Key developments since May 2005: In April 2006 the parliament adopted national implementation legislation. Albania revealed that it possesses antivehicle mines with breakwires and that it plans to destroy them. DanChurchAid demined and released 1.38 square kilometers of mine-affected land in northeast Albania in 2005, where mine risk education continued. Most casualties occurred in a different part of the country, caused by explosive remnants of war. In 2005, 23 new casualties were recorded; only two casualties were in the northeast.
The Republic of Albania signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 8 September 1998, ratified it on 29 February 2000 and became a State Party on 1 August 2000. Law No. 8547 of 11 November 1999 and Decision 269 of 25 May 2000 gave legal force to the treaty in Albania, but did not include penal sanctions.[1] On 18 April 2006, parliament approved Law No. 9515, The Implementation of the Convention on the Ban of Use, Storage, Production and Transfer of the Antipersonnel Mines and their Destruction.[2] The President signed the Decree for Promulgation of the Law, Decree 4857, on 10 May 2006. Article 8 of the law prohibits development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of antipersonnel mines, as well as assistance with prohibited acts.[3] Article 9 states that when non-compliant actions are not criminal offenses under Articles 278 and 278/a of the Penal Code, they are considered administrative violations and penalized with a fine from 100,000 to 300,000 Leke (US$1,089 to $3,268).[4] For criminal offenses, Article 278 of the Penal Code imposes penalties of up to 20 years.[5]
In March 2006, a draft law on mine action was submitted for interministerial consultations, after which it will be submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval. The legislation was prepared with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).[6]
Albania submitted its annual Article 7 transparency report on 27 March 2006, covering calendar year 2005. It includes voluntary Form J, and provides details of progress in mine risk education and survivor assistance programs during 2005. Albania has submitted four Article 7 reports previously.[7]
Albania attended the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in Zagreb, Croatia in November-December 2005, where it made statements on its mine clearance and victim assistance programs. Albania also attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2005 and May 2006, where it again made statements on mine clearance and victim assistance.
In April 2006, Albania responded to a request from Landmine Monitor to share its views on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2 and 3. With regard to Article 1, Albania “prohibits transfer of anti-personnel mines in its territory and foreign stockpiling in Albania of the anti-personnel mines. In addition, during joint military operations with State and Non-State Parties, Albania does not use and is not engaged in the use or transport of the anti-personnel mines.”[8]
As to Article 2, Albania for the first time stated that it possesses antivehicle mines with breakwires and noted that “there are actually plans for their destruction and these mines are also currently used during the disposal of the old ammunition.”[9] The ICBL and many States Parties believe that antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes such as breakwires meet the definition of an antipersonnel mine in the Mine Ban Treaty and are therefore prohibited. Albania said that “this issue should be discussed during the next intersessional meeting in order to have clear definitions of antipersonnel mines and antivehicle mines etc.” Albania also said, regarding Claymore-type mines, it “has never (and does not) produced, stockpiled or used this type of mines.”
Albania did not state its view on Article 3 and the permissible number of mines retained for training, but noted that it had retained no mines for research and training purposes.[10]
Albania became a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines on 28 August 2002. On 12 May 2006, Albania consented to be bound by CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. It did not participate in the Seventh Annual Conference of States Parties to the protocol in November 2005, but submitted the annual report required by Article 13 in September 2005.
Albania completed destruction of its stockpile of 1,683,860 antipersonnel mines on 4 April 2002, more than two years before its treaty deadline, in an internationally funded project carried out under NATO auspices. Albania has opted not to retain any antipersonnel mines for research or training purposes.
Production of antipersonnel mines in Albania was suspended in 1990 and officially ceased in 1991. The two production plants were converted to facilities for ammunition demilitarization by 2002. While Albania was not known as a significant exporter of mines in the past, according to the UN, Russian antipersonnel and Chinese antivehicle mines found in Kosovo after the 1999 conflict may have been transferred from Albania.[12]
The most recent use of antipersonnel mines in Albania was in 1998 and 1999 in the northeast of the country during the Kosovo crisis.
Albania’s mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) problem stems largely from two events.[13] In the northeast, contamination by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) resulted mainly from armed conflict in neighboring Kosovo in 1998-1999. Contamination included extensive minefields on the Albanian border with Kosovo in the districts of Kukës, Has and Tropojë. These minefields were laid by Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) forces during the Kosovo crisis. In a general survey by the Albanian Armed Forces in 1999-2000, 102 affected areas were identified, contaminating more than 15 square kilometers. The explosive threat includes antipersonnel and antivehicle mines laid by FRY forces, unexploded submunitions and other UXO resulting from FRY artillery, and at least six NATO cluster strikes within Albanian territory.[14]
According to the Albanian Mine Action Executive, as of the end of 2005, 3,146,423 square meters remained to be cleared.[15] The original survey by the Albanian Armed Forces declared most of the border area with Kosovo mined but, through a socioeconomic impact survey and technical survey that preceded demining, DanChurchAid found that the size of the suspected area was greatly overestimated.[16]
Central regions of Albania are also contaminated by mines and, primarily, ERW, as a result of looting of military depots during widespread civil disorder in 1997. It was estimated that some 2.2 square kilometers of land were contaminated with abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO), producing 15 “hotspots.” In April 2004, Albania reported that clearance of what remained at the hotspots was complete. An amnesty encouraging people to hand in looted mines and AXO expired on 31 May 2005, after several extensions.[17] There is greater concern about the risk in these areas than in mine-affected areas in the northeast of the country, where clearance, mine risk education and survivor assistance efforts have concentrated almost exclusively (and, in 2006, continued to concentrate). [18] In 2005, there were 16 ERW incidents with 21 casualties (compared with two casualties from mines in the northeast), and 94 ERW casualties since 2000; the districts most regularly affected were: Lezhë, Mat, Shkodër, Tirana, Vlorë, Berat and Pukë.[19]
In April 2006, six military magazines in army depots in tunnels in the village of Dhemblaj, in southern Albania, exploded killing one military official and injuring four others.[20] The explosion was reported to have happened while soldiers were disposing of old ammunition that had been confiscated from the civilian population in 1997.[21] Initially, police and army units were sent to the area, but could not reach the depots because explosions continued. Shells had gone as far as five kilometers, reaching other villages, according to media reports.[22]
National Mine Action Authority: The Albanian Mine Action Committee (AMAC) serves as the “executive and policy making body for mine action” in Albania.[23] This interministerial body was formally constituted in October 1999.[24] Only one meeting of AMAC was held during 2005, on 7 June.[25] Four meetings were planned for 2006, in February, June, September and December.[26]
A draft law developed at a workshop in early 2006 included provision for an Albanian Mine Action Council to assume responsibility for overall management of the mine action program.[27]
Mine Action Center: The Albanian Mine Action Executive (AMAE) is responsible for coordinating and monitoring mine action activities in Albania. AMAE reported in November 2005 that it was “updating the National Mine Action Plan and developing, prioritizing, planning and coordinating operations.” Mine action implementing agencies receive formal accreditation based on written procedures and following an assessment. AMAE stated that it allocates operational tasks, collates, records and disseminates operational reports, verifies finalized operations and issues completion and handover certificates.[28]
