Tracking financial support for mine action is still difficult, despite greater transparency and better reporting mechanisms. There is much variation in what donors report on, and in what detail, and for what time period. Nevertheless, drawing from Landmine Monitor research it is possible to give an informative picture of the global funding situation.
Landmine Monitor has identified about US$1.4 billion in mine action spending in the past decade. For 2001, Landmine Monitor has identified $237 million allocated for mine action by 24 donors.[1] This represents a decrease of about $4 million from the previous year. Given uncertainties and anomalies in gathering mine action funding data, this reduction is not statistically significant. Indeed, it is at least partially attributable to fluctuating exchange rates with the US dollar. However, it is notable, and a matter of great concern, that this is the first time since 1992 that global mine action funding has not increased by a significant amount.
Unlike in its previous annual reports, Landmine Monitor has now included mine action funding from the European Community (EC) for 2001 and earlier years, as it believes there is adequate information to avoid the problem of double counting (due to European Union member States reporting donations to the EU as part of their domestic mine action spending).
As before, Landmine Monitor has not included funds for research and development into demining technologies and equipment in these totals, instead listing R&D funding separately, when known. While most donors devoted some resources to mine action R&D, only a small number of donors reported precise R&D funding for 2001 (notably Belgium, Canada, EC, Netherlands, UK, and US), totaling more than $21 million. From 1992-2000, mine action R&D spending totaled at least $178 million, including at least $38 million in 2000.
Funding for victim assistance programs is included where possible, but for some major donors landmine victim assistance funding cannot be separated out from other non-landmine-specific programs. Also, in some cases, donors do not report the value of in-kind (as opposed to cash) contributions. Thus, the figures here understate global mine action funding to some degree.
Mine action funding fell substantially for three of the biggest donors: the United States (down $13.2 million); the United Kingdom (down $6.1 million); and Japan (down $4.9 million). The most significant increases were registered by the European Commission (up $11 million); Canada (up $3.6 million); and Italy (up $3 million). Total EC contributions in 2000 and 2001 were similar, but in 2000, $14.7 million went to research and development, while in 2001, only some $235,000 went to R&D.
Of the 20 major donors, funding increased (as calculated in national currencies, not US dollars) for nine, virtually all by a meaningful amount. Funding decreased (as calculated in national currencies) for eleven, though nearly all by a small amount, except the three noted above.
Mine Action Funding in 2001: $237 million
Mine Action Funding Reported To Date: $1.419 billion
Reported Mine Action Funding by Year
Mine Action Donors
Unless otherwise noted: figures are in U.S. dollars;[2] figures include victim assistance funding; figures do not include funds for mine action research and development, which are identified separately; and figures do not include contributions to the European Union.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA -- $375.5 million
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY – $203.3 million[3]
NORWAY -- $127.2 million
UNITED KINGDOM -- $94.1 million
SWEDEN -- $80 million
JAPAN -- $70.8 million
CANADA -- $67.4 million
THE NETHERLANDS -- $67.2 million
GERMANY -- $62.7 million
DENMARK -- $62.3 million
AUSTRALIA -- $43 million
SWITZERLAND -- $39.6 million
ITALY -- $36 million
FINLAND -- $27.9 million
BELGIUM --$11.8 million
AUSTRIA -- $7.9 million
IRELAND -- $7.8 million
NEW ZEALAND -- $6.6 million
SPAIN -- $4.2 million
States and Victim Assistance
The Mine Ban Treaty requires, in Article 6.3, that “Each State in a position to do so shall provide assistance for the care and rehabilitation, and social and economic reintegration, of mine victims....” In many mine-affected countries the assistance available to address the needs of survivors is inadequate and additional outside assistance is needed in providing for the care and rehabilitation of mine survivors.
Precise, comprehensive and comparable figures for victim assistance funding are difficult to obtain as some governments do not provide specific amounts for victim assistance, but rather consider victim assistance as an integrated part of humanitarian mine action. Some countries, for example Sweden and the United Kingdom, do not specify amounts for mine victim assistance at all with the view that landmine victims are reached through bilateral development programs and other contributions. In addition, many if not the majority of victim assistance programs are carried out by NGOs who receive funding from various sources including governments, private donors and charitable foundations. Therefore, the information presented here cannot be taken as fully representative of the total global funding for victim assistance programs.
From information provided in Landmine Monitor country reports, donors to mine victim assistance in 2001 included:
Donors to Mine Victim Assistance Programs
It should be noted that while the U.S contribution appears to be the largest, nearly all of it is through the Leahy War Victims Fund ($10 million in 2001) which supports programs for all victims of war; the percentage of funding that supports landmine survivors is not available.
