Summary
Over 20 mine action organizations work in Afghanistan, employing over 8,000 personnel in 600 teams, and coordination and management structures. Under the Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan (MAPA), they carry out advocacy, surveys, clearance, stockpile destruction, mine risk education and victim assistance. Despite many challenges, MAPA has successfully delivered mine action for 20 years.
MAPA is robust, resilient and flexible; over 18,000 hazards have been cleared so far. The programme is funded bilaterally and via the UN Voluntary Trust Fund (VTF). Activities are coordinated by the Mine Action Coordination Centre of Afghanistan (MACCA) and the Department of Mine Clearance (DMC).
In 2003, Afghanistan became part of the mine-ban treaty and is committed to being mine free by 2013. In 2006, the Afghan Government and 80 international delegates met to agree on development strategies for the next five years. The conference concluded with a commitment to the Afghan Compact; donors promised US $10.5 billion to achieve its targets. The mine action goal is to clear 70 percent of known contaminated areas by 2011.
Achieving these goals requires removing 128 square kilometres of hazards in 1388, 213 square kilometres in 1389 and 154 square kilometres in 1390 and 1391. (Note: MAPA uses the Afghan calendar; 2010 entries to the portfolio cover the period April 2010 - March 2011, Afghan year 1389.)
To achieve the 1388 goal requires US $104 million; just over 60 percent has been committed. The 1389 target calls for US $244 million, with US $22.5 million committed. With MAPA chronically underfunded, each year the size of the hazard to be cleared to meet the mine-ban treaty deadline and the funds required to do so increase.
MAPA has the capacity to expand to meet the compact and mine-ban treaty goals, its overarching objective. Only financial support is lacking. Recognizing these challenges, MACCA and DMC have set objectives based on a realistic assessment of priorities and available funds.
Each year, UN entities, nongovernmental organizations, national and local authorities and donors collaborate to assemble a national portfolio of mine action project proposals that together reflect the strategic response developed in the field to all aspects of the problem of landmines and explosive remnants of war. A Country Portfolio Coordinator, usually a representative of a UN agency or a national authority, coordinates meetings where all mine action actors agree on a set of projects and priorities and determine funding needs. The proposals in each country's portfolio are assembled with those of other participating countries and published jointly by the UN Mine Action Service, the UN Development Programme and UNICEF in an annual "Portfolio of Mine Action Projects." This publication serves as a tool for collaborative resource mobilization, coordination and planning of mine action activities. The Afghanistan (Islamic Republic of) Country Portfolio Team's funding appeal for mine action projects in 2007 totals US $244,400,000.
Scope of the Problem
The widespread and indiscriminate use of mines and munitions during almost 30 years of conflict has made Afghanistan one of the most heavily contaminated countries in the world. As of June 2009, 5,875 hazardous areas remain in the country. They cover an estimated 653 square kilometres of land and impact 2,028 communities. If the requirements of the 1388 portfolio are met, 517 square kilometres should remain to be cleared. Unknown hazardous areas are discovered each year, however. Since January 2008, 161 square kilometres of previously unknown hazards have been added to the database tracking contamination.
On average, there are 50 victims of landmines and explosives remnants of war (ERW) per month. The vast majority of the victims are male, and approximately half are children. The number of victims is declining, but poverty forces many of the most marginalized people to seek an income from ERW scrap metal, and to take risks in mined areas, for example, to collect fuel for cooking.
Mines and ERW not only threaten Afghans with physical harm, they also rob farmers of their livelihoods and impede housing, resettlement and the grazing of livestock.
Approximately 2.7 percent of all Afghans are severely disabled, with landmine and ERW accidents accounting for around 8.6 percent of this total. The impact of disability on economic participation is substantial, impoverishing survivors and their families, straining government and other health care systems, and limiting economic growth and poverty reduction.
Coordination and Consultation
In 2002, the Government entrusted interim responsibility for MAPA coordination to the United Nations. As of January 2008, the Government, through the modality of the Inter-Ministerial Board for Mine Action (IMB), had designated DMC under the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority to work jointly with MACCA. MACCA and DMC co-located in 2008, and are currently working on national capacity development for quality assurance, maintenance of mine action standards, accreditation, mine risk education and victim assistance.
MACCA and DMC have responsibility for: maintaining the national database of hazards, coordinating delivery of mine action services, recording and reporting implementation progress, and advocating for donor support.
Using the UN and IMB transition plans (to be published in March 2010), MACCA and DMC will continue the transition from a UN-managed coordination process as outlined in these documents.
MACCA is financially supported through the VTF. The UN Mine Action Services (UNMAS) MACCA project is contracted through the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS). The director of MACCA represents UNMAS in Afghanistan.
MACCA has a close advisory role to UNMAS when UNMAS is seeking to design proposals for donors to the VTF. For the purposes of VTF funding, MACCA assists UNMAS to design either large over-arching proposals to support MAPA or proposals that are focused on one or two discrete projects.
UNMAS contracts the delivery of VTF projects through UNOPS. A UNOPS contract office, administratively supported by MACCA, manages the delivery of all VTF funded projects. As to any donor office, MACCA provides progress, outcome and quality assurance data to the UNOPS contract office.
On behalf of all implementing partners and donors, MACCA prepares and publishes an annual report that encompasses all mine action activities, whether funded through the UN, bilaterally or commercially. The report covers both humanitarian and development-related mine clearance.
Strategy
The 2010 clearance strategy for Afghanistan is focused on achieving the Afghan Compact and mine-ban treaty benchmarks:
- By March 2011, the land area contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance will be reduced by 70 percent;
- All stockpiled anti-personnel mines will be located and destroyed by the end of 2007 (achieved);
- By the end of 2010, all unsafe, unserviceable and surplus ammunition will be destroyed; and
- By 2013, all anti-personnel mines will be cleared.
To support these goals in 1389, MAPA will:
- Maintain the 1388 capacity of 600 multi-skilled and multi-disciplinary teams;
- Increase the number of mechanical assets supported by manual clearance teams;
- Deliver a management solution to clear large hazardous areas of sporadic contamination;
- Complete 50 percent of the Kabul Clearance Project (a two-year project to clear all known hazards within the city limits of Kabul);
- Complete 50 percent of the Eastern Provincial Clearance Plan (a two-year project to clear all known hazards in the eastern region); and
- Increase capacity by adding 400 multi-skilled and multi-disciplinary teams to meet the Afghan Compact goals.
MACCA and DMC have an Integrated Operational Plan (IOP) under which tasks will be prioritized and broken down into deliverable projects, taking into account mine and ERW victims, local requests, resettlement areas, and blockages to agricultural fields, grazing, water and infrastructure. Three victim prediction factors have been added, derived from the Survey Action Centre (SAC) victim prediction model. These are: communities with more than 200 families, the availability of vehicle fuel and the cumulative area of hazards threatening a community. Research has shown that the probability of accidents is higher when a community has over 200 families, lacks access to vehicle fuel, or confronts cummulative hazards up to 200,000 square metres.
A comprehensive 1389 IOP will be published in October 2009.
Date Anti-Personnel Mine-Ban Treaty signed: N/A
Date of Anti-Personnel Mine-Ban Treaty ratification or accession: Sep 11, 2002
Consents to be bound by Protocol II of Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons: N/A
Consents to be bound by Amended Protocol II of Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons: N/A
Date signed Protocol V of Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons: N/A