Emergency and Disaster Management Commons^™

Unfinished Business: Cluster Munition Remnants In Kosovo, Darvin Lisica, Stuart Maslen

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

During the period of June 1999 to mid-December 2001, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) coordinated major international cleanup activities in Kosovo, which resulted in the successful clearance of more than 12.4 sq mi (32.1 sq km) of land and the destruction of more than 50,000 landmines, unexploded submunitions and other unexploded ordnance (UXO). Kosovo had considerable mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination, including cluster munition remnants (CMR) from armed conflict between forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo Liberation Army in the late 1990s, exacerbated by the NATO bombing in 1999.

Provision Of Emergency Risk Education To Idps And Returnees In Ukraine, Abigail Jones, Edward Crowther

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

While no official survey of the landmine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) situation has been carried out in Ukraine, the humanitarian impact is significant. Mines and booby traps strategically block access to essential infrastructure as well as to forested areas where people gather wood to heat their homes. Important infrastructure across the Donbas region, one of Europe’s most heavily industrialized areas, is contaminated, slowing repairs and reconstruction around power stations and water-treatment facilities, and seriously affecting the local population. Similarly, cluster munition use in urban and rural areas blocks access to family allotments and farms.

Explosive Hazards In The Aftermath Of Natural Disasters: Lessons Learned, Nicole Neitzey, Paula S. Daly

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Natural disasters have posed problems for demining operations in the past; the heavy flooding in Bosnia and Herzegovina was one recent example of many. Over the past 20 years, natural disasters have impacted countries affected by landmines or other explosive remnants of war (ERW), causing renewed danger. Despite reoccurring in recent years, these events continue catching the international CWD community by surprise, while experience and lessons learned from previous disasters in one country must be relearned in other regions.

Small Caliber De-Armers: An Answer To Explosive Acquisition Problems, Harold S. Pearson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In many mine-affected countries, sourcing, transporting and reliably initiating explosives is one of the major obstacles for mine action operators. Consequently, finding a reliable method of destroying anti-personnel (AP) landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination that does not require the use of high explosives is of great interest to many in the industry.

An Overview Of Mozambique’S Mine-Free District Process, Antonio Belchior Vaz Martíns, Hans Risser

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In the 1990s, Mozambique ranked among countries such as Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, and Iraq as one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world. At the time, experts estimated that clearing all landmines in Mozambique would take 50 to 100 years. Landmines were widely used by all sides during the conflicts that ravaged Mozambique from the mid-1960s until 1992. These nuisance minefields usually consisted of small numbers of mines in seemingly random or undefined areas mostly around paths, wells and rural infrastructure. Large-pattern minefields tended to be the exception rather than the norm in Mozambique. Given the …

Transition And National Capacity After Article 5 Compliance, Hans Risser, Christian Ruge

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In June 2014, State Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) met in Maputo, Mozambique, for the 3rd Review Conference of the APMBC, fifteen years after its entry into force. As the review conference approached, State Parties faced a growing call from civil society and some State Parties to commit to complete all obligations in the treaty as rapidly as possible. The majority of State Parties have already completed their APBMC obligations to destroy stockpiles of anti-personnel (AP) mines. However, surveying and clearing all known mined areas in a state’s territory in accordance with obligations under Article 5 of …

Gichd’S Eastern Europe, Caucasus And Central Asia Outreach Programme, Faiz Paktian

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Within the Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia (EECCA) region, fifteen countries affected by landmines and/or explosive remnants of war (ERW) use Russian as a communication language: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Mines and ERW pose a serious hazard to the lives and livelihoods of the people in the EECCA. Residual contamination impacts many of the countries. In Belarus for instance, 20,879 items of unexploded ordnance (UXO) were found and destroyed in 2014. Significant amounts of UXO were also recovered from Estonia, Moldova and Russia. More recent conflicts led …

Tiramisu Final Technology Demonstration At Sedee-Dovo, Yann Yvinec, Vinciane Lacroix, Yvan Baudoin

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

On 24 September 2015, and in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, the Royal Military Academy of Belgium (RMA) organized a demonstration for mine action tools in Meerdael, Belgium. At the Belgian EOD battalion premises of SEDEE-DOVO, RMA presented technology developed under the TIRAMISU project, which was co-funded by the European Union and coordinated by RMA. Designed by twenty-six different organizations, the tools covered multiple elements of mine action, including survey, operation and validation, information management, mine risk education (MRE), close-in-detection, and personnel protective equipment (PPE). Organizers held inside and outside demonstrations as well as discussions …

Endnotes Issue 20.1, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction 20.1 Endnotes

Goals Of Aid Organizations And Perspectives Of Employees: Urban Integration Of Syrian Refugees In Jordan, Alysha Alloway

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research aims to explore the perspectives of aid workers in Amman among various aid organizations, both local and international, and how aid workers feel the country should move forward from both a policy and social standpoint regarding urban integration of Syrian refugees. This research includes a review of literature in urban studies and sociology of economics, drawing on absorption theory and the concept of parallel structures of services to contextualize the argument that the role of urban refugees in urbanization and urban economic development should be considered within the systems of relief in place in Jordan, and it is …

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.

