Colombia. The study focused on two municipalities in the south of Antioquia Department—Nariño and La Unión—both of which …

Explosive Ordnance Risk Education In Ukraine During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Anonymous N/A

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

All modern conflicts bring dangers of explosive remnants of war (ERW), including unexploded ordnance (UXO), abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO), improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and/or landmines, and the conflict in eastern Ukraine is no exception. While the conflict is still ongoing, it is currently in a state of relative stalemate, limited to shelling, sniper fire, and small skirmishes along the 280-mile line of contact.¹ However, civilians are still directly at risk as a result of military actions but also indirectly as a result of ERW and landmines, which are scattered across the region due to the frequent shifting of the line …

Moving The Story Forward Utilizing Deminer Narratives To Increase Women’S Empowerment In Mine Action And Beyond, Brenna Matlock

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The humanitarian mine action (HMA) sector, as a part of the wider security and peacebuilding field, has made significant gains related to gender equity in field operations. In recent years, women deminers have received increased donor and media attention. As a result, there now exists a wide breadth of texts, literature, documentaries, etc., about women who work to remove landmines and other explosives from the ground. The availability of this new information and recent increased public and media attention generates the following questions: Are the narratives accurate, and do women deminers agree with them? How do women deminers view the …

Impact Caused By The Covid-19 Pandemic On Humanitarian Demining In Colombia, Salomé Valencia Aguirre, Angela De Santis Ph.D., Sebastián Tovar Jaramillo

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

cisrExchange · 25.1-Valencia-Aguirre

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mine action sector globally. In this article, the authors look at how the pandemic has affected Colombia, specifically concentrating on how the pandemic has affected humanitarian demining (HD)-related activities. To do so, the Swiss Foundation for Demining (FSD) compared key HD indicators from 2019 to 2020 in order to evaluate the performance of HD operations in Colombia, and carried out an assessment among HD organizations (HDOs) operating in-country through the Quick Impact Survey on COVID-19 Impact on Humanitarian Operations. Moreover, the authors provide an example of community service activities and …

Mental Health: Taking A Proactive Approach To Support Staff In Mine Action, Laura Biscaglia, Abigail Jones, Robert White

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

As public awareness on mental health in the workplace has increased in recent years, the humanitarian sector—along with the CHS Alliance, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Antares Foundation, and others—has been stressing the need for aid organizations to ensure that their duty of care responsibilities encompass the health, safety, security, and well-being of staff.¹

This article aims to contribute to existing conversations on how actors in the mine action (MA) sector can work together to promote mental health in the workplace as well as prevent and mitigate adverse mental health outcomes. The article is also a call …

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 …

Data-Driven Decision-Making In Southeast Asia, Mikael Bold, David Avenell

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Automated management information systems to enhance decision-making abilities are becoming more important today. Funding and resources are scarce, but technological developments are making it possible to conduct sophisticated analyses that will enhance planning and prioritization: doing more with less. Centered around optimization and efficiency, the geographic information system (GIS) tools provided by Esri¹ have been crucial in providing MAG (Mines Advisory Group)with decision-making software.

A Virtual Reality Application For The Training Of Deminers, Lynn Al Khansa, Elias Bou Saada, Rachid Maalouf, Mohammed Al-Husseini Ph.D., Ali El-Hajj Ph.D., Mohammed Baydoun Ph.D., Hassan Ghaziri Ph.D.

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

As virtual reality (VR) tools continue to improve, more fields are finding ways of implementing the technology to take advantage of training opportunities that reduce costs, alleviate logistical challenges, and more. Where humanitarian deminers must prepare for dangerous work, VR facilitates training that minimizes the danger while giving trainers a level of control over the different conditions of the training and the ability to easily monitor and instruct the user. For this purpose, the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the Beirut Research and Innovation Center (BRIC) developed a VR application for the basic training of deminers, which is called …

Recognizing And Reducing Risks From Ammunition And Explosives, Martina Salini, Samuel Paunila

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) first engaged in the stockpile management of conventional ammunition in 2013 and has since developed in-house technical, operational, and strategic capabilities for ammunition through-life management. The GICHD is an active supporter of the ammunition management community of practice, and has authored and contributed to articles on this topic, including raising awareness of ammunition safety and security concepts.¹ The GICHD also collaborates with the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR) at James Madison University by jointly managing the Collaborative Ordnance Database Repository (CORD). This article discusses ammunition and explosives management from …

First Steps To Limiting Conflict Pollution In Central Vietnam, Allan R. Vosburgh

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Awareness and concern are growing worldwide regarding pollution resulting from conflicts. In Vietnam, decades of wars have left a legacy of contaminated land and increasingly polluted water. Golden West Humanitarian Foundation (Golden West) believes future success in eliminating explosive remnants of war (ERW) will depend on highly-skilled, dedicated Vietnamese technicians who can apply training, tools, and techniques that mitigate ERW without unnecessarily adding new contaminants to the environment. Open detonations always contribute steel fragments and particles of explosive residue in the ground along with smoke and detonation products in the air. Golden West is helping to develop facilities, technology, and …

The Elusive “Just Enough”: Re-Inventing Explosive Hazard Clearance Management In Iraq, Mark Wilkinson Ph.D.

