Peace and Conflict Studies Commons^™

Ddas: Manual Demining Handtool Design Criteria, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The research I have carried out on tool development has been based on accident studies, field trials and my experience in both demining and in manufacturing in small workshops. The research led to the evolution of the following criteria and constraints. I believe that these are essential requirements when designing hand-tools for use when excavating anti-personnel blast mines. Tools used during other demining activities may not have the same requirements.

Ddas: Crunching Data From The Database Of Demining Accidents, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

In the database of demining accidents, injuries are classed as either Severe or Minor. Injuries likely to be life threatening, to require surgery or to result in permanent disability are rated as Severe. All others are rated as Minor. This distinction is for convenience and is not intended to reflect on the discomfort and/or hardship associated with the injury. In some cases, injuries were not recorded in detail but I have resisted the temptation to infer detail. Note that, in very severe injuries, only the most severe injury is generally recorded.

Ddas: Investigating A Metal Detector Reading, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

What follows are basic procedures that you can edit and refine to suit your equipment and working preferences. They presume that deminers operate in a "One-man procedure ", with the same deminer performing all tasks during a working shift. When there is not enough equipment for each deminer to be issued with a detector and tools, two-man teams can be deployed. In a two-man team, a one-man procedure is still used. One person works while the other rests, and each individual performs all the tasks required for clearance during his/her shift.

Ddas Suggested Training Uses: Paramedic Training, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The examples of medical treatment in the database are rarely well detailed. When they are, they provide examples of both "positive" and "negative" responses to accidents. some of the worst negative responses are not the responsibility of the medic - who were simply not provided with the equipment or ambulance that they need. Parts of the reports may be used in lectures or presentations or they can be distributed for critical discussion.

Ddas Or Rapid?, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

In 2015, Tajikistan became the first country to make all of its demining accident data available. Congratulations to the Tajikistan National Mine Action Centre (TNMAC), a government controlled body that has set an international standard for transparency.

Despite its popularity, and the frequent reference made to the database when updating international and national Mine Action standards, the DDAS has no formal support.

The nominal Humanitarian Mine Action industry leader is the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS). UNMAS make no effort to collect and study accident records but, in 2011 when I left the IMAS Review Board, they began to …

Ddas: Using The Database Of Demining Accidents, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The author has maintained a database of demining accidents for four years. It contains records of many of the explosive accidents that deminers suffer while going about their work. This article explains the uses and limitations of the database and the software developed to contain it.

Ddas: "Accidents" Or "Incidents", Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

When I started writing about demining accidents I tried to form a sensible distinction between the terms "accident" and "incident". I decided to call an unintended explosive event (or an intended explosive event that resulted in injury) an "incident". This was because an "Incident report" would be generated from which lessons that might prevent repetition of the event might be derived. I noted that the word "accident" was used for all unintended occurrences, from dropping the kettle to a car crash, but did not always apply to an intentional event that resulted in an injury. So, at that time, the …

Ddas: Introduction, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The DDAS software was designed by me in 1998 using the Microsoft Access engine and a Visual Basic front-end. This was revised and became a relational database in 2003. The software can be used to display existing datasets or to record your own. Field names can be edited and replaced with names in another language and the content of dropdown pick-lists is easily customised. Originally distributed on CD, it is not generally given out any more but despite being dated and cludgy, it can still be used many later operating systems.

Ddas Suggested Training Uses: Supervisor/Field Management Training, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

Field supervisors or managers should also read the suggested training needs for deminers because they will often be in charge of the deminers' training and/or refresher training. When they have any training concerns, they must report this in writing to the Senior Management in order to avoid censure if accidents result from inadequate training.

Because the accident database is a collection of reports covering events when things did not go as planned, the examples drawn from it are usually "negative" - what not to do, rather than what to do. They can be useful to explain the need for rules. …

Ddas Suggested Training Uses: Deminer Training, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The database provides real-world examples that can be used as training aids. This will often reinforce what is considered to be common sense. Be aware that the database records prove (beyond reasonable doubt) that some commonsense wisdom is incorrect.

For example, it is a myth that the most dangerous time for deminers is shortly after their initial training. On the contrary, there is some evidence to suggest that deminers actually become more likely to have an accident the longer they work as a deminer.

Ddas: Suggested Training Uses, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The most common use of these records in training is to provide an example of what happens when things are done in the wrong way. This can be a powerful reinforcement of a lesson about doing things the right way. The database can also be a training aid for paramedics and for field and office managers.

