| <INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS | SURVEY ACTION CENTER> |
The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) supports the efforts of the international community in reducing the impact of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). The Centre is active in research, provides operational assistance to on-going demining programmes in the field and supports the implementation of the Mine Ban Convention (MBC) as mandated by the States Parties in September 2001.
The GICHD is an independent and impartial organisation. It was established on a Swiss initiative and is now supported by the Governments of Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the Republic and Canton of Geneva. The Centre has particularly close working relations with the United Nations (UN).
The GICHD continued its research work aimed at providing guidance and support to mine action programmes in the field. The studies are carried out on demand and are funded by donors on a project by project basis.
Since April 2001, several major studies were completed by the GICHD. Examples are
In addition, the GICHD currently has more than a dozen other research projects and studies underway. These include
• the Mechanical Equipment Study, which aims to establish the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of mechanical demining equipment. The study has been agreed by UNMAS and is funded by Norway, Sweden and the UK.
• the Use of Military Organisations in Humanitarian Mine Action Projects Study examining the practicability of using military organisations, both international and local, for all forms of humanitarian mine action. This study is funded by the UK.
The Centre’s second core mission consists in providing specific operational support and assistance to on-going or emerging mine action activities and programmes mainly run by the UN.
In this context, the GICHD develops and disseminates – in co-operation with UNMAS and other users – the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA). IMSMA consists of a ready-to-use tool covering the data collection and information management needs of mine action programmes in the field. As of April 2002, IMSMA was in use in 26 field programmes. Additional versions are running at various training sites including locations in France, Switzerland, the UK, and the US.
On behalf of UN, the Centre developed the International Standards for Mine Action (IMAS). The IMAS project provides practitioners and donors with an almost comprehensive framework of technical and procedural prescriptions for safe and effective mine action. The UN Mine Action Inter-agency Working Group endorsed a first set of 23 IMAS on 1 October 2001. In addition, an Outreach programme was started in spring 2001 to facilitate and support the implementation of IMAS.
The GICHD also develops and distributes the Technical Notes for Mine Action (TNMA) and the TRITON Reports. The TNMAs provide field managers with principles, advice and information relevant to a specific IMAS or other technical subjects. The TRITON Reports are a system for warning managers, deminers and EOD operators. They contain information on cases where munitions (especially improvised devices and booby traps) have been used in non-war situations. These reports also cover incidents where recovered UXO and mines have been used in association with sophisticated or unique initiation systems, etc.
The Centre also offers its services to Governments and interested organisations to evaluate and assess actual projects and programmes, or components of such programmes. The Centre follows an impartial, independent and transparent methodology, and staff involved in such missions work in an as open and transparent a way as allowed by the framework set by the relevant organisations and programmes.
Finally, the Centre – on behalf of UNMAS – organised the fifth International Meeting of Mine Action Programme Directors and Advisors in February 2002. This conference unites representatives of mine affected countries, UN agencies, the World Bank, NGOs, donors and observers and provides a unique forum for discussion of actual problems at field level, for contacts between headquarters and the field, and for an exchange of views, perspectives, strategies, etc. In addition, the conference offers a special opportunity for contacts between donor governments and field representatives.
The GICHD supports the implementation of the Mine Ban Convention (MBC) by - inter alia - hosting the meetings of the Standing Committees within the intersessional work programme of the MBC. These meetings bring together representatives of States Parties, non-States Parties, international organisations, NGOs and other experts in order to ensure effective implementation and to report to the States Parties. The Centre also provides technical input to theses activities, mainly in the areas of mine clearance, victims assistance, stockpile destruction and technology.
At their Third Meeting in Managua, the States Parties to the MBC endorsed the “Paper on the Implementation Support for the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines”. It foresees the following services to be provided by the GICHD in support of the MBC:
a. Preparing and supporting meetings of the Standing Committees and the Co-ordinating Committee, including writing summaries and facilitating follow-up activity;
b. Providing independent professional advice and assistance to the Co-ordinating Committee;
c. Establishing a documentation and resource database facility on the Ottawa Process, Oslo Diplomatic Conference, Meetings of States Parties, etc.
The States Parties mandated the GICHD to establish an Implementation Support Unit (ISU) to take care of issues related to the MBC. This unit became operational in January 2002.
During the reporting period, the Centre also administered three sponsorship programmes on behalf of a Group of Donors. These programmes allowed a total of 175 delegates from 49 different countries to participate at the Third Meeting of States Parties as well as at the intersessional meetings of the Standing Committees in May 2001 and January 2002.
The Centre currently consists of 26 permanent staff members, including five persons seconded by the Governments of France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. In total, eleven nationalities are represented at the Centre (including staff members having more than one citizenship): Switzerland (11 persons), UK (5), France (2), Canada, Columbia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the US.
Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian
Demining
7bis, avenue de la Paix
P.O. Box 1300
CH-1211 Geneva 1, Switzerland
Phone: +41 22 906 16 60
Fax: +41 22 906 16 90
