Key developments since May 2005: Jordan offered to host the Eighth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in November 2007. Jordan became co-chair of the Standing Committee for Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies in December 2005. Jordan published its first five-year mine action plan in June 2005. To accelerate mine clearance in efforts to meet its Article 5 deadline, Jordan decided that Norwegian People’s Aid should start clearance operations in 2006; clearance was previously carried out only by army engineers. The army reported clearing a total of 2,943,380 square meters of land in 2005. A strategy and annual plan for mine risk education was agreed. There were at least seven new casualties in 2005.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 11 August 1998, ratified it on 13 November 1998, and the treaty entered into force on 1 May 1999. Jordan’s Law of Explosive Materials of 1953 serves as the legal mechanism to enforce the treaty.
Jordan submitted its ninth Article 7 transparency report on 9 May 2006, covering the period from 30 April 2005 to 30 April 2006.[1]
Prince Mired Raad Zeid Al-Hussein, Chair of the Board of the National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation (NCDR), led the country’s delegation to the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in Zagreb, Croatia in November-December 2005. At the meeting, Jordan was named co-chair of the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, having served as co-rapporteur since December 2004. Jordan participated actively in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2005 and May 2006.
At the Sixth Meeting of States Parties, Jordan expressed its willingness to host the Eighth Meeting of States Parties in 2007. At the May 2006 intersessional meetings, other States Parties welcomed the offer and tentatively set the date for 18-22 November 2007.[2]
On 12 June 2006, ICBL Ambassadors Jody Williams (co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize with the ICBL) and Elizabeth Bernstein (former ICBL Coordinator) visited Jordan. They met with Prince Mired and representatives of the NCDR. The Prince and other officials emphasized the commitment of Jordan to meet its 2009 mine clearance deadline, and also affirmed Jordan’s intention to undertake universalization activities in the region in the lead-up to the Eighth Meeting of States Parties in 2007.[3]
Jordan has rarely engaged in the extensive discussions that States Parties have had on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2 and 3, and the issues of joint military operations with non-States Parties, foreign stockpiling and transit of antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for training.
Jordan is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. It attended the Seventh Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in November 2005, but did not submit an annual national report as required by Article 13.
Jordan never produced or exported antipersonnel mines and last used them in 1978. It completed the destruction of its stockpile of 92,342 antipersonnel mines in April 2003. It included Claymore mines in its stockpile destruction.
Jordan has retained 1,000 antipersonnel mines for training and research purposes, but has not consumed any of these mines since August 1999. Jordan did not use the new expanded Form D for retained mines agreed by States Parties at the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in November-December 2005. It has not reported in any detail on the intended purposes and actual uses of its retained mines, as agreed by States Parties at the First Review Conference in November-December 2004. At a Standing Committee meeting in June 2004, Jordan’s representative stated that live antipersonnel mines were unnecessary for training purposes.[4]
Jordan’s problem with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW),[5] mainly unexploded ordnance (UXO), results from the 1948 partition of Palestine, the 1967-1969 Arab-Israeli conflict, the tensions leading up to the 1970 civil war and the 1975 confrontation with Syria. Most of the mine contamination is concentrated in well-defined and mapped military minefields in three areas: the northern highlands bordering Syria, the Jordan Valley and the border with Israel running south from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea.