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has supported capacity-building of the mine action program in Albania since 2002; the project was due to end in December 2006.[29] To create the national capacity for managing the mine action program, UNDP support has included equipment and funding of AMAE headquarters and its regional office, and technical assistance in developing the mine action plan, in management and demining, according to international standards.[30] UNDP continued to provide a chief technical advisor, victim assistance advisor, and, since March 2005, a quality management advisor.[31]
AMAE has used version 3 of the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) for storing mine action information, located at the regional office in Kukës in northeastern Albania.[32]
No national mine action legislation had been adopted in Albania as of mid-2006. A workshop on developing national mine action legislation was held in Tirana on 28 February-2 March 2006, facilitated by GICHD. One of UNDP’s objectives for 2006 was that AMAE be “nationalised, with [a] relevant budget line established in [the] 2007 governmental budget.”[33] The draft law prepared during the workshop provided that, “The costs of AMAE will be funded from the national budget supplemented by international donations and funding, where available.”[34] The draft legislation was under consideration by the Ministry of Defense in May 2006.[35]
AMAE issues technical safety standards for mine action operations, based on International Mine Action Standards (IMAS).[36] DanChurchAid works according to its own standing operating procedures that are reviewed annually and approved as part of the accreditation process.[37]
The National Mine Action Strategy, first formulated in 2002, revised in August 2004 and March 2005, and finalized in April 2006,[38] had as its vision an Albania free from mines and UXO by 2009. The mission statement was to develop and implement a sustainable mine action program in order to eliminate the effects of mines and UXO in Albania by December 2006.[39] This is in accordance with a Council of Ministers Decision in 2000 that all the areas contaminated with mines on Albanian territory be identified and cleared by 2009.[40]
At the request of UNDP, Albania’s National Plan for Completion was drafted for inclusion in the UNDP Completion Initiative.[41] The draft plan had two clearance objectives:
For 2006, the mine action program’s policy objectives included consolidation of mine action structures, approval of standing operating procedures and other regulations, approval of mine action legislation, and inclusion of mine action in the state budget.[43] Its demining objectives were clearance of high and medium priority areas, declaring Albania free of the effects of mines by 2006, and consolidation of national clearance capacity to continue with operations in 2007-2009.[44]
The focus of UN support in 2006 was transition of mine action to a sustainable national program, linkage to a regional development framework for northeast Albania, and complete clearance of 2 million square meters of high- and medium-impact mined and battle areas, returning them to productive use.[45] The UN stated in late 2005 that major constraints to mine action include the lack of comprehensive national legislation and the fact that the remaining mined and battle areas are located in harsh and remote mountainous terrain.[46]
DanChurchAid explained that, although the national clearance capacity will be operationally fully capable of executing the necessary work, the relevant management capacity will likely prove problematic. DanChurchAid met with AMAE and UNDP in Geneva in July 2006, where it was decided that the national clearance capacity will continue as an NGO with DanChurchAid providing administrative, financial and technical support in 2007. [47]
A revised national strategic mine action plan, Albania Mine Action Strategy, Completion Plan, was due to be presented and discussed at a workshop in June 2006.[48]
No evaluations have been conducted of the mine action program in Albania. It was planned to organize a visit by donors in September 2006 to review the progress of field activities.[49]
Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Albania must destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but no later than 1 August 2010. Albania aims to complete mine clearance operations by 2009, one year before the treaty deadline. It is included in the UNDP Completion Initiative which supports States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in fulfilling their obligations under Article 5. At the Standing Committee meetings in May 2006, Albania reiterated its determination to meet the Article 5 deadline.[50]
In 2005-2006, DanChurchAid was the only demining organization operating in Albania, implementing two projects. The Humanitarian Mine Action Project was due to complete most the high and medium priority clearance tasks by the end of the 2006 demining season, with “exit activities” completed by February 2007. The project was funded in 2005. through the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF) by the US Department of State, Germany and DanChurchAid’s private donors.
Secondly, the Technical Survey and Clearance Project-Building of National Clearance Capacity started in March 2005, initially establishing four teams, and continued and expanded in 2006, with the creation of six clearance teams capable of dealing with the residual low priority clearance tasks.[51] The project is funded by the European Commission (EC) through UNDP.[52]
As part of the first project, DanChurchAid executed socioeconomic impact survey activities that in 2005 reduced the suspected area by 207,000 square meters.[53] The team collects information about the location of mined areas and private caches of mines and UXO, and gathers socioeconomic data on the impact of mines and UXO on communities.[54] From this information, AMAE establishes the priority list and tasks DanChurchAid, which believes that, through this process, mine action priorities reflect the needs of local communities.[55]
From March to November 2005, the team also conducted post-clearance socioeconomic impact assessment of the clearance work completed in 2004. The assessment found that 600 people were direct beneficiaries of DanChurchAid’s clearance of 16 minefields in 2004. These beneficiaries from 13 villages made an annual total income of €172,322 (some $215,000) from use of the cleared areas.[56] The income was mainly generated from the sale and/or consumption of dairy products and wood.[57]
Technical survey precedes clearance operations. In 2005, technical survey in both projects covered a total area of 169,201 square meters. A further 483,264 square meters were “surveyed out” by the clearance capacity (these are added to the areas cancelled by the SEIS teams to give the total area reduced or cancelled out).[58]
DanChurchAid was given 34 task dossiers by AMAE in 2005 and planned to release at least 600,000 square meters of land.[59] From both projects combined, according to its own figures, DanChurchAid demined and released a total of 1,379,402 square meters in 2005: 305,828 square meters by battle area clearance and 214,109 square meters of manual clearance.[60] The land cleared, in northeast Albania, was mainly communal grazing land (of greatest benefit to communities) and border areas (important for border management/security). Capacity involved was 10 manual mine clearance teams, three battle area clearance teams, one survey team and two mine detection dog teams. Of these, the humanitarian mine action project funded eight manual mine clearance teams, one battle area clearance team, one survey team and one mine detection dog team. The technical survey and clearance project funded two mine clearance teams, two battle area clearance teams and one mine detection dog team. In 2006, the humanitarian clearance project supported by ITF maintained the same capacity, while the technical survey project supported by UNDP planned to add two mine clearance teams.[61]
ITF reported a clearance total of 262,942 square meters.[63] The difference of 4,000 meters from 266,626 square meters of mine clearance plus battle area clearance reported by DanChurchAid is attributed to mine detection dog teams from the UNDP project working on the other project’s tasks; DanChurchAid’s annual report notes this discrepancy.[64]
AMAE has a quality management team of five people located in its Kukës regional office. From March to December 2005, 384 monitoring visits were made and quality control was carried out on 24,093 square meters of land.[65] When land is deemed safe, an official handover ceremony is organized.
