Summary
Humanitarian mine action increased after the arrival of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) and the establishment of the Mine Action Coordination Centre (MACC) in 2000. In 2008, due to a Security Council decision, UNMEE MACC ceased its operations in Eritrea.
In March 2002, the Eritrean Government and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) agreed on the Mine Action Capacity Building Programme to develop the capacities of the Eritrean Demining Authority (EDA) to carry out mine action operations, including mine clearance, victim support and mine risk education.
In mid-2002, a government proclamation changed the country’s national mine action structure. In response, UNDP revised the Mine Action Capacity Building Programme for 2004-2006. The Government signed on to this in 2004.
In 2005, the Government impounded 36 “G-project plated” UNDP mine action vehicles, along with eight other vehicles, to rationalize the use of fuel. Mine clearance operations were halted, and the programme was suspended. Disbursement of funds to operations ceased by June 2006 pending an audit. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) continued cooperating with the authority on mine risk education.
After the completion of the audit, UNDP began supporting the EDA in January 2007 with the modest objective of the safe return/resettlement of internally displaced people (IDP)s and expellees to their places of origin or new settlement areas in the Temporary Security Zone.
In June 2008, an independent evaluation of UNDP’s support to the Mine Action Capacity Building Programme was conducted. UNDP support to victim assistance was subsequently restarted.
The EDA is now charged with policy oversight and regulation of the mine action sector, as well as operational aspects.
The Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare (MLHW) is responsible for all people with disabilities, including landmine survivors. The ministry has developed a “directions paper” for future victim support, and in 2009 work has started on a national database of persons with disabilities and community-based rehabilitation.
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 Eritrea Country Portfolio Team's funding appeal for mine action projects in 2007 totals US $1,451,800.
Scope of the Problem
Eritrea’s contamination with landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) comes from the country’s long struggle for independence (1962 to 1991) and border war with Ethiopia (1998 to 2000). The Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) completed in 2005 indicates that out of Eritrea’s 4,176 communities, 481 are affected. The 914 suspected hazardous areas cover approximately 130 square kilometres, impacting a population of 655,000 people. The survey identified over 5,000 mine and UXO victims, including 295 new victims within the previous 24 months. The survey’s information only covers landmine victims in communities with landmines. It excludes possible victims in communities with no reported landmines.
The survey is being set up in a database linked to the LIS. There are approximately 100,000 people with disabilities from conflict, and 50,000 IDPs and returnees.
Rural inhabitants, nomadic people, IDPs and refugees are among those most affected by mines. The problem is nationwide, affecting the north and the highlands. Key humanitarian challenges include making land safe for the return/resettlement of over 71,000 IDPs in Debub and Gash Barka, freeing land for agricultural use to support food security, building social support systems for the most vulnerable population groups, and creating links to recovery, reconstruction, and the development of social and economic infrastructure.
Coordination and Consultation
Under Proclamation 123/2002, the National Mine Action Strategic Plan focuses on the socioeconomic impacts of landmines and UXO, as detailed in the country’s LIS. The plan will support existing rehabilitation and development projects, and be integrated into the national development strategy. Although the lines of communication at the moment are in limbo, the roles of the various mine action stakeholders are:
- Ministry of National Development: Government overview, coordination and strategic planning;
- EDA: Planning, training, tasking, and regulatory body; implementation of demining operations and mine risk education;
- MLHW: Coordination and intervention with landmine survivors and victims;
- UNDP: Capacity development for the EDA and the MLHW; and
- UNICEF: Mine risk education.
Strategy
The Government of Eritrea has affirmed ownership of demining. The National Mine Action Strategic Plan’s vision for 2005-2010 is an Eritrea with a physical environment that will permit free movement, uninhibited development and poverty reduction initiatives; where victims are assisted and integrated into society; and where there are no new victims of mines and UXO.
Strategic objectives include:
- Conducting technical surveys, clearance and marking; reactivating demining teams; and offering refresher courses and mine risk education to aid the return of 40,000 IDPs by the end of 2009 (the international community will support operations, but activities will use transport and equipment already in Government hands);
- Completing mine clearance, marking and mine risk education, and assisting victims in the remaining high- and medium-incidence communities by the end of 2010;
- Conducting mine risk education, particularly in schools and in vulnerable communities, and reducing casualties; and
- Developing a system for assisting victims (the MLHW will collaborate with the EDA and Eritrean Demining Operations).
- Developing national capacities by the end of 2009 to coordinate activities, collect information, control quality, conduct post-clearance impact assessments and perform accreditation (this would require a fully functioning EDA headquarters and a national training centre); and
- Re-employing, training and equipping EDA teams absorbed from the Eritrean Demining Operations to clear about 54 square kilometres of land between 2005 and 2010, initially in areas where 40,000 IDPs have been returned or resettled.
- 60-person manual clearance teams, three each year, 2006 through 2010;
- 20-person manual clearance teams: 14 in 2006, 20 in 2007, 26 in 2008, 32 in 2009 and 32 in 2010;
- Integrated dog clearance teams (60 people and six dogs per team), five each year, 2006 through 2010;
- Technical survey and task-assessment planning teams, two each year, 2006 through 2010;
- Mechanical ground-preparation teams, one each year, 2008 through 2010; and
- Explosive ordnance disposal teams, two each year, 2006 through 2010.
- Support to the EDA to include mine risk education teams to serve schools and vulnerable communities, and gather data on mines, UXO and victims.
- Support to the Ministry of Education in integrating mine risk education into primary school.
- Public information campaigns (with the Ministry of Information).
- Psychosocial support for children.
- Advocacy for anti-personnel mine-ban treaty implementation.
- Develop a comprehensive system to assist victims and survivors; and
- Establish a legal framework in line with the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Date Anti-Personnel Mine-Ban Treaty signed: N/A
Date of Anti-Personnel Mine-Ban Treaty ratification or accession: Aug 27, 2001
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