There is also ERW contamination, mostly from the 1970 civil war, concentrated around Ajloun and North Shunah in the Jordan Valley, particularly near former Palestine Liberation Organization bases, where munitions were hidden in caves and buried underground.[6] UXO now accounts for around 70 percent of civilian casualties.[7] Some UXO is illegally imported for the scrap metal trade from Iraq, as was made apparent by an incident in April 2006 in which two people were killed and two injured while tampering with a 155mm artillery shell brought from Iraq.[8]
Before mine clearance started in 1993, Jordan’s Royal Corps of Engineers estimated there were approximately 60 square kilometers of suspected hazardous areas in 497 minefields containing slightly under 305,000 emplaced mines, including some 73,000 Israeli mines and 232,000 Jordanian mines. By the start of Jordan’s 2005 mine action plan, the NCDR reported 183 minefields had been cleared since 1993 leaving 314 minefields containing 203,094 landmines, including 156,371 antipersonnel mines, and affecting some 35 square kilometers of land.[9] Jordan’s Article 7 report of May 2005 recorded 175,013 mines in these areas and an unknown number of Israeli-laid mines in the Wadi Araba area.[10]
Jordan’s minefields are located in military-controlled border areas closed to the public and, according to its Article 7 report of May 2005, all are “known, marked, registered and have an identical fence.”[11] However, floods and land erosion cause migration of mines, particularly in the flood-prone Jordan Valley and, in the north, along the Yarmuk river,[12] posing a hazard to military personnel and civilians, especially to Jordan’s nomadic tribespeople and herders. Between 1969 and 2004, Jordan recorded 529 landmine and UXO casualties, including 111 people killed and 418 injured.[13]
The NCDR claims that mines affect roughly 500,000 people and present an obstacle to development of economic infrastructure such as hydroelectric and pipeline projects, as well as isolating historic and cultural heritage sites with tourist potential and restricting construction of housing. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) human poverty index, which measures development indicators such as access to natural resources, education and healthcare, has identified several “poverty pockets” in areas that have some of Jordan’s most mine-affected communities.[14]
National Mine Action Authority: Jordan established the National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation under Law No 34, passed in 2000, and an April 2002 royal decree appointing its board of directors. It includes representatives of the Jordanian Armed Forces, the government, NGOs, landmine survivors and the media. The NCDR was established as “the primary national mine action authority” responsible for preparing and overseeing implementation of a national mine action plan, including mine clearance, mine risk education and victim assistance, and ensuring that mine action is integrated into the country’s wider development strategies. It became fully operational in 2004 when Prince Mired Raad Zeid al-Hussein, a brother of King Abdullah, became the NCDR’s chair and a UNDP technical advisor joined the staff.[15]
Through 2005, mine clearance was carried out by the Armed Forces’ Royal Corps of Engineers (RCE). With the expansion of the program in 2006 to include civilian demining organizations, the NCDR has developed its role as the authority responsible for accrediting and regulating demining operators. As part of that process, the NCDR planned to hire a second international technical advisor for operations in 2006. It also prepared to set up a five-person quality assurance team to monitor the activities of both civilian and military deminers, which the NCDR expected would become operational in September.[16]
Jordan’s national mine action standards are based on 1997 US Army Standards for Humanitarian Mine Clearance Operations.[17] The NCDR planned to draw up new standards in accordance with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS). The proposed terms of reference for the new technical advisor included drafting new operating and management standards, a task the NCDR identified as a priority.[18] Jordan’s mine action plan envisaged that preparing new national standards would take nine months.[19]
Jordan published its first National Mine Action Plan (NMAP) on 15 June 2005, identifying a number of objectives: to systematically address and reduce the risk of injury or death caused by landmines; to provide “a multi-year Program Based Approach” to mine action that integrated all pillars of mine action under one policy umbrella managed by the NCDR; and to systematically develop capacity to ensure national ownership, leadership and sustainability of six main strategic goals. These goals were to:
The NCDR reported that it had drafted the National Mine Action Plan (2005-2009) over a 10-month period of consultation with the government, civil society, mine-affected communities and the private sector, and that it conforms to the goals of the government’s Social Economic Transformation Plan and Millennium Development Goals.[21]
At the May 2006 Standing Committee meetings in Geneva, Jordan laid out a three-step approach to completing mine clearance.[22] This included:
The NMAP proposed to accelerate the rate of clearance achieved by the army engineers and observed that Jordan needed to mobilize other organizations to achieve its deadline under the Mine Ban Treaty.[23] The plan called for the creation of a national civilian demining entity with 350 deminers who would clear about 5.5 square kilometers a year, compared with the army engineers’ clearance of 900,000 square meters in 2004 and 2,943,380 square meters in 2005.[24]