One deminer was seriously injured on 3 April 2005.[66] DanChurchAid reported that the accident happened because the deminer did not follow safety procedures, stepping out of the working lane into the uncleared area. There had been no other demining accidents by April 2006.[67] All DanChurchAid deminers are insured.
In 2005, mine risk education (MRE) in Albania continued to focus on 30,000 inhabitants of 39 mine-affected villages in the northeast, particularly schoolchildren and the economically most active group of 18 to 45-year-old men, which suffered the most casualties between 1999 and 2005.[68]
However, a study undertaken by the National Demilitarization Centre in 2005 on behalf of AMAE, showed that Albania faces a serious problem from ERW in other parts of Albania, which has not been addressed by Albania’s mine action program (see Landmine/ERW Casualties section in this report). The study recommended that MRE be expanded to other areas of Albania, specifically to the districts of Lezhë, Mat, Shkodër, Tirana, Vlorë, Berat and Pukë. The data was being analyzed and shared with government institutions and mine action operators to assess the possibility to expand activities into these areas.[69]
MRE was conducted in 2005 by the Albanian Red Cross and the Kukës-based NGO Victims of Mines and Weapons Association (VMA-Kukesi);[70] UNICEF, AMAE and the Albanian Institute of Pedagogical Studies continued to support MRE. MRE is coordinated by AMAE as an integral part of the Albanian Mine Action Plan, and is said to be based on IMAS.[71] Monthly coordination meetings and regular field monitoring took place. Community liaison was strengthened in 2005 with the hiring of an MRE/community liaison officer for the AMAE regional office.[72]
UNICEF has been the lead UN agency for MRE in Albania since 1999. Starting in 2006, the government, with UNICEF support, planned to implement a pilot project to include MRE in the school curriculum.[73]
Albania’s Article 7 report for 2005 stated that VMA’s MRE project aimed to keep “30,000 mine-affected community members in 39 villages continuously informed about the mine & UXO threat through the 39 anti-mine community based committees.” In 2005, the committees supported by the VMA team organized regular monthly gatherings where they distributed leaflets with information on the mine risk and safe behavior.[74]
School-based MRE activities were also organized. VMA organized a summer camp to provide recreational activities and to promote human rights and MRE for 325 children of mine victims and their families in Kukës, Has and Tropojë.[75]
The Albanian Red Cross continued to provide MRE in northeast Albania; in 2005, it provided MRE sessions for 3,987 people in 118 community meetings (less than the 410 meetings in 2004).[76] Five schools completed MRE murals and 4,000 copies of a locally produced comic were distributed in 31 schools, with 2,000 questionnaires to test the messages retained from the comic.[77]
The Albanian Red Cross coordinator and MRE instructors sought to maintain contact with clearance organizations operating in the area, to support day-to-day clearance and liaise between the affected communities and deminers.[78]
In 2005, a total of $5,316,712 was donated by three countries and the EC for mine action in Albania, an increase from 2004 ($3,068,458 donated by six countries).[79] Donors reporting funding in 2005 were:
The Ministry of Defense provided mine action support in the form of explosive materials and a helicopter medical evacuation service in 2005.[84] This contribution was uncosted.
AMAE reported receiving mine action funding of some $4.54 million in 2005, less than it reported in 2004 ($5.5 million).[85] Albania received $3,886,806 (almost 60 percent) of its total appeal for $6,506,378 through the UN Portfolio of Mine Action in 2005.[86]
AMAE reported that in 2005 it allocated funding of about $4.54 million as follows: mine clearance $1,736,222 (38.3 percent); victim assistance $619,246 (13.7 percent); MRE $124,487 (2.7 percent); mine action program support $531,151 (11.7 percent); technical survey and clearance $1,526,010 (33.6 percent).[87]
DanChurchAid reported that in 2005 it received £185,704 ($337,981) from the UK through the ITF for mine clearance activities. However, the funds were used to cover DanChurchAid’s clearance activities in 2006.[88]
The ITF reported that it directed $1,816,174 to Albania in 2005, or 6.6 percent of its total dispensed funding, less than in 2004 ($2,833,959, 11.3 percent of its funding).[89] The ITF contribution in 2005 was expended on: demining by DanChurchAid: $1,401,887 (77.2 percent); AMAE support by UNDP: $111,412 (6.1 percent); MRE by VMA: $105,873 (5.8 percent); and victim assistance: $191,084 (10.5 percent).[90]
In addition to the contributions reported by donors to the ITF for Albania in 2005, the ITF reported receiving $10,600 from VMA for victim assistance and $58,776 from DanChurchAid for mine clearance.[91] The funds received by the ITF from VMA were raised by individual donors during a Night of a Thousand Dinners fundraising event.[92] An unspecified amount of the UK’s total contribution to the ITF was allocated to mine action in Albania.[93]
EC funding for the Technical Survey and Clearance Project is reported to have been for September 2003 to May 2006. [94] The EC contribution to the project was €2 million ($2,486,854). [95] This amount would equal the total budget for the project as reported by UNDP. [96]
In May 2006, UNDP reported that Albania sought $7,114,402 for mine action in 2006.[97]
In 2005, AMAE reported 23 new casualties from mines and UXO; one person was killed and 22 injured in 18 incidents.[98] Two casualties (both injured by mines) were within the AMAE operational area of Kukës, and 21 (one killed and 20 injured) occurred in other parts of Albania, including three females and 18 males; 43 percent of these casualties were children. This represents a significant decrease from 46 landmine/UXO casualties (9 killed and 37 injured) in 2004, when a single incident with a submunition killed two people and injured 18 during a training exercise. The figures reflect a continued reduction in landmine/UXO casualties in the Kukës region from the 16 casualties (two killed and 14 injured) in 2003. AMAE has attributed the decline in casualties to clearance and MRE activities in this region.[99] However, the 2005 casualty data also reveals a large number of casualties from a previously unidentified (and un-addressed) source―ERW in the so-called hotspots in central Albania.
