The
indiscriminate laying of landmines has created a long-term development problem
in many countries across the globe. The United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) has a pivotal role in supporting Governments of mine affected countries
and local communities to address this problem.
The United Nations Policy on Mine
Action[1] issued in September
1998, confirms the need for a fully integrated response to the problems caused
by landmines and unexploded ordnance, which incorporates mine awareness and risk
reduction education; minefield survey, mapping, marking and clearance; victim
assistance, including rehabilitation and reintegration; and advocacy to
stigmatize the use of landmines and support a total ban on antipersonnel
landmines. The policy outlines the roles and responsibilities of each of the
relevant UN Agencies, coordinated by the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS)
“UNDP will be responsible for addressing the socio-economic
consequences of landmine contamination and for supporting national / local
capacity building to ensure elimination of the obstacles they (landmines) pose
to the resumption of normal economic activity, reconstruction and development.
When applicable, UNDP will have primary responsibility for the development of
integrated, sustainable national / local mine action programmes in situations
where the problem of landmines is not only a humanitarian emergency. It works
closely with UNMAS and shares all relevant information”
UNDP POLICY: SERVICES OF THE BUREAU OF CRISIS PREVENTION & RECOVERY
Following the issue of the UN policy, UNDP
reviewed and re-issued its policy
statement[2] on mine action. To
effectively discharge its responsibilities, UNDP must be, and is, a service
provider to the national authorities of mine affected countries and deliver
services that enable those countries to deal with the problems of landmine
contamination. The Mine Action Team within the Bureau of Crisis Prevention &
Recovery (BCPR) exists to provide an in-house capacity to respond to the rapidly
growing demand from UNDP Regional Bureaux and Country Offices for technical
advice and support. It assists with resource mobilisation as well as providing
UNDP with a mechanism for coordination with the other agencies involved in the
various aspects of mine action. At the headquarters level, UNDP has four
overarching objectives:
Provide policy guidance and framework for UNDP mine action initiatives,
contribute to UN mine action policy development and coordinate UNDP’s mine
action activities with other agencies and partner organisations including the
management of specific global projects
Provide mine action related technical support and programme advice to UNDP
Regional Bureaux and Country Offices to strengthen the capacity of mine affected
countries to respond rapidly and effectively to mine action capacity building
needs
Advocate the importance of mine action within poverty alleviation strategy
and efforts
Conduct and support resource mobilisation efforts.
UNDP will
continue to work with its partners in Government and civil society to provide
funding, expertise, and information for mine action programmes and to engage in
long-term planning to deal with the enduring effects of the landmine and UXO
problem.
CURRENT ACTIVITIES
Mine Action capacity building projects are in
various stages of development in the following countries:
EXISTING PROGRAMMES
Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia &
Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chad, Croatia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Laos,
Lebanon, Mozambique, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Yemen.
The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) has been contracted
to provide project services for many of these programmes.
INITIAL PLANNING PHASE:
Egypt, Iran, Nicaragua, Ukraine,
Vietnam
Global Programmes & Partnerships
UNDP also manages the following global and inter-regional projects:
Development and delivery of management training for Mine Action Programme
Directors, Senior and Middle level Managers
Exchange programme for staff of mine action centres
A study into the socio-economic impact of landmines.
Landmine impact surveys.
Survey utilization project “Pathway”.
A project for the socio-economic re-integration of landmine victims.
Resource mobilisation through public private partnership: UNA-USA Adopt-A-
Minefield initiative.
RESULTS ACHIEVED MAY 2001 – APRIL 2002
UNDP has concentrated its effort in mine action on
the delivery of services that build the capacity of national mine action
programmes. This has involved a focus on the development of indigenous capacity
to manage integrated mine action programmes at the national or local level, and
on strengthening a national focus on the socio-economic impact of mines and
unexploded ordnance. This is achieved both through capacity building projects in
mine affected countries, and through the global projects and partnerships.
The BCPR Mine Action Team has assisted in the formulation of new projects to
ensure that, given available resources, their design corresponds to UNDP’s
overall capacity building and development goals, and in the evaluation and
reformulation of ongoing mine action programme support projects. Team members
also ensure that the development perspective is well represented in the mine
action debate, both in programme countries and internationally.
It is anticipated that UNDP capacity building support to the Croatian mine
action programme will no longer be needed after April 2003. Although donor
support will continue to be required, this will be the first national programme
supported by UNDP that has successfully moved to full independence of operation
since UNDP first became involved in mine action in 1992.
MANAGEMENT TRAINING
The training of deminers, mines awareness
instructors and other specialists is neither particularly difficult nor lengthy.
Mine action programmes falter because of poor or inadequately trained managers
– not because of bad deminers. Mine action programmes are complex and
expensive with budgets in some affected countries as high as $20 million. Yet
few if any national directors or their staffs have received formal management
training, and often have little or no experience of the requirements of the job
for which they have been recruited or assigned.
To address these shortcomings, UNDP commissioned a study to assess the
management training needs of national mine action personnel. Using the results
of the study, UNDP commissioned Cranfield University to develop a course for
senior managers; the first of which was conducted in August 2000. The course is
of eight weeks duration and topics covered include strategic planning,
development of operational plans, technology, equipment procurement, cost
accounting and budgeting. As of April 2002, a total of forty six senior
managers from nineteen countries have now attended senior manager courses.