After debating a number of options, the NCDR decided in October 2005 to bring in the NGO Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), taking into account its ability to find donor funding for work in Jordan. The NCDR signed an agreement with NPA in February 2006, which was approved by the Council of Ministers on 9 March 2006.[25] NPA’s project, expected to last two years, targets an area of 12 square kilometers believed to contain 195 minefields laid by Israeli forces in 1968 with No. 10 antipersonnel mines and M-35 antivehicle mines.[26]
The NMAP envisaged the new entity taking on clearance of minefields along the northern border with Syria and in the Jordan Valley.[27] However, the NCDR tasked NPA with clearance of minefields running from the Red Sea resort town of Aqaba to the Dead Sea,[28] which is considered an area of strategic economic importance. Heavy investment in tourism is underway around Aqaba and other plans include development of hydroelectricity and the construction of a pipeline from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.[29]
Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Jordan must clear all landmines in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but no later than 1 May 2009. Jordan remains committed to fulfilling this obligation. The NCDR Chair, Prince Mired Raad Zeid Al-Hussein, stated in the NMAP that, “Jordan not only seeks to become the first Arab country to be declared free of mines by 2009 but also aspires to become a regional hub for mine action in years to come.”[30]
The NCDR has been concerned that relatively low rates of clearance (about two square kilometers a year) achieved by army engineers in recent years were insufficient to meet the deadline.[31] It sees the solution to this situation in expanding demining capacity, not in applying for an extension to the Article 5 deadline.[32] The NMAP was presented as a “comprehensive roadmap” for expanding capacity to help ensure that Jordan meets its treaty deadline.[33] Accordingly, the NCDR decided in 2005 to bring in an external demining operator, leading to the February 2006 agreement with NPA. The NCDR has also acknowledged that, “for the Kingdom to meet its treaty obligations, we will need even greater mine clearance capacity so that we can accelerate towards 2009.”[34] The NCDR’s Chair said that if it reached the conclusion in a year or so that demining was still not proceeding fast enough to meet the deadline, it would consider bringing in another operator or employing NPA on additional clearance tasks.[35]
Until 2006, demining in Jordan was undertaken exclusively by the army’s Royal Corps of Engineers (RCE), which has 20 teams of deminers, each with 20 people, although the number of teams engaged in demining at any one time is said to depend on funding. Manual teams are supported by a limited range of mechanical assets, including six flails, four bulldozers and four loaders.[36] Bulldozers and loaders are used to remove the surface of land already manually cleared in order to retrieve mines, which are sometimes buried to a depth of 1.5 meters or more.[37]
In 2005, the RCE deployed eight demining teams, including four in the Jordan Valley, two teams in Aqaba and two teams in the north. At the end of 2005, the RCE deployed an additional three demining teams to the Jordan Valley and as of April 2006, was working with a total of 11 teams.[38]
No comprehensive survey of mine/UXO-affected land has been undertaken in Jordan. After debating the need for a landmine impact survey (LIS), the NCDR decided to proceed in 2006 with what it described as a “significantly remodeled” LIS, or retrofit survey.[39] Financial support was expected from Canada and Norway.[40]
The survey is intended to provide standardized data on mines and UXO that will provide the basis for developing a “logical mine clearance prioritization process based on poverty reduction criteria”, and for monitoring progress in fulfilling strategic objectives.[41] By the start of June, the NCDR had not finalized the size or scope of the survey or decided which agency would implement it.[42]
Jordan reports that all minefields are fenced and marked, and that the RCE conducts periodic maintenance.[43] Details of maintenance activities were unavailable.
The RCE reported clearing 2,943,380 square meters of land in 2005, destroying in the process 11,547 antipersonnel mines and 4,637 antivehicle mines.[44]
In the first three months of 2006, the RCE cleared 482,128 square meters of land, disposing of 2,888 antipersonnel mines and 1,114 antivehicle mines.[45]
No deminers were injured by mines or UXO in 2005 or in January-June 2006, according to the NCDR, which explained that the two demining casualties it had reported previously as occurring in 2005 had occurred in 2004.[46]
The RCE planned to clear 1.5 square kilometers in Baqura containing a mixture of Jordanian and Israeli minefields under a European Commission-funded project due to start on 1 July 2006 and to last for about one year.[47] The RCE said it would conduct technical survey for the project in July and start demining in August.[48] The project is intended to release valuable arable land in one of the most populated and impoverished parts of the country.[49]