In April 2005, one deminer working with DanChurchAid was injured. In June, a man from Has district was injured on the Kosovo side of the border while grazing animals.[100]
Casualties continued to be reported in 2006, with five casualties by May; one person was killed and four injured when six military magazines exploded on 6 May at a military storage facility in the village of Dhemblaj in southern Albania. The servicemen were reportedly deactivating old ammunition when the accident occurred.[101]
As of December 2005, the AMAE database (covering only Kukës region) contained information on 272 landmine/UXO casualties since 1999: 34 people were killed and 238 injured. The group most affected by mine casualties is men of working age.[102]
Data Collection: Landmine/UXO casualty data is stored in the IMSMA database, at the AMAE regional office in Kukës.[103] Data collection is conducted in a standardized manner using IMSMA incident reports with regular coordination by AMAE (through both the MRE and community-based rehabilitation programs), VMA, DanChurchAid, Albanian Red Cross, National Demilitarization Center (NDC) and anti-mine committees in the affected villages; summaries of data are shared with all relevant actors, including donors, NGOs, hospitals and relevant government ministries.[104]
In 2005, significant progress was made toward establishing the total number of people killed or injured by mines and ERW and defining the scope of the problem. As one component of the UNDP project on reintegration of survivors, the NDC was subcontracted by AMAE to collect IMSMA incident and needs assessment reports for landmine/ERW casualties resulting from the 1997 uprising; this was completed in January 2006. It identified 467 previously unknown ERW casualties in the “hotspots” in central Albania. The data was analyzed for future planning and expansion of survivor assistance and MRE activities, and the findings were presented to the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Social-Economic Reintegration on 8 May 2006.[105] Analysis of the data revealed that since 2000, there have been 94 casualties as a result of ERW, and the districts most regularly affected were Lezhë, Mat, Shkodër, Tirana, Vlorë, Berat and Pukë. In 2005, there were 16 incidents with 21 casualties (one killed and 20 injured); in 2004, there were 15 incidents with 21 casualties (three killed and 18 injured; all were male, and 52 percent were children); in 2003, there were 10 incidents with 12 casualties (two killed and 10 injured; two were female, 10 male, and 33 percent were children). In 2002, there were 10 incidents with 12 casualties (one was killed and 11 injured; one was female, 11 male, and 42 percent were children). The report recommended that data collection of future ERW incidents outside Kukës region should be standardized and conducted by AMAE through established national actors, such as the Albanian Red Cross or the NDC; an agreement should be made with the Ministry of Health for collection of data through hospitals; and survivor assistance activities should be extended to include both old and new casualties from the hotspots.[106]
Other data collection initiatives were implemented to strengthen national data collection and management capacities, and led to extensive data sharing among actors in related sectors. UNDP Albania assisted the National Prosthetic-Orthotic Centre (NPOC) in Tirana to set up a patient information-management system; approximately 400 amputees were entered into the database, and a patient-file system was generated for each person to better manage their treatment, particularly patients with ongoing needs. Although the new NPOC database and IMSMA are not integrated, one incentive for the database was to improve NPOC reporting of landmine/UXO casualties to AMAE. In 2005, 10 IMSMA incident report forms for UXO survivors from the 1997 uprising were collected.[107]
The VMA-Kukesi community based rehabilitation (CBR) database contains detailed information on the socioeconomic, counseling, physiotherapy and prosthetic needs and status of those served under the project.[108] The project aims to serve directly 238 registered mine survivors, and indirectly approximately 1,600 family members and other people with disabilities in the region.[109] The database is updated on a regular basis by VMA through the project in collaboration with the Institute of Primary Healthcare in Kukës; all information in the database has been shared with the Institute of Primary Healthcare and the physiotherapist in Kukës. As of May 2006, it had not been shared with central authorities.[110]
At the First Review Conference in Nairobi, Albania was identified as one of 24 States Parties with significant numbers of mine survivors and “the greatest responsibility to act, but also the greatest needs and expectations for assistance” in providing adequate services for the care, rehabilitation, and reintegration of survivors.[111]
Albania presented its 2005-2009 objectives to the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in November-December 2005. At the Standing Committee meetings in May 2006, Albania’s victim assistance expert gave more detail of its commitment to achieving both its objectives and time-based goals for survivor assistance by 2009.
Ongoing objectives included: establish an emergency assistance fund to cover medical costs for mine casualties; advocate for more equipment, supplies and staff in mine-affected areas and for the employment of people with disabilities; provide support for education programs for people with disabilities; support the National Strategy on Disability and ensure inclusion of mine/UXO survivors information in the strategy; and raise awareness about rights of and legal issues relating to discrimination of people with disabilities.[112]
Time-based objectives for 2005 included: update, analyze, and share casualty data including needs assessment surveys to outline rehabilitation and review the victim assistance strategy with all partners; improve cooperation and referral between the NPOC and the physiotherapy department at the Tirana Military Hospital; provide information on counseling and establish a peer support network; provide training for medical, rehabilitation and social workers; advocate to include social workers in the operational structure of district hospitals; and provide direct economic assistance to more than 30 mine/UXO survivors.[113]
Time-based objectives for 2006-2008 included: identify survivors and evaluate their needs throughout Albania and identify the means to address these needs (2006); upgrade Kukës Regional Hospital and build surgical capacity at Bajram Curri Hospital through refresher training for surgeons (2006); advocate for civilian access to the Military Hospital (2006); provide treatment to all amputee survivors by establishing a rehabilitation center in Kukës town and in Tirana and procuring assistive devices to district hospitals (2006); establish training for all prosthetic technicians at the NPOC, train five technicians to international standards (2008) and develop a sustainable physiotherapy training program through the Nursing Faculty in Tirana; establish vocational training in Kukës for 30 survivors (mid-2006); start a revolving loan fund (2006), and home-based income-generating activities for another 32 survivors; advocate for equal employment opportunities for persons with disabilities; continue small-scale infrastructure development projects in cleared villages of Has and Tropojë districts; raise awareness about accessibility rights (mid-2006); achieve effective implementation of disability legislation (2007); and contribute to the fulfillment of the National Strategy for People with Disability (2005-2015).[114]
In its presentation to the Standing Committee meeting on 8 May 2006, as well as in the AMAP 2005 annual report and Form J of its Article 7 report, Albania illustrated a coordinated and integrated approach linked to other pillars of mine action and also to national disability and regional community development strategies which are driven by needs defined by the communities the projects are intended to serve. Key to Albanian survivor assistance endeavors was data collection and project planning based on analysis of the data.[115] In 2005, 3,987 people, including survivors, participated in 118 community meetings in mine-affected regions of Albania.[116]
In 2005, measurable progress continued to be made on the integrated victim assistance strategy adopted in 2003.[117] AMAE utilizes existing structures through partner agencies UNDP and VMA-Kukesi to implement projects to assist landmine/UXO survivors in northeast Albania. In an effort to ensure adherence to IMAS, as well as to identify and address priority gaps in assistance, AMAE monitors all survivor assistance projects on a regular basis. The reports produced by AMAE are shared with implementing partners for planning project activities. A UN volunteer was employed as a victim assistance advisor to develop a sustainable victim assistance capability by December 2006, and survivors are directly involved in several aspects of mine action.[118]
The Victim Assistance Steering Committee (VASC) was formed in June 2004 to ensure that survivors receive necessary emergency assistance and rehabilitation, and that families of survivors are promptly provided with income-generating projects relevant to their needs and situation. The VASC includes representatives from AMAE, DanChurchAid, UNDP Local Governance Program (LGP) Kukës, VMA, the Prefecture Office and Handicap International. The steering committee prioritizes how the victim assistance budget is spent and drafts conclusions based on the priority needs assessment of recent casualties and a rehabilitation survey of injured survivors.[119] A program review meeting was planned for June 2006, and an evaluation of the program for September.