In 2001, the ICRC Special Appeal for Mine Action expended Sfr 19.1 million ($11.4 million) in 35 mine-affected countries for victim assistance activities including emergency care, continuing medical care, and physical rehabilitation.[4] In 2001, eleven countries contributed Sfr 8.6 million to the Special Appeal.[5] In 2001, other donors included National Red Cross Societies from Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, China (Hong Kong), Japan, New Zealand, Norway and Spain, as well as organizations such as Rotary International, UEFA, Soroptimist International, and the Canton of Zurich.
The ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled expended Sfr 2.8 million (US$1.7 million) on physical rehabilitation programs for persons with disabilities, including landmine survivors in 2001. Norway, the US and the Netherlands contributed Sfr 2.6 million ($1.5 million); the Norwegian Red Cross Society and other organizations also contributed.[6]
In 2001, the Slovenian International Trust Fund for Demining and Victims Assistance (ITF) devoted $1.325 million to victim assistance programs. This constituted 5 percent of overall ITF spending in 2001, well below the ITF’s target of 15 percent. Seven countries contributed to mine victim assistance programs through the ITF: Austria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and the United States. Other private donors included the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation.
Although support for landmine victim assistance is included in the Mine Action Policy of the European Union, no funding was provided for such programs in the mine action budget in 2001. However, funding has been provided from other budget-lines, including those of the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO), to support programs that assist all persons with disabilities in mine-affected countries; the total value of these contributions is not available.
Major Mine Action Recipients
Accurate, complete, and comparable figures for major mine action recipients are even more elusive than those for mine action donors. Only partial funding information for 2001 is available from the UNMAS Mine Action Investments (MAI) Database, as many major donors have not entered data records for 2001.
According to the information available to Landmine Monitor, the biggest mine action funding recipients, cumulatively since the early 1990s, are Afghanistan ($193 million), Mozambique ($160 million), Cambodia ($146 million), Bosnia and Herzegovina ($103 million), Kosovo (FR Yugoslavia) (85 million), northern Iraq ($80 million), Angola ($71 million), and Laos ($42 million). Lebanon, Eritrea, and Vietnam are emerging as major recipients in the past few years.
In 2001, the top recipients were northern Iraq ($30 million), Cambodia ($21 million), Bosnia and Herzegovina ($16.6 million), Mozambique ($15.1 million), Angola ($15 million), Afghanistan ($14.1 million), Lebanon ($12.6 million), Kosovo ($8.4 million), Eritrea ($8.4 million) and Laos ($7.5 million).
A number of mine action programs and projects experienced serious problems, even crises, in funding in 2001, including in Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Costa Rica, and Laos.
Afghanistan
A funding shortfall for the mine action program in Afghanistan prior to 11 September 2001 had threatened again to curtail mine action operations, as it did in 2000. Mine action operations were suspended after 11 September 2001. The mine action infrastructure suffered greatly during the subsequent military conflict, as some warring factions looted offices, seized vehicles and equipment, and assaulted local staff. Four deminers and two mine detection dogs were killed in errant U.S. air strikes.
Funding for the UN Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA) totaled $193.5 million from 1991 through August 2001. The total of $14.1 million for 2001 represented the smallest amount since 1992. Mine action funding was $22.8 million in 2000. There were nine identified donors in 2001, compared to 12 in 2000. MAPA funding includes demining and mine awareness, but not victim assistance.
Events have resulted in greatly increased donor attention to Afghanistan. Since October 2001, about $64 million has been pledged to mine action in Afghanistan.
Mozambique
It is estimated that mine action funding for Mozambique totaled about $160 million from 1993 to 2001. Thirteen donors reported to Landmine Monitor a total of about $15.1 million in mine action contributions to Mozambique in 2001. There may have been additional contributions not recorded by Landmine Monitor. In 2000, Landmine Monitor identified approximately $17 million in mine action funding for Mozambique.
Cambodia
Total funding for mine action in Cambodia is estimated to exceed $146 million from 1994 through 2001. In 2001, seventeen donors reported contributions to mine action in Cambodia totaling more than $21 million. In 2001 and 2002 a number of donors resumed funding of the Cambodian Mine Action Center, demonstrating renewed confidence after past crises. In 2000, mine action funding totaled about $25 million.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mine action funding for Bosnia and Herzegovina totaled approximately $103 million from 1995 to 2001. Funding for 2001 amounted to $16.6 million, compared to $16.2 million in 2000 and $23 million in 1999. As in 2000, there was a severe funding crisis in 2001, particularly for the Mine Action Centers, at least in part due to lingering lack of donor confidence.