The NCDR signed an agreement with Norwegian People’s Aid on 23 February 2006 to demine the western border with Israel stretching from Aqaba through Wadi Araba to the Dead Sea. The project covered an area initially estimated at 12 square kilometers, including 195 Israeli-laid minefields, and was due for completion in 2008.[50] NPA reported in June that by analysis of primary and secondary data and application of risk assessment methodologies, it had been able to reduce the size of the task to six square kilometers.[51]
NPA opened a liaison office in Amman, an operations base in Aqaba for the southern part of its operating area, and a sub-base for operations for the northern part in Risha, where NPA also established a training center. Training of 42 deminers and site preparation started in May, and NPA expected to start demining in the northern sector in mid-June and in the southern sector in August.[52]
NPA had four expatriates and planned to recruit about 145 national staff, deploying in each sector one site preparation team, including a team leader, five deminers and two manual clearance teams, each including a team leader, three section commanders and 18 deminers. NPA expected a Minewolf mine-clearing machine to arrive in Jordan in September and after training in October, to start operations in November, supported by a technical advisor.[53]
The NCDR plans and coordinates mine risk education (MRE), which is one of the six goals of the NMAP.[54]
Jordan reported on its MRE commitments in the Article 7 report of 9 May 2006. It listed a variety of measures taken to protect civilians from mines, including exhibitions, lectures, brochures, newspaper articles and activities in schools. It reported that Jordan was preparing an MRE media campaign involving radio, television and newspapers, and preparing a register of names of military and civilian survivors with the location, date and type of their injuries.[55]
In October 2005, the NCDR, UNICEF and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) conducted an MRE needs assessment. It concluded that there was no need for a major MRE program in Jordan, but “that there would be merit in conducting specific educational activities targeted to communities living close to mined areas.” Data gathering and dissemination on mine/UXO casualties and the level of risk-taking was thought to need strengthening, as did national capacity to plan, manage, implement and coordinate MRE. Also, community liaison was needed to support the demining process.[56]
The Jordanian delegation to the Standing Committee meetings in May 2006 confirmed that UXO-risk education was also needed in areas contaminated by UXO.[57]
Organizations involved in the delivery of MRE in Jordan during 2005 included the RCE, Civil Defense, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Ministry of Education and the Jordanian Red Crescent assisted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
In 2005, the Jordanian Red Crescent continued its multi-governorate MRE program, with 150 events reaching 15,485 people and distributing over 7,500 MRE materials; 21 volunteers also received MRE training from ICRC.[58] There are MRE committees in eight governorates, each committee consisting of five male teachers, five female teachers and 50 students. Methods of delivery include lectures, demonstrations, drawing competitions and workshops. The program is planned to continue until 2007, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, ICRC and the RCE.[59]
On 15-16 March 2006, the NCDR convened a workshop, supported by UNICEF and facilitated by GICHD, to develop a multi-year MRE strategy and a one-year action plan. As a result, the Strategic Framework for Mine Risk Education in Jordan 2006-2009 and the Action Plan for Mine Risk Education in Jordan, 1 April 2006 to 1 April 2007, were adopted. MRE will target those most at risk, identified as “farmers, shepherds, children, and adolescents, as well as soldiers, forest rangers, smugglers, and other community members moving through or living in affected areas.”[60] The NCDR hired an MRE coordinator to undertake a Landmine Retrofit Survey to ascertain where the most at-risk populations reside in Jordan. In June 2006, funding continued to be sought for the strategy and action plan.[61] The action plan also foresaw that every school in an affected area would receive MRE before 1 April 2007.[62]
Three countries and the European Commission reported contributing US$1,464,826 for mine action in Jordan in 2005, a decrease from 2004 ($2.2 million contributed by four countries and UNDP).[63] Donors in 2005 were:
Jordan received $228,000 in funding through the UN Portfolio of Mine Action Projects in 2005, some 26 percent of its total appeal for $872,150.[68]
The National Mine Action Plan’s budget for 2005-2009 was $47.79 million. Government contributions were expected to reach $14.58 million in the period, with the remaining $33.21 million to be met by international donors. In the previous period from 1993 to June 2005, international donors provided $12.25 million and the government contributed $50 million.[69]
In 2006, Jordan reported that it contributed $3.5 million annually to the national demining program and covered the running costs of the NCDR. In addition, the Jordanian Armed Forces and Royal Engineering Corps provide the NCDR with seconded staff.[70]
In 2005, there were at least seven new mine/UXO casualties, all of them injured, reported by Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) and the NCDR. Five incidents were caused by mines and two by UXO.[71] This is a significant decrease from 27 casualties in 2004 (10 killed and 17 injured) and similar to the 2003 level of six casualties (two killed and four injured) reported.[72]