In early 2006, Handicap International received funding from the USAID through the ITF to begin development of physical rehabilitation and prosthetic services in Kukës, to create a nationally recognized physiotherapy course as well as an orthotic/prosthetic course, and to support the government to put in place a global strategy on physical rehabilitation and reintegration.[120]
The UNDP-implemented Reintegration of Landmine/UXO Survivors project was carried out between October 2004 and December 2005 as a capacity-building and data collection program. The project included support for the development of the CBR network, establishment of a prosthetic repair center in Kukës and an emergency assistance fund, Rural Rapid Assessment in eight mine-affected villages, and hotspot data collection.[121]
The comprehensive VMA-Kukesi CBR network provides community-based social and medical services that include physiotherapy, rehabilitation and counseling to landmine/UXO survivors and others in need, as well as efforts to inform people with disabilities of their rights and the resources available to them, mainly provided by 30 village nurses.[122]
In general, village nurses in the Kukës region provide emergency first aid, usually within 10 to 15 minutes.[123] Routine cases are then transported by road to Kukës Regional Hospital, Krumë (Has), and Bajram Curri Hospital. Hospitals at the district level have very basic equipment but no intensive care units. In mine-affected areas, trauma surgery is only available at Kukës Regional Hospital, the main hospital in the mine-affected area, which has basic though adequate infrastructure and staff and the National Trauma Center at the Central University Military Hospital in Tirana, which is the main specialized facility; difficult cases are evacuated by air to this center. The average time between injury and arrival at hospital is 1.5 to two hours, and it takes on average three to four hours between injury and surgery. Corrective surgery is only available in Tirana at the Mother Theresa Hospital. The government officially covers healthcare costs but many people have to pay additional hidden costs to obtain the health services they require.[124]
As of 2006, UNDP will directly execute a project to improve emergency and ongoing medical care for mine/UXO survivors in northeast Albania with French government funding.[125] UNDP began implementation in March 2006 by providing emergency equipment and supplies to nurses in the CBR network and physiotherapy equipment and supplies to the Kukës Regional Hospital. The project will also provide in-depth training abroad at the Slovenian Institute of Rehabilitation to six nurses (two from each district) from the CBR network and one physiotherapist from the Kukës Regional Hospital.[126]
The National Prosthetic-Orthopedic Center (NPOC) in Tirana, located at the National Trauma Center within the Central University Military Hospital, is the only center for prosthetics and orthotics in Albania and is six hours away from mine-affected areas. It has the capacity to produce lower limb prostheses, but difficult cases are sent to the Slovenian Institute of Rehabilitation. All services are free of charge, except for wheelchairs and crutches, if required. There are no prosthetic/orthotic technicians trained to international standards, but most of them have received training abroad. Basic physiotherapy is performed by the 30 nurses of the CBR network and one physiotherapist in the Kukës Regional Hospital and one in Bajram Curri Hospital. There is no affordable training in physical rehabilitation in Albania. As part of its new International Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation project, Handicap International planned to begin in September 2006 a three-year program in physical therapy within the Nursing Facility at the University of Tirana.[127] The physiotherapy section of the Military Hospital was reconstructed and re-equipped in 2005 and can receive up to 40 people per week.[128]
In 2005, 138 prostheses and 118 orthoses were fitted at NPOC. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) continued support of the center in 2005.[129]
In December 2005, the ministries of defense and health agreed on their roles and responsibilities for the reconstruction and future operation of the National Prosthetic-Orthotic Centre. The ICRC-SFD and AMAE planned to assist in fundraising for this project during the early part of 2006. It was planned to let the center operate with a separate budget under the Military Hospital from mid-2006.[130]
In March 2005, the Prostheses Support Center for maintenance and repair of prostheses began operations at the Kukës Regional Hospital as part of the UNDP Reintegration of Landmine/UXO Survivors project. The center assisted 120 amputees with prosthetic repairs to December and provided training to survivors and other people with disabilities on methods for self-care and maintenance of their prostheses. A prosthetic repair technician received training at the NPOCs in both Tirana and Pristina sponsored by UNDP Albania and began work at the center in January 2006.[131]
In December 2005, 18 mine/UXO survivors who required specialized treatment not available in Albania were assisted at the Slovenian Institute of Rehabilitation, with ITF support. By May 2006, 99 Albanians had received treatment outside the country.[132]
VMA-Kukesi provides psychosocial support, vocational training and income generation activities for mine survivors and their families in 39 villages in the three mine-affected districts of Has, Kukës and Tropojë. By June 2005, 238 mine/UXO survivors were registered members of VMA-Kukesi through the CBR network, which reached its full deployment in October 2005.[133] Two medical specialists (a physiotherapist and neurologist), and one prosthetic repair technician from Kukës Regional Hospital visited 29 survivors in their homes three times per month to provide specialized medical treatment, and to help establish connections between survivors, CBR nurses in their respective villages, and the medical specialists at the hospital. The team also raised awareness among landmine/UXO survivors by counseling survivors on the availability of specialized types of medical treatment and by distributing 405 leaflets to mine survivors on physiotherapy exercises and prosthesis maintenance. As a follow up of trainings conducted in 2004, 30 rehabilitation workers and nurses received intense training in September 2005 to improve the quality and access to healthcare services for mine survivors residing in the Kukës region.[134]
Counseling is not regularly available in Albania and is not widely accepted by the public. Hospitals have no trained social workers. Landmine survivors are being provided with awareness materials that outline coping strategies. The CBR project manager is a mine survivor and makes field visits to offer advice and encouragement. Peer support is not available while mine casualties are in hospital.[135] Nurses from the CBR program and one neurologist from Kukës Hospital have received training in counseling mine survivors. No other peer support program exists for landmine survivors.[136]
There one is socioeconomic reintegration project for landmine survivors in establishing home-based economies in animal husbandry through vocational training and a revolving loan fund. Child survivors have received support (transport and private tuition) to continue their school education; few teachers have received special training in dealing with children with disabilities. Most mine survivors worked in the agricultural sector and continue this after their incident. Employment services rarely benefit people with disabilities, partly due to very high unemployment throughout Albania, especially in the Kukës region, but also due to discrimination. The new National Strategy on Disability (2005) aims to promote adequate employment opportunities for people with disabilities, but has not been implemented. [137]
Between November 2004 and November 2005, VMA implemented the Support to Landmine/UXO Survivors project with technical and material support from UNDP. The project was funded by Night of a Thousand Dinners 2003 donations, UNDP and the ITF; it assisted child landmine/UXO survivors to return to school, implemented vocational training, and provided interest-free loans, cows, goats, chickens, or beehives to develop home-based income-generating activities. By November 2005, 44 survivors and their families had received assistance; five of which received assistance under this program and the remaining 39 were helped through the US Department of State-funded ITF project to establish home-based businesses for mine survivors.[138] The project was extended under the name Establishing Household Economies, aiming to assist approximately 30 mine/UXO survivors with vocational training and another 32 mine/UXO survivors with animal husbandry in 2006.[139]
The Rural Rapid Appraisal was conducted in eight priority mine-affected villages during January 2005 in Kukës prefecture within the framework of the UNDP Reintegration of Landmine/UXO Survivors project, with the aim of integrating socioeconomic projects for landmine/UXO survivors into local community development programs.[140] It identified the highest priority small-scale infrastructure development projects through direct discussions with community members, including landmine/UXO survivors, local government representatives and others. The Kukës Regional Development Initiative began in March 2005, working through community-based organizations to address the priority needs identified in the Rural Rapid Appraisal for the mine-affected villages of Shishtavec, Terthore, Zapod, Kolsh and Gryke-Caje. There are 26 community-based organizations with a membership of 845 people that, through their cooperation with local government, have implemented 25 small-scale infrastructure projects since 2002 as part of the UNDP Local Governance Program.[141]
The Tirana-based Albanian Disability Rights Foundation is an umbrella organization for all NGOs working with people with disabilities. It has a lawyer who acts on behalf of people with disabilities and a workshop that produces wheelchairs; all workshop employees are people with disabilities, including mine survivors.[142]
Albania has legislation to protect the rights of people with disabilities and mine survivors are entitled to the same rights.[143] However, there is reportedly discrimination against people with disabilities in the workforce, education and other state services.[144] The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is responsible for issues relating to people with disabilities and for developing the National Strategy on People with Disabilities.[145]
In April 2005, the Ministry adopted a law entitling all people with disabilities to a social pension, the amount being dependent on the level of disability. In 2006, the proposed Bill to Empower and Regulate Mine Action in the Republic of Albania specified that “...any civilian who has survived a landmine accident shall be entitled to the same benefits as a ‘labour invalid’, as set down in these laws.”[146] AMAE actively lobbied for passage of the new law.[147]
[1] The full title of the latter is Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 269, “On Ban of Use, Storage, Production and Transfer of the APM and their Destruction,” 25 May 2000.
