|
NPA: Improving Lives in the Middle East and Throughout the
World
|
| "Seeing
mine clearance as the first step in a general improvement of the
population’s living conditions is quite fundamental. Long-term
rebuilding and development after the mines have been removed is
one of Norwegian People’s Aid’s (NPA) main aims."-Mines:
The Silent Killers by Norwegian People’s Aid. |
by Sarah B. Taylor, MAIC
Introduction
An organization based on human
equality, NPA "…endeavors to improve the conditions under which
individuals live, and to contribute to a more humane society for
all."1 Accordingly,
landmine issues are a fundamental element of their mission. Since 1992,
when they entered Cambodia, NPA has been heavily involved in mine
clearance throughout the world, becoming one of the world’s largest
humanitarian mine clearance organizations and concentrating most of
their labors on educating local populations about the dangers of
landmines. More recently, they began to focus their efforts in the
Middle East and Northern Africa, where they began an extensive program
in Iraqi Kurdistan in 1995 and a program for refugees from Western
Sahara in Algeria in 1998. NPA initially struggled to begin its program
in Iraqi Kurdistan because they have been unable to obtain permission to
bring equipment into the area; however, in recent years, they have been
more successful. NPA’s efforts in Western Sahara and Algeria have also
been fruitful and were concluded in June 2000.
|
|
|
A NPA voluteer works with a
local amputee in Kurdistan.
|
Iraqi Kurdistan
Background
Six governates make up Iraqi
Kurdistan: Arbil, Sulaimanya, Dohuk, Kirkuk and parts of Dyala and
Nineva. As a whole, Iraqi Kurdistan borders Syria, Turkey and Iran and
comprises 18 percent of the total area of Iraq. Approximately 3.9
million people inhabit this northern part of Iraq. The majority of the
population consists of Kurds, but Arabs, Assyrians, Cladian and Turkmen
live there as well, under the conflicting control of the Kurdistan
Patriotic Union (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). These
opposed groups maintain separate administrative, legislative and
executive structures. Numerous landmines exist throughout the region and
along all its borders, many of them planted during conflicts in the
1960s and the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. The Iraqi government also
planted a significant number of mines in the area in an attempt to
control the Kurds.
The Program
NPA began its mission in Iraqi
Kurdistan in 1994, when it conducted a "Fact Finding Mission"
to research the numerous problems that afflicted the people of Iraqi
Kurdistan. It first entered Iraqi Kurdistan in 1995 with the hopes of
eventually implementing both mine-awareness and clearance programs and
immediately began an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) project. NPA
struggled at the onset due to difficulties in getting permission to
bring metal detectors into the area and because of the worsening
|
|
|
A NPA deminer prods a possible
landmine.
|
conflict between the PUK and KDP. Thus, the EOD project had to be
postponed until May 1997, and when it commenced, it had been reduced to
one EOD team for the remainder of the year. NPA began training local
people in demining in 1998 and by May had two trained demining teams. As
the program grew in 2000, two more teams were trained and began
demining.
In 2000, NPA also strived to improve
the medical conditions in the area. In fact, NPA now works with the
Trauma Care Foundation (TCF) to improve the survival rate and living
conditions of landmine victims. With the help of NPA, TCF has created a
"Village University" in Iraqi Kurdistan, in which TCF trains
local people in emergency first aid and other areas of health in order
to create a population of local people who are able to immediately help
victims of landmine accidents.
Thus far, 2001 has been another
successful year for the program. The staff now consists entirely of
local Kurds, holding positions at all levels including management and
technical ranks. This makes the program in Iraqi Kurdistan NPA’s first
to achieve total nationalization. However, because funding was recently
reduced, the number of workers was decreased from 100 to 44 during the
year, and the project was cut to only three demining teams. Now, backed
solely by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who provided NPA
with 2,500,000 NOK in 2001, demining is conducted based on priorities
that are determined by both local authorities and communities. The team
was still able to clear an area of 69,278 m2
and to destroy 237 mines and 113 UXO.
Improving demining methods and
equipment is another goal of NPA. In Iraqi Kurdistan, much of the
demining that is conducted is done in the same manner that it was in
1945, through manual clearance with the use of metal detectors. However,
99 percent of the metal detectors’ signals indicate something other
than a landmine. This and the process of manual demining make
progression slow and strenuous. NPA strives to create a
"toolbox" of demining equipment in an effort to make the
process more efficient. Currently, NPA works with the Foundation for
Industrial and Technological Research to create new technology that will
help to distinguish between landmines and other objects in the ground.
Western Sahara/Algeria
Background
During 1975, troops from Morocco
occupied the northern portion of Western Sahara, and Mauritanian forces
dominated the south. The native population of the Saharawi felt divided,
and consequently tens of thousands migrated to the eastern part of the
country. Soon military forces attacked these civilians, and the Saharawi
were forced into the harsh desert conditions of southwest Algeria. Today
over 170,000 people live in four camps that are all located around the
water-wells near the oasis town of Tindouf.
The Program
In Algeria, the Saharawi population
began to live in refugee camps. It was in Algeria and at these camps
that NPA began a mine-awareness program in 1998. NPA’s goal was to
educate refugees about the landmines they would encounter when they
returned to their native Western Sahara, and more importantly, the
dangers that these landmines possessed. More specifically, NPA wanted to
warn people so that accidents could be prevented when they returned to
their homes. Supported by the Norwegian Department of Foreign Affairs,
the program consisted of 40 local employees. These employees were
trained to educate others and then sent to four different camps. In
addition to educating the Saharawi about the dangers of landmines,
instructors also taught courses in teaching and English.
The program in Western Sahara/Algeria
was extremely successful. After two years of educating the refugees, an
evaluation was conducted which confirmed that the vast majority of the
population had been educated and had a clear understanding of the threat
of landmines in their native land. As a result, NPA decided that their
activities in the refugee camps of Algeria were both complete and
successful and thus terminated the program.
Conclusion
The NPA publication Mines: The Silent Killers
states, "Life and limbs are saved by the people themselves gaining
an understanding of living with the problem." NPA strives to help
mine-stricken countries become self-sufficient in all matters relating
to landmines, including clearance, education and medicine. Considering
that Iraqi Kurdistan has between five and 10 million landmines and that
over 170,000 Saharawi refugees remain isolated in Algeria, this is both
an immensely important and difficult task. NPA, however, approaches
their task diligently as they fight to end the destruction caused by
landmines.
*All photos courtesy of NPA.
Contact Information
Geir Bjorsvik
Norwegian People’s Aid
Mine Action Unit
P.O. Box 8844 Youngstorget
Oslo, Norway N-0028
Tel: +871-76-169-3690
Fax: +47-22-20-08-70
E-mail: gb@noaid.org
Website: www: http://www.npaid.org
Erik Tollefsen
Norwegian People’s Aid
Mine Action Unit
Technical Advisor/PM Iran
P.O. Box 8844 Youngstorget
Oslo, Norway N-0028
Tel: +47-22-03-76-93
Fax: +47-22-20-08-70
E-mail: et@npaid.org
Website: http://www.npaid.org
|