LSN recorded four casualties in 2005; all of them were male and two were military. On 23 May and 17 August, two men stepped on mines while on military duty. On 14 July, a man lost his eyesight when UXO exploded as he was collecting old materials exported from Iraq. On 14 November, a man was injured when his car hit an antivehicle mine while driving through an unmarked minefield.[73] The NCDR reported one additional UXO incident on 14 September 2005, which injured a 17-year-old boy.[74]
Additionally, LSN and the NCDR recorded one Jordanian man who was injured while working in Iraq.[75]
Casualties continued to be reported by the NCDR and LSN in 2006. At least nine new mine/UXO casualties, including two killed and seven injured, were recorded in three incidents from January to May; two of the injured were children. On 9 January, a shepherd was injured by a landmine in Jerash. On 3 April, two people were killed and four injured by UXO while trading scrap metal in Mafraq governorate; the father of the family and one of the buyers were killed; and another buyer, the mother and two sons were injured. On 18 April, another UXO incident occurred in the same place when the injured mother tried to sell the rest of the scrap metal; the mother, her sister and a buyer were injured.[76]
The NCDR victim assistance subcommittee was created in 2004 to collect data on mine casualties in Jordan. It has representatives of the NCDR, Army, Civil Defense Directorate, Police Head Directorate, LSN, Hashemite Charity Society for Soldiers with Special Needs and, since 2005, the ministries of health and social development.[77]
According to the government, 533 mine/UXO casualties (111 killed, 418 injured, and four unknown) were recorded from 1993 to April 2006, including 212 civilians, 132 military personnel, 172 demining personnel, 13 peacekeepers and four unknown.[78] The majority of civilian casualties were herding or cultivating. The government estimates that the actual number of casualties is higher than reported, probably 700-800.[79] In 2004, the Jordanian Armed Forces Medical Services reported 636 mine casualties (92 killed and 544 injured), including 370 civilians, since 1967.[80]
The main objective of the June 2005 national mine action plan relating to mine survivor assistance is to “develop and deliver a coherent and coordinated national SVA [Survivor and Victim Assistance] policy and programme which integrates physical rehabilitation and social reintegration for all landmine victims and survivors.”[81]
The plan aims to “strengthen local capacity to provide hospital-based rehabilitation services to all survivors and victims of landmines in Jordan” through the training of three trauma surgeons, 10 physiotherapists and 10 technicians, and through the production of training manuals. The NMAP will support the socioeconomic reintegration of survivors through vocational training, education and job placement, in cooperation with the ministries of labor, health, social development and education, and with universities and civil society organizations. The survivor assistance component was budgeted at $1.325 million. Reportedly, the government did not allocate any funds to the program, which was scheduled to start in the last quarter of 2005.[82] The NCDR recruited an “MRE/SVA” officer at the end of 2005.[83]
To develop a policy and a strategic plan for survivor assistance, a national workshop was planned for 22 June 2006, with participation from relevant ministries, the army, NGOs and UNDP.[84]
The key government partner in the NMAP is the Ministry of Social Development, which is responsible for the overall coordination and implementation of activities relating to people with disabilities. The National Council for the Welfare of Disabled People, Hashemite Charitable Society for Soldiers with Special Needs, LSN, World Health Organization (WHO) and Royal Medical Services were all expected to play leading roles.[85]
Landmine survivors in Jordan are entitled to medical care and rehabilitation under the standard healthcare system. Approximately 90 percent of the population live within a mile of a health facility and can use a range of providers from the public, NGO and private sectors. Jordan has nearly 11,500 registered doctors (two per 1,000 people) and just over 18,000 nurses (3.24 per 1,000 people).[86] Known survivors reportedly receive prosthetics; however, there is limited local outreach for physiotherapy and rehabilitation services for mine survivors. There are small physiotherapy centers at several regional hospitals. Other hospitals report irregular access to physiotherapists. While Jordan has relatively well trained personnel and well equipped medical facilities, there are challenges in providing the specialized care needed by mine survivors in prosthetics, orthopedics and physical rehabilitation.[87]
The Royal Medical Services has 12 medical centers. More complex cases are transferred to the national institutions in Amman for prosthetics and rehabilitation. The main institutions are the public al-Bashir Hospital and the King Hussein Medical Center (KHMC). Reportedly, the Royal Medical Services of the Jordanian Army provide approximately 40 percent of the medical services in Jordan. It planned to establish a new facility similar to the KHMC to reduce the pressure on the military hospitals in the country. Additionally, it bought medical equipment worth JOD17 million ($23,875,398) to improve its service provision.[88] In June 2005, construction was completed of the new National Rehabilitation Center for Amputees at the KHMC; the estimated cost was $2 million. Installation of rehabilitation equipment and facilities was completed by December 2005. However, as of May 2006, the center was not operational due to lack of equipment.[89]