[2] An English-language version of the law is attached to Albania’s most recent Article 7 report. Article 7 Report, Form A, Annex A, 27 March 2006. Article 2 states that the Minister of Defense is the government authority responsible for implementation of the Convention. The law has provisions regarding implementation of Article 8 of the Convention on compliance.
[3] Law No. 9515 on “The Implementation of the Convention on the Ban of Use, Storage, Production and Transfer of the Antipersonnel Mines and their Destruction,” 18 April 2006. Article 8 says: “1. The physical and juridical bodies, national and international, are prohibited in all cases to: a) develop, produce, buy, storage, possess antipersonnel mines or transfer those, directly or indirectly to other bodies; b) use antipersonnel mines; c) help, encourage or force, in any means, other bodies to participate in any activity prohibited for a state signatory to the Convention; d) transfer to or receive antipersonnel mines from state non-parties to the Convention.”
[4] Exchange rate: US$1 = 91.79 Leke, www.oanda.com, accessed 10 July 2005.
[5] Presentation by Albania, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 11 February 2004. Article 278 of the Albanian criminal code imposes penal sanctions for the production and transfer of weapons, including mines, without authorization from government authorities.
[6] Interview with Arben Braha, Director, Albanian Mine Action Executive (AMAE), Tirana, 20 March 2006.
[7] Previous Article 7 reports were submitted on 29 April 2005, 30 April 2004, 30 April 2003 and 3 April 2002. The initial report was due 28 January 2001.
[8] Email from Lt. Col. Sami Nezir, Head of Arms Control Section, Ministry of Defense, 20 April 2006. In 1999, when Albania was a signatory to the Mine Ban Treaty, US Army engineer units reportedly deployed to Albania with antipersonnel mines and their delivery systems as part of Task Force Hawk to support operations in Kosovo. See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 51.
[9] Email from Lt. Col. Sami Nezir, Ministry of Defense, 20 April 2006.
[10] Ibid.
[11] For more details, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 99-101.
[12] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 560, citing UNMACC, “Threat Fact Sheet,” No. 1, 27 October 1999.
[13] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, pp. 114-115; UN, “Country Profile: Albania,” www.mineaction.org, accessed 27 March 2006.
[14] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 114; AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 7.
[15] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 17.
[16] Email from Eva Veble, Programme Officer, DanChurchAid (DCA), Copenhagen, 27 April 2006.
[17] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 115.
[18] Email from Arben Braha, AMAE, 6 May 2006. See Landmine/ERW Casualties section of this report.
[19] AMAE/UNDP, “In-Depth Analysis of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) Casualties throughout Albania,” Tirana, (draft) February 2006, pp. 2-4; AMAE, “Questionnaire,” distributed at the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 8 May 2006, p. 2.
[20] “Albanian authorities confirm one army officer dead in weapon depots explosion,” Associated Press, Tirana, 6 May 2006, www.thenewanatolian.com, accessed 17 May 2006; “Explosion at army weapon depots in southern Albania, at least two people injured,” Pravda Online (Albania), 6 May 2006.
[21] “Blast in depot in Albania,” Agence France-Presse (Zemelan), 6 May 2006.
[22] “Explosions in Albanian army weapon depots, unconfirmed reports of victims,” Associated Press, Tirana, 6 May 2006.
[23] Government of Albania and UNDP Albania, “Albania National Plan for Completion,” Tirana, 20 May 2005, p. 4.
[24] Email from Arben Braha, AMAE, 6 May 2006. It is chaired by the Deputy Minister of Defense with membership drawn from the ministries of foreign affairs, health, interior, and local government, as well as the UNDP resident representative. UNDP, “Mine Action in Albania,” Project Document, ALB/02/001, p. 6.
[25] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 9.
[26] AMAC, “Working Plan 2006,” Tirana, 13 February 2006, p. 1; email from Arben Braha, AMAE, 6 May 2006.
[27] “A Bill to Empower and Regulate Mine Action in the Republic of Albania,” Section C2, draft legislation adopted at Workshop on National Mine Action Legislation, Tirana, 2 March 2006.
[28] AMAE/UNDP, “The Albanian Mine Action Programme,” Information Brochure, updated in November 2005, Tirana, p. 3.
[29] Presentation by Stefano Calabretta, Chief Technical Advisor, UNDP Albania, to the Workshop on National Mine Action Legislation, Tirana, 1 March 2006; email from Stefano Calabretta, UNDP Albania, 19 July 2006.
[30] Presentation by Stefano Calabretta, UNDP Albania, to the Workshop on National Mine Action Legislation, Tirana, 1 March 2006; UN, “2006 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects,” New York, p. 20.
[31] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 11.
[32] Email from Arben Braha, AMAE, 6 May 2006.
[33] UN, “2006 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects,” New York, p. 20.
[34] “A Bill to Empower and Regulate Mine Action in the Republic of Albania,” Section C2, draft legislation adopted at Workshop on National Mine Action Legislation, Tirana, 2 March 2006.
