The Mine Action Program for Afghanistan

by Susanna Sprinkel, MAIC

Introduction

Years of controversy have left Afghanistan as the country most severely affected by landmines, with an estimated 150 to 300 landmine/UXO-related fatalities each month. These artilleries add an unnecessary burden to the lives of many who already suffer on a daily basis from numerous other hardships. As a result, Afghanistan has developed one of the strongest Mine Action Programs in the world. The Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA) was developed in 1989 and has been working under supervision the of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA) ever since.

This program combines the efforts of six Mine Action Centers (MACs)—the UN Mine Action Center for Afghanistan (MACA) and five Regional Mine Action Centers (RMACs) designated in the central, southern, northern, eastern and western regions of Afghanistan—as well as 15 local NGOs in order to provide extensive coverage of all areas of mine action (for more information on partner NGOs, see Table 1 below). UNOCHA, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) are responsible for developing the structure of MAPA, and they have designated specific responsibilities to each of the bodies involved.

Coordination of Mine Action Activities

Designated Responsibilities

UNOCHA, UNDP and UNMAS have requested that all mine action activities be planned and coordinated by MACA and the Mine Clearance and Planning Agency (MCPA). Specifically, these bodies are responsible for the following operations:

• Planning all mine action strategies and operations.

• Developing a set of mine action standards and policies.

• Overseeing MAPA activities and assuring quality.

• Implementing necessary programs and support for field operations.

• Securing and distributing required resources for all mine action programs.

• Organizing mine action technology.

• Managing and distributing mine-related information.

Goals for 2002

As outlined in their 2002 Project Plan (available at www.mineaction.org), the United Nations has established the following goals for coordination activities:

• Implementing a work plan for all mine action activities by contributing bodies.

• Developing a plan for further expanding MAPA, in order to meet increased demands that have arisen from the current political situation in the country.

• Formulating a seven-year plan to clear Afghanistan’s lands to a moderate level.

• Creating an approach for destroying stockpiles.

• Supplying periodic reports to donors on the funds received by MAPA.

• Forming an administrative contract among contributing NGOs.

• Preparing data on the mine threat to be used both locally and globally.

• Providing necessary support to preserve and expand mine action activities throughout the region.

Designated Responsibilities

The United Nations has appointed all survey operations in Afghanistan to MACA, MCPA, the Mine Dog Center (MDC), Halo Trust and the Danish Demining Group (DDG). These organizations are responsible for identifying, marking and mapping all hazardous areas as well as distributing data regarding these territories. Specifically, these bodies should complete the following objectives:

• Reducing the amount of territory to be surveyed by pinpointing and clearly marking hazardous areas.

• Performing a Post-Conflict Contamination Assessment in conjunction with the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) in order to determine the extent of the landmine threat resulting from air strikes and recent conflicts.

• Conducting a Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) in conjunction with the Survey Working Group.

• Gathering detailed information on the technical and socioeconomic impact in contaminated regions in order to set priorities for clearance, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and mine awareness operations.

• Evaluating and distributing information gathered through the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) and contributing accurate and up-to-date data on the landmine situation.

• Informing Afghani civilians of the landmine/UXO threat in their region

• Allocating improved data with humanitarian assistance and developmental aid personnel.

Goals for 2002

In 2002, the United Nations anticipates the following accomplishments for Survey Operations in Afghanistan:

• Marking 30 square km of mine fields and 50 square km of battle area as well as surveying and reducing 200 square km of potentially contaminated areas

• Identifying mine-free land for agricultural development, irrigation, grazing and other productive use by Afghani citizens returning to their native lands.

• Verifying and reopening hazard-free trade routes in order to increase mobility both socially and economically.

• Reducing fatalities and relieving the patient load on the medical and health care system by clearly marking hazardous areas and establishing effective awareness programs in affected areas as well as discouraging refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) from returning to hazardous areas.

• Helping other mine action operations concentrate on high-priority territories, thus accelerating the capabilities of MACA for planning strategies and activities and effectively managing the budget.

• Making mine-related data easier to access, thus permitting more efficient preparations.

Designated Responsibilities

All landmine and UXO clearance activities have been conducted by the Agency for Rehabilitation and Energy Conservation in Afghanistan (AREA), Afghan Technical Consultants (ATC), the Demining Agency for Afghanistan (DAFA), DDG, HALO Trust, MDC, Handicap International (HI) and the Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR). In order to eliminate the landmine threat in Afghani territory and return the land to productive use, these NGOs have been designated the following tasks:

• Restoring capabilities of MAPA activities that were hindered as a result of the September 11th conflict.

• Helping other organizations safely implement relief operations by clearing access roads and land for aid centers.

• Clearing high-priority territories and marking low-priority zones.

• Assisting bodies conducting security evaluations and performing emergency assistance in the country.

• Performing EOD and emergency clearance operations.

• Retraining all personnel and fully restoring all mine action resources throughout Afghanistan.

• Further building the MAPA capacity by relocating all MAPA affiliates from Pakistan to Afghanistan and reinforcing the RMACs.

• Obtaining and distributing new equipment.

• Clearing at least 35 square km of high priority mine fields and 60 km2 of high priority UXO contaminated battlefields.

• Clearing all cluster bombs dropped as a result of the September 11th conflict.

• Marking at least 30 km2 of mine fields and 50 km2 of battlefields.

• Formulating a stockpile destruction strategy and destroying all stockpiles as a result.

• Supplying clear territory for agriculture, irrigation, grazing and other productive use.

• Clearing major trade routes in order to increase mobility both socially and economically.

• Opening and increasing access to settlement areas in order to migrate refugees and IDPs back into their native lands.

• Reducing fatalities in the area, thus relieving the patient load in medical and health care systems by eliminating the landmine threat.

• Advancing reconstructive activities in the country by providing a safe environment for relief and recovery personnel.

• Building a strong foundation for contributing organizations to conduct clearance operations on low priority areas without UN assistance.