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Government of Iraq viewed rehabilitation of infrastructure contaminated with explosives during the conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as a prereqisite to socioeconomic recovery and political stability, which, in turn, established a need for the mine action community to deploy qualified, certified clearance teams as quickly as possible. While these teams could deploy quickly, their reliance on international staff and their associated costs attributable to security and other factors introduced a high overhead business model that became an accepted standard during a first clearance phase from 2015 to 2019, despite the understanding that this …

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

Managing Risk Through Transparency And Cooperation: Improving Lebanon’S Pssm Capacity, Jamie Mcghee

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Weapons and ammunition management (WAM) is a global issue in which nations are responsible for the physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) of weapons and ammunition to help mitigate weapons diversion and proliferation, and to prevent against an unplanned explosions at munitions sites (UEMS). Although in most instances preventable, UEMS incidents have increased, leading to significant loss of life, life-changing injuries to innocent civilians, and damage to property.¹

Remote Sensing And Artificial Intelligence In The Mine Action Sector, Martin Jebens, Rob White

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Remote sensing and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are included in discussions of how technology and innovation can improve humanitarian action and international peacekeeping. These technologies have the potential to improve the capacity to assess needs and to monitor changes on the ground and can be useful for both the mine action (MA) and broader humanitarian sectors. Even though remote sensing and AI are not the silver bullet in MA and come with several challenges (e.g., operational and data protection), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) believe that the integration …

How To Implement Drones And Machine Learning To Reduce Time, Costs, And Dangers Associated With Landmine Detection, Jasper Baur, Gabriel Steinberg, Alex Nikulin Ph.D., Kenneth Chiu Ph.D., Timothy De Smet Ph.D.

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Two rapidly emerging technologies revolutionizing scientific problem solving are unpiloted aerial systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, and deep learning algorithms.¹ Our study combines these two technologies to provide a powerful auxiliary tool for scatterable landmine detection. These munitions are traditionally challenging for clearance operations due to their wide area of impact upon deployment, small size, and random minefield orientation. Our past work focused on developing a reliable UAS capable of detecting and identifying individual elements of PFM-1 minefields to rapidly assess wide areas for landmine contamination, minefield orientation, and possible minefield overlap. In our most recent proof-of-concept …

Assisting Landmine Survivors In Yemen, Elise Becker, Tamara Klingsheim

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Over the past ten years, the Marshall Legacy Institute’s (MLI) Mine Victim’s Assistance Program (MVA) in Yemen has helped over 800 male, female, and child landmine survivors in Yemen. MLI and our in-country program partner have worked to identify survivors and provide them with the assistance they require, including prosthetic services, vocational training, and self-employment opportunities, to improve their lives and increase their prospects for a brighter future.

Post Pandemic Aquatics: Professionals On Deck, Susan J. Grosse

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

As aquatic programs re-open and/or expand as COVID restrictions lift, avoiding virus transmission is a top health and safety concern. This article presents options for safe social distancing for professionals and participants during teaching of swim lessons, coaching sessions, and aquatic exercise classes. Emphasis is on practical, session-to-session issues. Suggestions are applicable to all ages of participants in aquatic programs. Focus is on information for aquatic professionals providing direct participant service. Guidelines for program management are also included.

Key Performance Indicators (Kpis) For Land Release And Stockpile Destruction Operations—Notes On A New Technical Note For Mine Action, Roly Evans, David Hewitson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In March 2021 the International Mine Action Standards Review Board (IMAS RB) adopted by consensus a new Technical Note for Mine Action (TNMA): Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Land Release and Stockpile Destruction Operations.¹ The TNMA detailed new Common Counting Rules for land release outputs, identified elements of Context Capture at points of data entry and underlined the need for operational staff to prioritize the collection of relevant good quality data. The purpose of this article is to set out why the TNMA was developed and explain certain aspects of its content, particularly those where prolonged debate was necessary in …

Issue 25.1 Endnotes, Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Issue 25.1 Endnotes

Bringing Up Buddhas: How Mindfulness Can Impact The Next Generation, Alex Tzelnic

Mindfulness Studies Theses

The following presents both a rationale paper and a creative thesis on the topic of how mindfulness can meaningfully impact the next generation. Given the daunting issues faced by Generation Alpha (those born after 2010), including climate change, social justice, and mental health, understanding how the tool of mindfulness can best support children, as well as inform the caretakers most influential to them such as parents and educators, is crucial.

The following rationale paper outlines how mindfulness can make an impact in the fields of parenting and education, as well as in addressing the pertinent issues mentioned above. In surveying …

Giving A Voice To Children In Foster Care Through Narrative Puppetry And Storytelling, Lindsay Beebe

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract Children in foster care are typically under the direction of adults and are rarely given a chance to share their voices. Whether it be the confusion they have regarding what led them to be placed in foster care, hopes for their future, or what they require to feel safe and supported in their foster home, it is rare for children in foster care to be given the opportunity to communicate their experiences in a creative and safe environment where they are encouraged to play and be the experts of their experience. The placement of a child into the foster …

The Use Of Digital Mediums In Expressive Arts Therapy, Katherine Mcadams

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In recent years, there have been considerable advances in technology, which have made digital devices such as computers and cellphones cheaper and more accessible for most Americans. The Pew Research Center (2019) reports that 96% of adult American’s own a cellphone, with 81% owning a smartphone. Usage rates for cellphones and other digital devices amongst children and adolescents are also high with 95% of teens, aged 13-17, report owning a smartphone (Jiang, 2018). Despite these staggering statistics the field of psychology and creative therapies have been slower to adopt and incorporate the use of digital media and technology into the …

Exploring Gender Identity Through A Camera's Lens: A Literature Review, Mackenzie Ganier

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Despite a growing number of individuals who identify as non-binary, there is still a lack of understanding, language and acceptance of their identity. Dominant narratives perpetuate the gender binary and often exclude individuals who identify outside of this narrative. With so little representation regarding non-binary identities (spelling), how can therapists support potential non-binary clients? Phototherapy may be used as a viable intervention for non-binary individuals as they continue to explore their gender identity. Through a review of research and literature, this thesis attempts to gain information regarding gender identity development based on environmental factors such as dominant narratives and socialization.