Ddas: Metal Detector Search, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

What follows are basic procedures for use with all the current models of metal detector that I know. It is intended to provide a basis that you can edit and refine to suit your equipment and working preferences.

Ddas: Metal Detector Set-Up, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

There must always be absolute confidence in the metal-detector’s ability to locate the target device at the required depth before Metal-detector clearance drills are applied. It is important to set-up the metal-detector appropriately for two main reasons. First it gives the Supervisors confidence that the ground can be cleared to the required depth. Second, it gives the deminers confidence that they can and will find every mine.

What follows is a basic procedure for use with all the current models of metal-detector that I know. It is intended to provide a basis that you can edit and refine to suit …

Morocco: The Intersection Between Intercultural Mediation And Migration, Arianna Diaz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My research seeks to understand the intersection between migration and intercultural mediation through a Moroccan context. The increase of undocumented and documented Sub-Saharans flowing into Morocco through the Western Mediterranean route creates an increase in intercultural spaces within Moroccan society. By analyzing Sub-Saharan livelihoods and discrimination in Morocco I address how ineffective intercultural communication creates tensions between Moroccan nationals and Sub-Saharan Migrants. By applying intercultural mediation theory I come to understand how intercultural mediation can be applied between these two cultural groups. I specifically analyze the capacity of Moroccan civil organizations to act as intercultural mediators between Moroccan communities and …

Fall 2018, Department Of Conflict Analysis And Resolution

DCRS on the Move

No abstract provided.

Ddasaccident813, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The report of this accident is compiled from press reports, edited for anonymity. Text in square brackets [ ] is editorial.

In a land mine clearance operation along the China-Vietnam boarder in Yunnan Province, Southwest China on October 11, [the Victim] chose to handle the complex situation by himself after asking his partner to step back. The explosion took [the Victim]'s both hands and eyes.

The Victim was defusing a mine when the accident occurred. Although no particular mine is mentioned, a Chinese Type 58 anti-personnel blast mine is inferred because it is shown in photographs and a fragmentation mine …

Repatriation Of Rwandan Returnees In Kigali: Integration Of Those Born And Raised On Exile As A Result Of The 1959 Violence Wave, Cristina Taulet Sanchez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the repatriation process of millions of Rwandans that returned to Kigali after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, focusing on those that were born and raised in Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Burundi as a result of the ethnic violence in 1959 and its aftermath. To complete this project, both theoretical and empirical research was conducted, including academic perspectives, numerical data analysis, and one-on-one interviews on the field. By examining the previous living conditions in the host countries, alongside the process of return and resettlement once in Rwanda, this study presents the physical and emotional …

Stagnant Corruption In Bosnia-Herzegovina: Then, Now, And What Is To Come, Megan Uren

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Bosnia-Herzegovina, a country recently torn apart by ethnic violence in the 1990s, remains standing yet has struggled for the past two decades to materialize dynamic reform from political corruption and has failed to progress to a more stabilized society. Matters of ethnic divisions, political corruption, and economic underdevelopment all contribute to a deadlocked society vulnerable to further destabilization. The Dayton Peace Agreement produced an environment fit to maintain political corruption with elite entrenchment and governmental deadlock that continues to freeze the county in 1995 and inhibits true ethnic reconciliation. Economic insecurity and high unemployment rates add to grievances in a …

The Root Of Racism: How Slavery Has Led To The Condition Of Discrimination Against Sub-Saharan Africans And Migrants In Morocco, James Artis Iii

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Slavery is the oldest and most central form of discrimination and while most have knowledge on the Trans-Atlantic slave trade that of the Sub-Saharan and Middle Eastern Slave trade in which current day North Africa and Middle East contributed to both sexual and military exploitation of Sub-Saharan Africans is often forgotten. The historical implication that going along with North African and Middle Eastern salve trade contribute to the discrimination dehumanization and otherization of sub-Saharan Africans and their perception in North Africa.

Ddas: The Database Of Demining Accidents - A Driving Force In Hma, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

I started the Database of Demining Accidents (DDAS) in 1998 using public data gathered for the United States Army Communications-Electronics Command, Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate. When they declined to publish and update the database, I did so with their tacit approval but no funding support. I did this in the hope of improving safety for deminers. The database is an easy-to use system containing the original demining accident reports overlaid with easy-search summaries.