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Federal Minister Delays Decision On Nuclear Waste Depository, Erika Simpson

Political Science Publications

The federal minister of the environment, Catherine McKenna, has dealt a setback to the proposal put forward by government-owned Ontario Power Generation (OPG), for the underground storage of nuclear waste. The proposed Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) would be located in Kincardine, Ontario, approximately 1.2 kilometres away from the shore of Lake Huron, and constructed underneath the world's largest operating nuclear power plant.

Sustainable Development Goals Worth Sharing, Erika Simpson

Political Science Publications

The international community has agreed upon another set of goals for the next 15 years. On the table are no less than 169 objectives and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new aspirations are summarized and the merits and demerits of further elaboration and measurement including country-specific deadlines and targets are discussed. The hefty budget to achieve all 17 goals is estimated at more than $4 trillion US a year. North American policy-makers need to be aware of humankind’s shared aspirations as they consider the new and expensive SDGs. Foreign aid is one of the instruments of North American foreign …

Landmine Detonates On South Korean Side Of Demilitarized Zone, News Brief

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Tensions between North Korea and South Korea rose as a result of the first major exchange of artillery fire in five years. On 4 August 2015, a landmine severely wounded two South Korean staff sergeants patrolling the DMZ.Officials from Seoul accused North Korea of planting three mines near the guard post on the south side of the DMZ, 440 meters (481 yards) away from the demarcation line; officials from Pyongyang denied these accusations. The explosives found were placed in wooden boxes, not unlike mines previously used by North Korea.

Mag: Mine Clearance In Lebanon, Sean Sutton

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Mines, cluster submunitions, and unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination plague Lebanon as a result of a 15-year civil war ending in 1990, two Israeli invasions in 1978 and 1982, and the July–August conflict with Israel in 2006. The Lebanon Mine Action Centre (LMAC) identified 2,598 mined areas covering 191,000,000 sq m of land. Following non-technical survey (NTS) and clearance operations, there is an estimated 30,316,080 sq m of suspected hazardous area remaining. Although some cluster munition contamination remains from the 1982 conflicts, much of the contamination is the result of the 2006 conflict with Israel, during which nearly four million cluster …

Endnotes Issue 19.3, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Endnotes Issue 19.3

Integrating Mre Into Humanitarian Responses In Iraq, Tammy Hall

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

As a result of conflict in Iraq, the safety and well-being of millions of refugees and internally displaced persons is at stake due to explosive remnants of war (ERW). In order to mitigate that threat, the Danish Refugee Council enlisted the help of the Danish Demining Group to incorporate mine and ERW risk education into existing humanitarian efforts in Iraq.

Solutions For Increasing Physical Accessibility, Capacity Building And Psychological Support In Tajikistan, Reykhan Muminova

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In order to fulfill requirements of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the city of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, modified the architecture of three public buildings and implemented a new psychological training process for medical centers in the area to provide awareness about disability rights and increase provision of psychological aid. The desired end goal is that advocacy will allow for increased public acceptance and understanding of disability while moving Tajikistan toward signing the CRPD.

Caught In The Crossfire: Challenges To Providing Victim Assistance In Colombia, Michelle Miller

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Due to ongoing civil conflict, many Colombian civilians experience both financial and physical harm, but those living in rural areas have limited or no access to much-needed medical and economic assistance. In conjunction with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, as well as multi-national corporations, the Polus Center for Social and Economic Development assesses the needs of and provides rehabilitative services to residents in these remote areas.

Humanitarian Mine Action In Afghanistan: A History, Ian Mansfield

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

After a decade of Soviet occupation in Afghanistan and the resulting internal conflict, the removal of explosive remnants of war (ERW) became a complicated issue. Systematic clearance of ERW was difficult to establish due to the volatile security situation and an inability to regulate clearance work. However, due to collaboration between the United Nations and Afghan nongovernmental organizations, mine clearance operations were successfully established in Afghanistan in the 1990s.

Risk Education In Northern Jordan, Lindsay Aldrich, Suzanne Fiederlein, Jessica Rosati

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In 2013 and 2014, the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery at James Madison University led a project funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) to provide explosive remnants of war risk education to Syrian refugees living in urban areas of northern Jordan. At the time, it was unclear whether the hundreds of thousands of Syrians fleeing the civil conflict and seeking refuge in neighboring countries would be able to return home in the near future, but there was still significant hope this would happen.

Remote Risk Education In Syria, Nikolaj Søndergaard

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Unable to be physically present in Syria due to ongoing conflict, DanChurchAid (DCA) is collaborating with a network of journalists and activists in order to assess the need for risk education in the country. By framing its risk education curriculum and strategies around this information, DCA’s mine action initiatives are tailor-fit for the hard-to-reach populations of war-ravaged Syria.

Evolution Of Disability Rights In Iraq, Ken Rutherford, Megan Hinton

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Due to the many years of conflict in Iraq, landmines and explosive remnants of war resulted in a large population of persons with disabilities. People with disabilities in Iraq lack adequate housing, medical care, educational opportunities and legislation protecting their rights. Now is the time to create the legal framework protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

Project Renew’S Prosthetics And Orthotics Mobile Outreach Program, Dang Quang Toan

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Project RENEW established a mobile outreach program to provide prostheses, orthotics and education to explosive remnants of war survivors in the remote communities of Vietnam.