A similar course for middle managers has been developed by UNDP and Cranfield
University and is designed to be held regionally using local training facilities
to take advantage of local language skills and economies of scale. There are
four, two-week modules, all of which must be successfully completed before a
graduate certificate is awarded. Commencing in June 2001, courses for three of
the modules have now been held in Mozambique for Portuguese speaking managers
and a special six week course was held for Afghan managers in Peshawar during
October/November 2001. As of April 2002, forty middle managers from four
countries have attended modules of middle managers courses. Regional courses
are planned for Cambodia, Thailand and the Horn of Africa during 2002.
MINE ACTION EXCHANGE (MAX)
This project builds on the momentum begun during
the Senior Management training pilot course, by providing opportunities for
national managers of mine action programmes to participate in exchange
programmes with other mine action programmes or with international mine action
organisations. Launched in October 2001, the MAX programme provides a mechanism
for senior management staff of mine action programmes to undertake short
assignments in another mine action programme, or if appropriate, with an
international mine action organisation, such as UNMAS, UNDP Mine Action Team or
the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining. The programme will
allow participants to broaden their experience by gaining more in-depth exposure
to different perspectives of mine action.
THE MAX PROGRAMME IS DESIGNED TO:
provide an opportunity for managers from mature
programmes to go to new or emerging programmes to give advice on how to avoid
the costly mistakes that have been made in the past;
develop relationships (networks) between indigenous managers that will help
to sustain programmes in the long term when TA numbers are reduced;
be a cost effective method of training;
promulgate best practices by requiring participants to produce a short
lessons learned report on their attachment.
The exchange programme
will operate in a flexible manner, adapting to specific requirements of both
parties in each exchange arrangements. Participation in the programme will be
voluntary, and will focus on training and skill development. Placements would
normally be expected to be for a period of four to eight weeks, but could be
longer if required. Priority will be given to those national staff that have
participated in the senior managers training programme, but will be open to
other managers too.
SOCIO ECONOMIC APPROACHES TO MINE ACTION
Until recently, mine action programmes have been
mostly concerned with numbers - How many mines planted? - How many square meters
cleared? This has been changing in recent years. The methodology developed by
the Survey Action Center for National Impact Surveys, and for example, a 1999
study of the socio-economic impact of mine action in Afghanistan, reflect a
change in emphasis away from statistics about the mines themselves, and toward
their impact on people’s lives.
A study commissioned by UNDP and managed by the Geneva International Centre
for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) takes this one step further. “A
Study of Socio-Economic Approaches to Mine Action,” released in May
2001, applies the techniques of cost-benefit analysis and socio-economic study
to mine action and demonstrates that with proper prioritisation, it is cost
effective. An operational handbook has recently been developed for mine action
managers that will help them with the practical application of these tools to
their own work. The goal is to improve the ability to set priorities, and
create better programmes that will have the highest impact on people’s
lives.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC REINTEGRATION OF LANDMINE VICTIMS
The World Rehabilitation Fund has been contracted
by UNDP to execute this three-year project, which began in May 1999 and is
funded by the UN Foundation. The aim of the project is establish an integrated
approach to dove-tail the physical and psycho-social rehabilitation of landmine
victims (largely the domain of other agencies, including UNICEF, WHO, and ICRC)
with the need to provide alternative livelihoods and secure full participation
of landmine victims in their communities and, in the process, the socio-economic
recovery and development of their communities. One aspect of the project
involves research and study of the existing arrangements and structures in a
number of countries (Cambodia, Laos, Lebanon and Mozambique), with the intention
that a template for the provision of reintegration services can be developed.
Pilot activities in these countries are also being funded.
ADOPT-A-MINEFIELD
The Adopt-a-Minefield Campaign was conceived of by
the United Nations Association of the United States of America, with the aim of
involving civil society in the United Nations effort to remove landmines around
the world. Through an agreement with UNDP, the UNA-USA continues to be an active
UN partner raising resources for mine clearance. By the end of April 2002, $5.5
million had been raised towards mine clearance in Afghanistan, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Cambodia, Croatia, and Mozambique. The programme has been expanded
to cover Vietnam this year. The Adopt-A-Minefield® Campaign also has
expanded to include two satellite campaigns in the United Kingdom, with the
Heather Mills Trust, and Canada, with the Canada Landmine Foundation. UNOPS
provides management services for the project. Interest in the Campaign has
been received from South America, the UK, Germany and Switzerland, as well as
across the United States through hits to the Adopt-A-Minefield website
(www.landmines.org) and through specific
fund raising appeals, including a new emergency campaign to assist Afghanistan.
RESOURCE MOBILISATION
In mobilising resources, UNDP raised in excess of
US$30 million in Year 2000, from an investment of US$1.5 million “seed
money” (a ratio of 1:20, compared with 1:5 in 1999). Figures for
2001 are not yet available but it is anticipated that a similar result to 2000
will have been achieved. No mine action programme has been halted for
want of funds.
[1] “Mine Action and Effective
Coordination: The United Nations Policy” endorsed by the Secretary General
in September 1998, and welcomed by GA resolution A/53/26 adopted in 17 November
1998. (see UNDP’s mine action web site: www.undp.org/erd/mineaction/
). [2] UNDP Mine Action Policy Statement
(see UNDP’s mine action web site
www.undp.org/erd/mineaction/).
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