Summary
Iraq is heavily contaminated with explosive remnants of war (ERW), landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). This affects the daily lives of individuals and communities, and impedes the delivery of humanitarian assistance, development, and reconstruction projects at the local and national levels.
Prior to 2003, mine action efforts were concentrated in the three northern governorates of Iraq as part of the UN Oil for Food Programme. Following the conflict in 2003, these efforts were institutionalized under the National Mine Action Authority (NMAA) in Baghdad-which was renamed the Directorate of Mine Action (DMA) in 2008. Regional mine action centres (RMACs) were created in Erbil in the north and Basra in the south. In late 2006, the Government of Iraq signed the anti-personnel mine-ban treaty, but the deteriorating security situation remained a major challenge to carrying out mine action and fulfilling the treaty obligations.
Participants in the Iraq Mine Action Portfolio Country Team include the Ministry of Environment-DMA, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), international and national organizations active in southern and central Iraq, and the Mine Action Programme in northern Iraq (including all national and international mine action organizations and mine coordination offices).
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 Iraq Country Portfolio Team's funding appeal for mine action projects in 2007 totals US $45,955,658.
Scope of the Problem
The countrywide threat to Iraqi lives and livelihoods varies from abandoned UXO to dangerous surface contamination. Mines afflict vast rural sections of Iraqi land, with the largest areas stretching for hundreds of kilometres along Iraq’s border with Iran. Large quantities of UXO also remain scattered throughout cities and towns. These threats originate from minefields laid during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, conflicts between rival ethnic and political parties, the military actions of 1990-1991, and the conflict from 2003 onwards.
The Iraq Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) illustrates the distribution of contaminated areas in 13 governorates. The survey found 4,270 suspected hazardous areas and the contamination of more than 1,700 square kilometres of land affecting 2,117 communities. In the south, the two most common socioeconomic blockages are to irrigated land (87 percent) and fixed pasture (91 percent). Rain-fed cropland blockages are rare, but migratory pasture blockages are more prevalent than in other parts of Iraq.
In the south of Iraq, two threats are evident. Old mines along the Iran-Iraq border and new mines along the border with Saudi Arabia account for about 50 percent of mine victims. UXO cause almost as many injuries. Some areas have a deadly mix of ERW from the most recent conflict, including rockets and cluster bomb munitions. In the surveyed areas, 577 recent victims were documented in addition to thousands of older survivors. More than 2.7 million persons live in contaminated communities.
It is vital to maintain existing mine action resources in the north, and rapidly expand clearance and mine risk education in central and southern Iraq. Today, there are only a few humanitarian clearance organizations active in these regions, giving limited support to the DMA's target of a 50 percent reduction in ERW in five years.
The Mine Action Portfolio Country Team recommends that donors focus on institutional strengthening and humanitarian services. Capacity development for government institutions will be prioritized in accordance with assessments by the DMA, the US Department of State and UNDP.
Coordination and Consultation
The NMAA was established in 2003 under the Ministry of Planning and Direct Cooperation (MoPDC). Due to the transfer of responsibility for mine action from the MoPDC, which officially took place on 1 April 2008, the NMAA has been restructured under the Ministry of Environment as the DMA.
The DMA is responsible for strategic planning and budgeting, project coordination, donor relations, setting national mine action standards and maintaining the national Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database. It works with the RMAC-South while the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Centre and the General Directorate for Mine Action in Sulaimaniyah function independently in planning and executing mine action activities in the north.
UNDP is the lead agency for UN-supported mine action in Iraq. It periodically organizes UN mine action coordination meetings to ensure the UN’s support is coordinated, timely and effective. The portfolio consultation and coordination process kicked off at one of these meetings, where all agencies were requested to share their information on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on mine action. Invitations for project proposals were sent to eligible appealing agencies (national authorities, national and international NGOs, international organizations, and UN entities with operational activities related to mine action and who appeal for funding through the portfolio); 22 projects from 17 agencies were received.
The UN Assistance Strategy for Iraq 2008-2010 was signed in 2009 between the Government of Iraq and the United Nations. Under the strategy's Protection Sector, one concrete output for mine action is clearly spelled out: “Mine action policy, strategy and regulatory mechanism developed, Iraqi mine action operational capacity strengthened and awareness raised.”
Strategy
The Ministry of Environment and DMA are working closely with the mine action country team, which in the second half of 2009 has assisted the DMA in developing a draft national mine action strategy. The strategy has yet to be finalized and launched by the Government. The team has also supported the DMA in the development of national mine action policies and management capacities to plan and execute sustainable mine action programmes, with a view to addressing the development and socioeconomic problems stemming from ERW.
Since all appealing agencies are in close contact with government agencies (the Ministry of Environment, the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Centre and the General Directorate for Mine Action in Kurdistan, and the Regional Mine Action Centre-South in Basra) and/or the UN mine action team (UNDP, UNICEF, the World Health Organization or WHO, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees or UNHCR, the UN Office for Project Services or UNOPS, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs or OCHA, and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq or UNAMI), the projects in the 2010 portfolio combine individual strengths under the framework of a comprehensive national mine action programme.
The DMA has indicated the following objectives for mine action: strengthen and develop the directorate’s managerial capacities to coordinate mine action strategies and meet requirements for reconstruction and rehabilitation; assess existing victim assistance capacities and develop additional capacities as needed; establish a nationwide victim surveillance system and map existing support mechanisms; undertake mine risk education to raise awareness and reduce injuries and casualties; reduce landmine and ERW impacts through the development of national mine action capacities, such as clearance and mine risk education provided by NGOs and commercial companies; generate employment opportunities; reduce injuries and casualties by removing threats and raising awareness; and encourage the Government to adopt national mine action legislation, international conventions and a legislative framework on landmines.
Implementing the strategy involves:
- Policy advice and institutional capacity building: This comprises providing advice and training for mine action institutions, including the directorate and regional mine action centres; expanding national capacities to support humanitarian mine clearance; and increasing the frequency with which priorities are determined and integrated with socioeconomic components.
- Operational capacity building and coordination: Existing capacities need to be sustained nationwide. Capacities in the centre and south of Iraq require further development, involving assistance to the DMA in identifying the needs of local NGOs, engaging international NGOs to help local groups to operate within the authority’s strategic framework, and initiating a strategy to transfer responsibility to national institutions as soon as possible.
- Capacities for mine risk education: These need to be developed and sustained.
The Mine Action Portfolio Country Team hopes that the international community will continue to support mine action activities in Iraq by funding the appealing agencies to implement their projects, as the Government of Iraq requires support from these actors most likely until at least 2011.
Date Anti-Personnel Mine-Ban Treaty signed: N/A
Date of Anti-Personnel Mine-Ban Treaty ratification or accession: Aug 15, 2007
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