Summary
Ethiopia suffers from landmine contamination left over from conflicts dating back to the Italian occupation of the mid-1930s, and including the recent war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. A nationwide Landmine Impact Survey (LIS), conducted by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), was completed in 2004. The survey determined that landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) afflict more than 1.9 million people in 1,492 communities. It found 1,295 victims of mine accidents, with 588 fatalities. Two-thirds of recent victims were engaged in herding and farming at the time of the incident.
Following the conflict with Eritrea, the Government of Ethiopia instituted a national mine action programme using its own resources and financing from a World Bank loan. It also turned to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for technical assistance and capacity building.
The Ethiopian Mine Action Office (EMAO) is the national agency responsible for humanitarian mine clearance and mine risk education. Its operational capability currently consists of five manual clearance companies and their affiliated mine risk education and community liaison personnel, 17 mine-detection dog teams, six ground preparation machines and five technical survey/rapid response teams. NPA began mine-detection dog support in 2005, and continues its contribution to the development of integrated mine action and technical survey capacities at EMAO.
Under the 2007-2009 mine action project endorsed by the Government of Ethiopia and UNDP, with major financial support from the European Commission (EC), EMAO continued its humanitarian demining operations in the Tigray, Afar and Somali regions, delivering significant socioeconomic benefits by facilitating free movement, increased food security and agricultural development, and fostering the consolidation of peace and security. From 2010 to 2011, EMAO will continue fulfilling its mandate in support of Ethiopia's commitment under the anti-personnel mine-ban treaty and the successful achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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 Ethiopia Country Portfolio Team's funding appeal for mine action projects in 2007 totals US $5,865,300.
Scope of the Problem
Landmine and UXO contamination in the Tigray, Afar and Somali regions of northern and south-eastern Ethiopia causes food insecurity, adds to regional poverty and denies safe movement. The 2004 LIS conducted by NPA was given quality assurance by the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS). It identified suspected mine-affected areas, and classified those where the majority of recent landmine incidents have occurred and/or where landmines block access to critical livelihood resources.
A collaborative process between regional governments, local community leaders and Ethiopian mine action survey teams assisted by UN advisors has helped further prioritize areas most in need of immediate landmine clearance. Priorities are mainly determined by the value of land for agricultural purposes, humanitarian needs and safety requirements, including those linked to the return of displaced people and the consolidation of peace. All cleared land is available for common use by community farmers and herders, and in most cases, plowing and grazing begins immediately after the handover of cleared land to the community.
Since 2007, EMAO has been undertaking a nationwide technical survey to review the landmine-impacted areas identified by the LIS with a higher degree of accuracy. The technical survey is expected to provide EMAO with essential baseline data on landmine contamination. This will go towards updating a medium-term strategic plan for humanitarian demining and mine risk education aimed at removing the socioeconomic impacts of landmines and UXO from communities throughout the country.
Coordination and Consultation
EMAO conducts mine survey, marking, clearance and mine risk education activities based on priorities determined by regional and local authorities. A partnership involving the office; UNICEF; the Rehabilitation and Development Organization (RaDO); the Office of Rehabilitation and Social Affairs in Tigray; and the regional administrations of Tigray, Afar and Somali coordinates mine risk education. UNDP provides an advisor for project assurance, programmatic advice, capacity development, and strategic partnering and coordination. The lead government agency for victim assistance is the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
A number of other ministries and non-governmental actors support mine action, including: the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Federal Ministry of Health, regional health bureaus and local communities.
National non-governmental organizations (NGOs) include RaDO, Mekelle Orthopaedic and Physiotherapy Centre, Arbaminch Rehabilitation Centre, Addis Development Vision, Cheshire Service Ethiopia, Handicap National for Children with Disabilities, and various other national associations for persons with disabilities.
International NGOs comprise Handicap International (HI), Landmine Survivor’s Network (LSN), Menschen für Menschen, the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF), German Leprosy, the Catholic Organization for Relief and Development (CORDAID), and the Christopher Blenden Mission.
Strategy
The Government of Ethiopia is committed to humanitarian mine action, as evidenced by its decisions to ratify the anti-personnel mine-ban treaty, establish the requisite institutional framework for mine action, negotiate a World Bank loan to undertake urgent mine action activities, and seek UNDP and UNICEF assistance to develop its capacities. The Government has established a Mine Action Supervisory Board at ministerial level to formulate policy, allocate resources, and approve mine action strategies and work plans. It has established EMAO and assigned it the responsibility for managing and coordinating clearance and mine risk education, and for executing humanitarian mine actions in the north in support of the Government’s Emergency Recovery Project.
EMAO has developed its operational capacities with financial assistance provided through the Emergency Recovery Project, and with technical assistance from UNDP and UNICEF. It has a strategic corporate plan with the goal of making “…Ethiopia safe for the people to be able to live free from the threat of landmines and explosive devices.”
To achieve this goal, EMAO has identified the following objectives:
- To develop a fully national and sustainable mine action programme;
- To increase its operational capacity and productivity in order to speed up the clearance of land contaminated by mines and explosive remnants of war in the north and south-east(the Tigray, Afar and Somali regions);
- To determine the entire mine action needs of Ethiopia, and develop a strategy that identifies the appropriate resources to address priority problems within a reasonable timeframe;
- To mobilize the necessary resources to achieve the National Mine Action Strategy, and strengthen its capacities to manage, coordinate and regulate mine action activities, in particular humanitarian clearance and mine risk education; and
- To assist victims through the development of an information database on mine/UXO victims, and through collaboration with relevant agencies and organizations, where appropriate.
Date Anti-Personnel Mine-Ban Treaty signed: Dec 03, 1997
Date of Anti-Personnel Mine-Ban Treaty ratification or accession: Dec 17, 2004
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