[35] Interview with Arben Braha, AMAE, Geneva, 11 May 2006.
[36] Email from Arben Braha, AMAE, 6 May 2006.
[37] Email from Eva Veble, DCA, 27 April 2006.
[38] Email from Arben Braha, AMAE, 6 May 2006.
[39] AMAE/UNDP, “The Albanian Mine Action Programme,” November 2005, Tirana, p. 3; UN, “2006 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects,” New York, p. 14; UN, “Country Profile: Albania.”
[40] Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 269, “On Ban of Use, Storage, Production and Transfer of the APM and their Destruction,” Point 7, 25 May 2000.
[41] Interview with Arben Braha, AMAE, Geneva, 11 May 2006.
[42] Government of Albania and UNDP Albania, “Albania National Plan for Completion,” Tirana, 20 May 2005, p. 3.
[43] Ibid, p. 31.
[44] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 32.
[45] UN, “2006 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects,” New York, pp. 13-15; UN, “Country Profile: Albania.”
[46] UN, “2006 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects,” New York, p. 14.
[47] Emails from Eva Veble, DCA, 27 April, 22 May and 19 July 2006; and interview in Geneva, 9 May 2006.
[48] AMAC, “Working Plan 2006,” Tirana, 13 February 2006, p. 1.
[49] Ibid.
[50] Statement by Albania, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006.
[51] Email from Eva Veble, DCA, 19 July 2006.
[52] UN, “2006 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects,” New York, p. 13; AMAE/UNDP, “The Albanian Mine Action Programme,” Tirana, November 2005, p. 3; for events which delayed a technical survey project until March 2005, see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, pp. 117-118.
[53] Email from Eva Veble, DCA, 22 May 2006.
[54] DCA has focused on the areas affected as a result of the Kosovo conflict.
[55] Email from Eva Veble, DCA, 27 April 2006.
[56] Ibid; email from Arben Braha, AMAE, Tirana, 6 May 2006.
[57] Email from Eva Veble, DCA, 27 April 2006.
[58] Ibid.
[59] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 14; UN, “2006 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects,” New York, p. 16
[60] Email from Eva Veble, DCA, 27 April 2006. The following from AMAE’s annual report for 2005 appears to be a mistake: “In this framework, in total some 1,160,977 m2 in Northeast Albania were released as mine/UXO free by the demining organization.” AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 5. Albania’s Article 7 report for 2005 reports a total demined land of 1,380,402 square meters. Article 7 report, Annex C, 26 March 2006. According to UNDP, these are the correct figures. Email from Stefano Calabretta, UNDP Albania, 19 July 2006.
[61] Email from Eva Veble, DCA, 27 April 2006; ITF, “Annual Report 2005,” pp. 24, 33.
[62] Emails from Eva Veble, DCA, Copenhagen, 27 April and 22 May 2006. Summary figures are presented in AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 17. The figures for area reduced/cancelled are reached by compiling areas reduced by operational clearance teams (“survey out”) and the impact survey teams, but are not repeated in the technical survey column to avoid double counting. Email from Eva Veble, DCA, 22 May 2006. Of the total antipersonnel mines destroyed, 370 appear to have come from a cache discovered during survey operations.
[63] ITF, “Annual Report 2005,” p. 24.
[64] Email from Derek Frost, Programme Manager, DCA, Albania, 10 May 2006; email from Eva Veble, DCA, Copenhagen, 22 May 2006.
[65] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 15.
[66] Ibid, p. 18.
[67] Email from Eva Veble, DCA, 27 April 2006.
[68] Interview with Dr. Veri Dogjani, MRE and Victim Assistance Officer, AMAE, Tirana, 21 March 2006.
[69] AMAE/UNDP, “In-Depth Analysis of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) Casualties throughout Albania,” Tirana, (draft) February 2006, p. 5; email from Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, Tirana, 15 June 2006.
[70] Article 7 Report, Form I, 27 March 2006.
[71] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 105.
[72] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 12; email from Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, 15 June 2006.
[73] Statement by Albania, Sixth Meeting of States Parties, Zagreb, 28 November-2 December 2005; email from Stefano Calabretta, UNDP Albania, 19 July 2006.
[74] Article 7 Report, Form I, 29 April 2005; AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 21.
[75] Ibid.
[76] ICRC, “Annual Report 2005,” Geneva, May 2006, p. 251.
[77] ICRC, “ICRC Special Report-Mine Action 2005,” Geneva, p. 16; email from Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, 15 June 2006.
[78] Interview with Ramadan Disha, MRE Coordinator, Albanian Red Cross, Tirana, 26 May 2005.
[79] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 120.
[80] Email from Jan Kara, Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 21 April 2006. Average exchange rate for 2005: US$1 = CZK23.99048. Landmine Monitor estimate based on information from www.oanda.com.
[81] Emails from Laura Liguori, Security Policy Unit, Conventional Disarmament, EC, June-July 2006; AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 29. The total budget for the project, from October 2005 to March 2007, was reported to be €2,886,000 ($3,592,781) including the EC contribution of €2.57 million.
[82] France Article 7 Report, Form J, 26 April 2006; CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form E, 6 October 2005. Average exchange rate for 2005: €1 = US$1.2449, used throughout this report. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2006.
[83] Email from H. Murphey McCloy Jr., Senior Demining Advisor, US Department of State, 18 July 2006.
[84] Statement by Albania, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva,10 May 2006.
[85] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, pp. 29-31; see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 120.
[86] UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), “2005 Portfolio End-Year Review,” www.mineaction.org, accessed 20 May 2005.
[87] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Programme, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, pp. 29-31. The US$ conversions of subtotals made by Landmine Monitor add to the total $4.54 million.
[88] Email from Eva Veble, DCA, 19 July 2006. Average exchange rate for 2005: £1 = US$1.820, US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2006.
[89] ITF, “Annual Report 2005,” pp. 20-21; see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 120.
[90] ITF, “Use Of Donations by Countries in Year 2005,” in email from Iztok Hočevar, Head of International Relations Department, ITF, 11 May 2006; ITF, “Annual Report 2005,” p. 24.
[91] These amounts have been included in the estimate of total funding.
[92] Email from Stefano Calabretta, UNDP Albania, 19 July 2006.
[93] ITF, “Annual Report 2005,” pp. 12-17. The total UK contribution reported by ITF was $1,064,510 for multiple recipients including Albania.
[94] UNDP, “UNDP Development Partnerships,” www.undp.org.al, accessed 11 June 2006; UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Program (AMAP) - Technical Survey Project (September 2003-May 2006),” updated 11 May 2006.
[95] EC Delegation, “Assistance provided by UNDP,” www.delalb.cec.eu.int, accessed 6 July 2006. The time frame for funding is not specified. The UNDP recorded this amount outside of its regular calculations “to avoid double recording if reported by the donor.” AMAE has previously informed Landmine Monitor that EC funding of €2 million for technical survey was received in 2003, and carried over to 2004. Email from AMAE, 6 October 2005; see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 120.
