20th International Meeting of Mine Action National Programme Directors and United Nations Advisers

The 20^th Meeting of National Mine Action Directors and United Nations Advisers (NDM-UN) took place from 7-10 February 2017 in the Palais des Nations at the United Nations Office at Geneva. This annual meeting provided an opportunity for delegates to network and exchange on the ways in which mine action has evolved over the past two decades.

The theme of this year’s meeting was “Twenty years of Mine Action; Needs- driven, people-centred”. Participants included senior officials from mine action programmes, colleagues from United Nations departments and agencies, representatives from non-governmental organisations, humanitarian institutions, research organizations and experts from donor governments and other mine action implementing partners.

CHAIR'S SUMMARY - (click to view)

agenda - (click to view)

opening ceremony: keynote speakers

mr. martin barber, former director of the united nations mine action service

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dr mohammed haider reza, former director of united nations mine action centre of afghanistan

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ms. margaret arach orech, founder and director of the uganda landmine survivor association

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written speech

conclusion by ms. agnès marcaillou, director, united nations mine action service

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official opening of the annual meeting

mr. michael møller, under-secretary-general, director-general of the united nations office at geneva

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ms. agnès marcaillou, director, united nations mine action service

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plenary sessions

to view presentations, click on the links below:

plenary session one: international humanitarian law and mine action: challenges and progress

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chair: ambassador thomas hajnoczi, permanent representative of austria to the united nations in geneva and chair of anti-personnel mine ban convention

panelists:

1. ms. megan burke, director, international campaign to ban landmines

2. ms. kathleen lawand, head of arms unit, international committee of the red cross

3. mr. khaled rashed, general director, directorate of mine action, iraq

plenary session two: mine action as a confidence building measure in reconciliation and peace processes

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chair: ambassador beatriz londoño-soto, permanent representative of colombia to the united nations in geneva

panelists:

1. nobel peace co-laureate, mr. rae mcgrath, founder of mag and co-founder of the international campaign to ban landmines

2. mr. amarathunga, national director, sri lanka

3. ambassador stefano toscano, director, gichd

plenary session three: mine action facilitating and supporting stabilization

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chair: ambassador henk cor van der kwast, permanent representative of the netherlands to the conference on disarmament in geneva

panelists:

1. ambassador ekkehart brose, special envoy for crisis prevention and stabilization, ministry of foreign affairs, germany

2. col. mohamed turjman, national director, libyan mine action centre

3. mr. frank meeussen, mine action focal point, division for disarmament, non-proliferation and arms export control of the european external action service

plenary session four: plenary session four: integrating protection into humanitarian mine action planning

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chair: mr. volker turk, assistant high commissioner for protection, unhcr

panelists:

1. ms. monica sanchez bermudez, global advisor and chair of the housing, land and property area of responsibility

2. ms. yngvil foss, programme manager afghanistan, unmas

3. mr. andrew wyllie, chief of programme support branch, ocha

strategy of the united nations on mine action: monitoring and evaluation update

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chair: ms. abigail hartley, chair of the iacg-ma

speakers:

1. ms. maria vardis, political affairs officer, unmas

2. mr. hugues laurenge, child protection specialist, unicef

3. mr. olaf juergensen, development and mine action specialist, undp

plenary session five: mine action as an “accelerator” towards the sdgs

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co-chairs: ambassador lambertini, deputy permanent representative of italy to the united nations and mr. nik sekhran, director, sustainable development cluster, bureau for policy and programme support, united nations development programme

panelists:

1. mr. shafiq yousufi, director, directorate of mine action coordination (dmac), afghanistan

2. mr. bounphamith, deputy director of the national regulatory authority for the uxo/mine action sector in the lao pdr (nra)

3. ambassador stefano toscano, director, gichd

plenary session six: mine action innovations (methodologies and technologies)

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co-chairs: ms. tammy hall, head of strategies and standards, gichd and mr. thuch ly, secretary general, cambodian mine action and victim assistance authority (cmaa)

panelists:

1. mr. karl dhaene, deputy permanent representative of belgium to the united nations (on iedd standards)

2. mr. paul heslop, chief of programmes, unmas (on unmas innovations in middle east)

3. ms. judy grayson, unicef (on results framework for integrated mine action)

4. mr. elias papaioannou, london business school (on quantifying economic impact of mine action)

5. mr. olivier cottray, head of information management, gichd (on imsma core)

6. ms. camille wallen, global monitoring and evaluation manager, halo (on mobile technologies)

plenary session seven: community-based approaches for effective action

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chair: mr. andrés franco, deputy director for private sector engagement, private fundraising and partnerships division, unicef

panelists:

1. ambassador staffan tillander, director of rule of law & security institutions group, united nations mission in somalia

2. ms. asma hamadi, civil society representative, libya

3. mr. u myo set aung, director of the department of social welfare, myanmar (the speech transcript is also available here)

plenary session eight: the challenges of completion

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co- chairs: dr. vincent choffat, policy and military adviser at the permanent mission of switzerland and mr. nik sekhran, director, sustainable development cluster, bureau for policy and programme support, united nations development programme

panelists:

1. ambassador michael biontino, permanent representative of the federal republic of germany to the conference on disarmament

2. mr. ly thuch, secretary general, cambodia mine action authority

3. mr. adriano goncalves, advisor, angola national intersectoral commission for demining and humanitarian assistance

4. mr. mkhulili ncube, director, zimbabwe mine action centre