Examination Of Common Errors Committed During Eoc Operations: A Content Analysis Study, Michael Kenneth Ryan

Dissertations

One of the key aspects in the learning process, whether it is at an individual or organizational level, is the ability to recognize where errors occur. This is especially important in the field of public safety where small errors can present a serious threat to the safety of first responders and victims of disasters. Up to this point, there has been no systematic study to identify the most common errors that occur during emergency operations center (EOC) activations at the local level of government. Following the introduction, one chapter explores the history of emergency management and the difficulties local jurisdictions …

Using Life Saving Commodities To Save Lives Globally, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

No abstract provided.

A Climate-Driven Mechanistic Population Model Of Aedes Albopictus With Diapause, Pengfei Jia, Liang Lu, Xiang Chen, Jin Chen, Li Guo, Xiao Yu, Qiyong Liu

Faculty Publications - Emergency Management & Homeland Security

BACKGROUND: The mosquito Aedes albopitus is a competent vector for the transmission of many blood-borne pathogens. An important factor that affects the mosquitoes' development and spreading is climate, such as temperature, precipitation and photoperiod. Existing climate-driven mechanistic models overlook the seasonal pattern of diapause, referred to as the survival strategy of mosquito eggs being dormant and unable to hatch under extreme weather. With respect to diapause, several issues remain unaddressed, including identifying the time when diapause eggs are laid and hatched under different climatic conditions, demarcating the thresholds of diapause and non-diapause periods, and considering the mortality rate of diapause …

Economic Impacts Of Climate Adaptation Strategies For Southern Monterey Bay, Kelly Leo, Sarah Newkirk, Walter Heady, Brian Cohen, Juliano Calil, Philip King, Fernando Depaolis

Publications

Local governments along Monterey Bay’s shores are undertaking a number of initiatives for which sea level rise adaptation planning is required. Governor Schwarzenegger’s 2008 Executive Order S-13-08 and the 2011 Resolution of the California Ocean Protection Council on sea level rise led to the proliferation of individual agency guidance documents (e.g., CalTrans (2011), BCDC (2011), CCC (2015)) that require emerging best available science (e.g., Pacific Institute Report (Heberger et al. 2009), NRC Report (2012)). These guidance documents stipulate that sea level rise and coastal hazards need to be considered in planning (e.g., Climate Action Compact, Climate Action Plans, Integrated Regional …

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 …

A Decision Model For Recommending Which Building Occupants Should Move Where During Fire Emergencies, Norman E. Groner

Publications and Research

This paper describes a decision model for managing the movement of building occupants during fire emergencies. Currently available guidance from standard practice, egress modeling, codes and the re-search literature, is too general to provide much help to persons charged with the responsibility of where groups of occupants should be located given a fire scenario. The occupant movement decision model described in the paper uses three basic yes–no questions to divide building occupants into groups during a fire emergency. For any particular group, the decision model recommends one of two basic actions:(1) people remain where they are already located; or, (2) …

The United Nations: The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Zahra R. Syed

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The main objective of this research paper is to analyze the international effects the Syrian Conflict has had to the global community. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has declared this conflict to be the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Millions of Syrians have fled their home country to avoid unjust persecution and are looking to not only neighboring countries, but the European Union for assistance in resettlement.

Since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, more than 220,000 people have been massacred, leaving fifty percent of the population in unrest due to home displacement. According …

Identifications Of Challenges And Success Factors Of Females Entering And Advancing In The Profession Of Emergency Management, Audra Cronen

Online Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on how women in the emergency management field have identified and overcome challenges when entering and advancing in the profession. The two research questions were:

• What barriers have females experienced when entering and advancing in the field of emergency management?

• In what ways have females overcome barriers when entering and advancing in the field of emergency management?

These questions were answered by five women who work in the field of emergency management and responded to a series of interview questions. These women made it clear that while this is a predominately male-dominated field of work, …

Food Policy: Urban Farming As A Supplemental Food Source, Bessie Didomenica, Mark Gordon

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Food policy has a unique role for public, nonprofit, private, and academic stakeholders. Growing food in the city is a challenge worldwide. Food systems can be destroyed by external (weather extremes) and internal (zoning regulations) forces. This study explores urban farms as a secondary food source and their common themes across four sectors. A Northeastern U.S. city was the case study to examine how it implemented its formal urban agriculture program. The positive social change implications of urban farms include greater food visibility and food access in low-income areas and more consumer awareness about growing fresh food. This study contributes …