[96] UNDP, “UNDP Development Partnerships,” www.undp.org.al, accessed 11 June 2006; UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Program (AMAP) - Technical Survey Project (September 2003 - May 2006),” updated 11 May 2006.
[97] Mine Action Support Group, “MASG Newsletter-First Quarter of 2006,” Washington DC, 1 May 2006, p. 13.
[98] Information provided by Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, Geneva, 8 May 2006.
[99] AMAE/UNDP, “In-Depth Analysis of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) Casualties throughout Albania,” Tirana, (draft) February 2006, pp. 2-4; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 121. Landmine Monitor reported 25 casualties in 2004 and four in 2003; however, with new “hotspot” casualty information provided by Dr. Veri Dogjani, the revised total for 2004 increased to 46, and the 2003 total to 16.
[100] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 121.
[101] “Explosion at army weapon depots in southern Albania, at least two people injured,” Pravda Online (Albania), 6 May 2006. The article did not provide a clear total of casualties; however, according to the Landmine Monitor researcher in Albania, TV broadcasts on 6 and 7 May reported that one person was killed and four injured.
[102] Presentation by Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, Standing Committee Meeting on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 8 May 2006.
[103] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Program, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 15.
[104] Email from Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, 12 June 2006; emails from Melanie Reimer, Survivor Assistance Advisor, UNDP/AMAE, Tirana, 13 and 14 June 2006.
[105] AMAE/UNDP, “In-Depth Analysis of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) Casualties throughout Albania,” Tirana, (draft) February 2006, pp. 2-4; AMAE, “Questionnaire,” distributed at the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 8 May 2006, p. 2.
[106] AMAE/UNDP, “In-Depth Analysis of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) Casualties throughout Albania,” Tirana, (draft) February 2006, pp. 2-6.
[107] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Program, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 26; emails from Melanie Reimer, AMAE/UNDP, 13 and 14 June 2006.
[108] Emails from Melanie Reimer, AMAE/UNDP, Tirana, 13 and 14 June 2006; Article 7 Report, Form J, 27 March 2006.
[109] ITF, “Annual Report 2005,” p. 25.
[110] Emails from Melanie Reimer, AMAE/UNDP, 13 and 14 June 2006.
[111] UN, “Final Report, First Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction,” Nairobi, 29 November-3 December 2004, APLC/CONF/2004/5, 9 February 2005, p. 33.
[112] “Final Report of the Sixth Meeting of States Parties / Zagreb Progress Report,” Part II, Annex V, “Victim Assistance objectives of the States Parties that have the responsibility for significant number of landmine survivors,” Zagreb, 28 November-2 December 2005, pp. 98-109.
[113] “Final Report of the Sixth Meeting of States Parties / Zagreb Progress Report,” Part II, Annex V, Zagreb, 28 November-2 December 2005, pp. 98-109.
[114] AMAE, “Questionnaire,” distributed at the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 8 May 2006, pp. 1-17; presentation by Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 8 May 2006; “Final Report of the Sixth Meeting of States Parties / Zagreb Progress Report,” Part II, Annex V, Zagreb, 28 November-2 December 2005, pp. 98-109.
[115] Email from Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, Kukës, 12 June 2006; email from Melanie Reimer, AMAE/UNDP, 13 and 14 June 2006.
[116] ICRC, “Annual Report 2005,” Geneva, June 2006, p. 251.
[117] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 122.
[118] Information provided by Melanie Reimer, AMAE/UNDP, 28 March 2006; email from Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, 12 June 2006.
[119] AMAE-UNDP, “Identifying the Priorities: A Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) of the Kukës Region Mine Affected Communities,” Tirana, January 2005, p. 8.
[120] Email from Dominique Granjon, Desk Officer for the Middle East and Balkans, Handicap International, 19 July 2006.
[121] Emails from Melanie Reimer, AMAE/UNDP, 13 and 14 June 2006; AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Program, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, pp. 24, 26; see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 122.
[122] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Program, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, pp. 25-26; ITF, “Annual Report 2005,” p. 25; Article 7, Form J, 27 March 2006. See Data Collection sub-section for more details of the CBR database.
[123] Email from Stefano Calabretta, UNDP Albania, 19 July 2006.
[124] “Final Report of the Sixth Meeting of States Parties / Zagreb Progress Report,” Part II, Annex V, Zagreb, 28 November-2 December 2005, pp. 99-102; AMAE, “Questionnaire,” distributed at the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 8 May 2006, p. 4.
[125] Emails from Melanie Reimer, AMAE/UNDP, 13 and 14 June 2006; Article 7, Form J, 27 March 2006.
[126] Information provided by Melanie Reimer, AMAE/UNDP, 28 March 2006; UNDP,
“Improving Healthcare for Mine / UXO Victims in Northeast Albania (February 2006-June 2006 ),” www.undp.org.al, accessed 19 June 2006.
[127] Email from Stefano Calabretta, UNDP Albania, 19 July 2006.
[128] AMAE, “Questionnaire,” distributed at Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 8 May 2006, p. 10.
[129] ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled, “Annual Report 2005,” Geneva, May 2006, pp. 10-11; see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 122.
[130] Information provided by Melanie Reimer, AMAE/UNDP, 28 March 2006; Article 7 Report, Form J, 27 March 2006.
[131] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Program, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 25; presentation by Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, Standing Committee Meeting on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 8 May 2006.
[132] Presentation by Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 8 May 2006.
[133] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Program, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, p. 25.
[134] “Final Report of the Sixth Meeting of States Parties / Zagreb Progress Report,” Part II, Annex V, Zagreb, 28 November-2 December 2005, p. 103.
[135] Email from Stefano Calabretta, UNDP Albania, 19 July 2006.
[136] Email from Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, Tirana-Kukës, 12 June 2006; email from Melanie Reimer, AMAE/UNDP, 13 and 14 June 2006.
[137] AMAE, “Questionnaire,” distributed at Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 8 May 2006, pp. 15-16.
[138] Email from Stefano Calabretta, UNDP Albania, 19 July 2006.
[139] Emails from Melanie Reimer, AMAE/UNDP, 13 and 14 June 2006; Article 7 Report, Form J, 30 April 2006.
[140] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 122.
[141] AMAE/UNDP, “Albanian Mine Action Program, Annual Report 2005,” Tirana, undated but 2006, pp. 20, 24; AMAE/UNDP, “Identifying the Priorities: A Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) of the Kukës Region Mine Affected Communities,” Tirana, January 2005, pp. 6, 9.
[142] Email from Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, 12 June 2006.
[143] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 112-113.
[144] US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2005: Albania,” Washington DC, 8 March 2006.
[145] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 123.
[146] “A Bill to Empower and Regulate Mine Action in the Republic of Albania,” revised draft received 8 May 2006, p. 11.
[147] Email from Dr. Veri Dogjani, AMAE, 12 June 2006.