Canada announces new initiatives to eliminate landmines

The initiatives announced today, through Global Affairs Canada’s Peace and Stabilization Operations Program and through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, total nearly $12 million and will support mine action in areas of the world that are most affected by landmines and other explosive remnants of war.

Mine Action in Raqqa-Governorate

Program: Peace and Stabilization Operations Program
Time frame: 2018 to 2019

Explosive devices have been placed in homes, schools and public areas of Syria by Daesh. This project aims to support the safe return of civilians to the governorate of Raqqa by working with local communities to identify at-risk sites and to coordinate the return of displaced people to their homes. This includes educating and deploying explosive clearance teams, including an emergency response team and women-led groups, deploying community liaison teams to identify at-risk sites, and geographic mapping of contaminated and cleared areas.

Mine Action in Ukraine

Program: Peace and Stabilization Operations Program
Time frame: 2018 to 2019
Partner: UNOPs

As a result of the ongoing conflict in Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, significant areas, particularly in proximity to the “contact line” in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, contain landmines, unexploded ordnance and other explosive remnants of war (ERW), posing a serious hazard for the people living in these regions. Since September 2015, the Canadian Armed Forces have been providing a range of training to the Ukrainian military, including in the area of detection and removal of landmines and other ERW. The above-mentioned funding will be used to provide non-lethal material and equipment to train Ukrainian demining teams to safely and securely clear landmines and other ERW, to UN mine action standards. Canada’s support will contribute to efforts to improve the safety and security of the hundreds of thousands of people directly affected by the conflict in the Donbas.

Mine Action in Southern Syria

Program: Peace and Stabilization Operations Program
Time frame: 2018 to 2019
Partner: Mayday Rescue

Hundreds of thousands of Southern Syrians have fled their homes to escape the war. This project supports their return by removing dangerous explosives left over by Daesh, educating Syrians about the danger they pose, and improving the management and coordination of explosives clearance efforts.

Integral Mine Action in Colombia

Program: Peace and Stabilization Operations Program
Time frame: 2018 to 2019
Partner: Organization of American States (OAS)

As Colombia is the second country with the highest number of landmines in the world, mine clearance is a large-scale endeavour that is essential to laying the groundwork for long-term development and sustainable peace. The project will provide additional technical, logistical and administrative support in areas that are most seriously affected by the threat of antipersonnel mines and unexploded munitions. The project will also deliver mine risk education, conduct community liaison with affected communities, and provide on-site monitoring and inspection of cleared sites for quality control. This funding is in addition to the $1.3 million announced by Minister Dion on September 26, 2016.

Expanding landmine/explosive remnants of war victim assistance in Cambodia

Program: Canada Fund for Local Initiatives
Time frame: 2017-2018
Partner: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority

Cambodia continues to face significant landmine and explosive remnants of war challenges as a result of a series of protracted internal and regional conflicts. Through this project, Canada is providing equipment and training for a 48-member volunteer survivor network to support data collection, policy development and planning, and coordination and peer support among volunteers to assist victims.

Decreasing the impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) in Cambodia through support for mine action operators

Program: Canada Fund for Local Initiatives
Time frame: 2017-2018
Implementing partner: UNDP

Landmines and ERW contamination continue to pose an immense threat and have a substantial negative humanitarian, social and economic impact on Cambodia. UNDP is currently supporting mine action through the Mine Action for Human Development Project (2016-2019). This project seeks to build on the successful implementation of the first and second phases of the Clearing for Results program (2006-2015), which achieved substantial results in building CMAA’s capacities in the areas of quality assurance, strategic and policy formulation, as well as the socio-economic management of mine clearance of land for productive use.

Promoting gender equality and women’s participation in UXO management and victim assistance in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR)

Program: Canada Fund for Local Initiatives
Time frame: 2017-2018
Implementing partner: UN Women

The UXO sector in Lao PDR is composed of the National Regulatory Authority (NRA), the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Laos), a number of humanitarian NGOs, several accredited commercial companies providing UXO services, and the Lao People’s Army.

Lao PDR is one of the most heavily bombed countries in the world, with over two million tonnes of munitions dropped on it during the Indochina War (1964-1973). Despite reduced casualty numbers in recent years, unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination remains a threat for rural populations, especially in poor and remote communities, and impedes the safe use of land for socio-economic development activities. The project will support efforts to ensure that gender equality and women’s rights are fully considered in the management of UXO programs and UXO victim assistance efforts, thereby contributing to a more effective and rights-based implementation of the National Strategic Plan for the UXO sector.

Increasing the quality of mine risk education (MRE) activities to support improved UXO risk awareness in rural communities of Lao PDR

Program: Canada Fund for Local Initiatives
Time frame: 2017-2018
Implementing partner: UNDP

The NRA has regulated and coordinated a transition of the humanitarian operators from request-based to evidence-based land clearance, which has resulted in the clearing of more cluster munitions per hectare. However, the NRA still faces many capacity gaps, including with respect to coordination, information management, quality management, communications, and monitoring and evaluation. UNDP will work directly with local implementing partners to improve the effectiveness of mine risk education (MRE) in Lao PDR. This funding will support UXO Laos’ procurement of MRE-related equipment in the provinces of Sekong and Salavane to support ongoing MRE activities in schools and community gatherings.