Effectiveness Of Gis In Mine Action, Hansie Heymans, Arie Claassens

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

According to a survey conducted by Geometric Solutions, Ltd., the usage of a geographic information system (GIS) stands to benefit the mine action community within the context of strategic planning and operational decision-making. Furthermore, web-based GIS can provide mobile spatial data for operations and lead to an overall improvement of mine action operations.

Roots Of Peace: Cluster Munitions To Crops, Tucker Kuhn, Heidi Kuhn

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

By facilitating the removal of explosive remnants of war in rural Vietnam, Roots of Peace (ROP) aims to restore contaminated farmland to a safe, productive state. ROP encourages economic empowerment by training farmers in the production of cash crops, such as black pepper and taro.

Collaborative Ordnance Data Repository (Cord), Dionysia Kontotasiou, Olivier Cottray

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Until recently, the mine action and broader humanitarian disarmament community have relied on ORDATA for ordnance information. However, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, James Madison University and software-development company Ripple Design developed a novel aid to using ORDATA: the Collaborative ORDnance data repository (CORD). Representing a significant update to the data set, CORD is an ordnance-identification system featuring Web 2.0 concepts that allow individual users to contribute updates to the data.

Landmines In Croatia Pose Threat To Incoming Refugees, News Brief

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

After Hungary formally closed its border with Serbia on 15 September 2015, refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East, Central Asia and Northern Africa have turned next to Croatia as a gateway to reach countries such as Sweden and Germany. The influx of refugees traversing the areas near the Croatia-Serbia border has raised concerns that refugees will encounter residual landmine contamination in Croatia as they make their way to Slovenia and Hungary. The contamination dates back to the four-year conflict which followed the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1995. The Croatian Mine Action Centre (CROMAC) estimates that …

The Journal Of Erw And Mine Action Issue 19.3 (2015), Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Focus: The Middle East | Feature: Victim Assistance | Special Report | Notes from the Field | Research and Development

Providing Integrated Peer-Support Assistance To Landmine Survivors, Amir Mujanovic

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Landmine Survivors Initiatives implemented a three-pronged, peer-support assistance system to meet landmine survivors’ needs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This practice is the combination of an approach and methodology to provide integrated assistance to landmine survivors.

Boko Haram Uses Landmines And Ieds To Threaten Nigeria, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Forces from Cambodia, Chad and Nigeria have repeatedly combated Boko Haram’s attempts to terrorize civilians, capture hostages and hinder military advances with landmines and booby traps.

Issue 19.2 Endnotes, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Issue 19.2 Endnotes

Vietnam 40 Years After The War, Sean Sutton

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Sean Sutton, photographer and international communications manager for MAG (Mines Advisory Group), provides a photographic essay of MAG's clearance work in Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces, Vietnam.

The Journal Of Erw And Mine Action Issue 19.1 (2015), Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Focus on Vietnam

Feature: Cultural and Environmental Issues in Demining

Notes from the Field

Research and Development

Post-Clearance Inspection: How Much Is Enough?, Russell Gasser

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Post-clearance inspection serves to check contamination of land on a per square meter basis. Although inspection does little in the way of explaining the quality of the work done in demining operations, it can be important in providing an incentive for deminers to produce higher quality work.

Mre Certification Courses In Mali, Sri Lanka And Tajikistan, Sebastian Kasack

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

UNICEF developed a mine risk education (MRE) certification course to regulate the accreditation of MRE educators. The certification courses have had varied success in Mali, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan.

Unplanned Explosions Of Munition Stockpiles, Ken Rutherford, Matthew Williams

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Unplanned explosions at munition sites in places such as Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United States result in mass casualties to civilians and government personnel. Although new ammunition-storage practices in the United States expanded to include a military role, not all countries have evolved their practices as quickly, leaving them more susceptible to continued explosions. The increasing role of urbanization will make ammunition site management even more important in the 21st century.

Islamic State Plants Landmines Around Palmyra Ruins, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) laid landmines around the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Palmyra in Syria.

Observations On Cluster Strike Patterns In Laos, Roly Evans

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Cluster strike footprints are being surveyed and subsequently cleared in Laos. Little information is available regarding the nature of cluster munition strike patterns. If more evidence from different types of strike footprints is collected, analyzed and distributed, operators will be better prepared for future survey and clearance tasks

Influence Of Mre Education On Explosive Ordnance Disposal In Quang Tri, Hien Xuan Ngo, Phu Thanh Nguyen

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In collaboration with local and international organizations, Project RENEW is facilitating comprehensive mine risk education initiatives in Vietnam’s Quang Tri province.

The Democratic Republic Of The Congo’S National Landmines Contamination Survey, Pascal Simon, Kevin Thoma

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The absence of accurate data on the scope and location of landmine contamination negatively affected more than a decade of mine action activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This article discusses the 2013 National Landmines Contamination Survey and its results.