Kosovo
According to an independent study by the Praxis Group carried out on behalf of UNMAS, mine action funding for Kosovo totaled about $85 million from mid-1999 when operations began until to the end of 2001, when the UN declared successful completion of clearance. Landmine Monitor records about $8.4 million in mine action funding in 2001.
Angola
It has been especially difficult to get adequate information on mine action funding for Angola. It is estimated that mine action funding for Angola totaled about $71 million from 1993 to 2001. The annual budgets for 2001 for the principle mine action NGOs came to a total of more than $13.5 million. In addition, UNICEF spent about $1.5 million on its mine risk education programs and the ICRC spent an unknown amount on mine risk education and victim assistance programs. According to information provided to Landmine Monitor by donors and mine action organizations, funding in 2000 totaled approximately $13 million.
Northern Iraq
It is estimated that funding for mine action in northern Iraq totaled about $80 million from 1993 to 2001. The Iraq Mine Action Program, under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, is funded entirely through the UN Oil for Food Program, which started in 1997. The MAP expended over $28 million in 2001, and approximately $20 million in 2000. Two key mine action NGOs, Mines Advisory Group and Norwegian People’s Aid, receive funds apart from the UN program, totaling about $2.4 million in 2001.
Laos
Mine action funding for Laos totaled an estimated $42 million from 1994 to 2001. According to UXO LAO, mine action funding for Laos in 2001 amounted to an estimated $7.5 million. Landmine Monitor country reports identified $8.6 million in funding for 2000.
Central America -- Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua
Funding for the Organization of American States (OAS) Assistance Program for Demining in Central America (PADCA), which involves mine and UXO clearance in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, totaled $27.3 million from 1992 to 2001. In 2001, the OAS regional program received $4.7 million in funding, a decrease from $4.9 in 2000.
Lebanon
Since the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon in May 2000, mine action funding and activities have increased greatly. Nearly $6 million was provided in 2000 and Landmine Monitor estimates that approximately $12.6 million was allocated to mine action projects in Lebanon in 2001, by at least 13 donors, including the United States ($4.6 million). The United Arab Emirates announced in March 2001 its intention to donate up to $50 million to help redevelop south Lebanon, including mine action activities. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the UAE and Lebanon in October 2001; it is not known if any funds for mine action were disbursed in 2001.
Vietnam
According to reports from donors, more than $25 million has been provided or pledged for mine action in Vietnam in recent years. This includes the $11.2 million donated in March 2002 by the Japanese government to the Ministry of Defense for mine clearance equipment to be used in infrastructure development projects, such as the Ho Chi Minh highway. In 2001, some $5.7 million was provided, including $3.5 million from the United States.
Croatia
Mine clearance in Croatia cost some $103 million from 1997-2001. Croatia has paid for most of the mine clearance from domestic financial resources, but has also received some international support. CROMAC reports that in 2001 it spent $26.4 million, and that of that total, $20.6 million came from Croatian State funding and $5.8 million from other donors. The UN Mine Action Investments database lists $7.2 million in funding from nine donors for Croatia in 2001. In 2000, mine action spending totaled $22.5 million.
[1] In many cases, donors are not reporting for the calendar year 2001. Among the countries reporting for different fiscal years are the US (October 2000-September 2001), Japan (March 2001-February 2002), Canada (April 2001-March 2002), UK (April 2001- April 2002), and Australia (July 2001-June 2002).
[2] Figures for years prior to 2001 are taken from the Executive Summary of Landmine Monitor Report 2001, although in a few cases, corrections to earlier years have been received. In most but not all instances, the figures for earlier years are calculated at the exchange rates for those years.
[3] Exchange rate of € 1 = US$ .898 used for all years.
[4] ICRC, “ICRC Special Report: Mine Action 2001,” Geneva, July 2002, p. 51. Total expenditures for the Special Appeal, including mine awareness activities, was Sfr 23.1 million in 2001.
[5] In 2001, total funding received from States as reported in “ICRC Special Report: Mine Action 2001,”July 2002, p. 45, was: Australia ($978,962), Austria ($200,215), Belgium ($227,863), Canada ($195,255), Denmark ($250,426), Finland ($640,522), Ireland ($288,846), Italy ($713,755), Netherlands ($381,319), and Norway ($1,242,565). It should be noted that in some instances country contributions differ from those reported by States in the Landmine Monitor Report 2002. It should also be noted that only 82.4 percent of total contributions to the ICRC Special Appeal are for mine victim assistance with the balance being allocated for mine awareness and humanitarian diplomacy activities. Exchange rate at 31 December 2001, US$1 = Sfr 1.6732.
[6] In 2001, total funding received from States as reported in “ICRC Special Report: Mine Action 2001,” July 2002, p. 45, was: Netherlands ($18,708), Norway ($1,082,051), and the United States of America ($445,236).