The Jordan Islamic Hospital in Amman runs an emergency department and emergency transport system, as well as a physiotherapy and rehabilitation department, providing artificial limbs, modern physiotherapy and pain management facilities and training courses in physiotherapy and orthopedics. The hospital has a branch in Aqaba. As the hospital is based on Islamic principles, it also provides services at reduced costs to patients from other Muslim Arab countries.[90]
The Al-Hussein Society, affiliated with Jordan University, provides comprehensive services for people with a physical disability, including training for orthotic/prosthetic technicians, medical and physical rehabilitation, occupational therapy, referral and psychosocial support, both center-based and with outreach teams. Twenty percent of its staff are physically disabled. In 2005, 3,186 physiotherapy sessions and 776 occupational therapy sessions were conducted, the prosthetic workshop produced 413 mobility devices and distributed and repaired 735 wheelchairs, and 261 families and children received psychological counseling on disability issues. The outreach teams provided rehabilitation services for 536 people with disabilities in Jordanian communities and in Palestinian refugee camps and the teams trained community workers and volunteers in six areas, as well as 14 physiotherapists from Syria in evaluation and management techniques. Most services are free or cost a nominal fee. Christian Blind Mission supports the center and provides technical advice on the production of devices and staff training. In 2005, the center opened an information unit to educate communities on the needs of people with disabilities with the assistance of the Association of Volunteers in International Service USA and UNDP.
The Al-Hussein Society also has a school for children with physical disabilities, provides vocational training and operates a mobile clinic. As in 2004, the main challenges facing the center were the lack of coordination in the disability sector, lack of financial resources and high turnover due to better prospects abroad.[91]
The King Abdullah University Hospital runs a physiotherapy and rehabilitation department, including psychological therapy for people with disabilities to assist them in adapting to their disability.[92]
Landmine Survivors Network has been active in seven areas: Amman, Ajloun, Balqa, Irbid, Jerash, Mafraq and Zarqa. LSN’s six community-based outreach workers, who are amputees, work with individual survivors to assess their needs, offer psychological and social support, and educate their families about the effects of limb loss. In addition, a landmine survivor from the Royal Corps of Engineering is seconded as a liaison officer to LSN to support military survivors in Jordan. LSN assists approximately 1,500 people per year, 50 percent of them mine survivors. From May 2005 until April 2006, 450 survivors were visited and 501 people (320 mine survivors) received direct assistance, including 321 who received prostheses and mobility devices and 180 who received house adjustments and medical assistance. LSN also provided educational assistance to 200 people and 280 were referred to other services including access to health insurance, mobility devices or a monthly salary from the National Aid Fund. In the same period, 46 survivors were supported in starting small businesses. In September 2005, 50 people (including 25 mine survivors) participated in a summer camp organized by the High Council for Youth with LSN support. In December 2005, an agreement was signed with the Jordan Sports Federation for the creation of a national sitting volleyball team. LSN works together with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social Development, and other relevant ministries, the High Council For Youth, the National Aid Fund as well as local NGOs, sports federations and UNRWA.[93]
In March 2005, LSN signed an agreement with the Ministry of Social Development and the vocational training center, to ensure that landmine survivors receive the same employment and training opportunities as their non-disabled peers.[94] A pilot project was initiated in Ain Albasha-Salt Area; 62 trainees with a disability (nine percent mine survivors) had graduated by December 2005. The project was funded by the American Middle East Partnership Initiative.[95]
The Association of Volunteers in International Service USA runs a Health Care and Prevention assistance program, including information and communication technology (ICT) assistance for people with physical disabilities, including landmine survivors.[96] It was the lead organization in a project to improve the life conditions of people with physical disabilities, including mine survivors, through the use of ICT tools and applications, which was funded by the Italian government ($453,000). The first phase started in 2003 and was completed in December 2005.[97]
The Jordanian Red Crescent runs a hospital in Amman situated near the largest Palestinian refugee camp, and operates an ambulance service to and from the West Bank and other neighboring countries in cooperation with ICRC. It also provides ad hoc emergency transport when needed and runs a vocational training center, mainly for women, which offers training for up to 500 graduates annually.[98]
The World Health Organization’s Cooperation Strategy 2003-2007 includes developing strategies for disability rehabilitation in Jordan with emphasis on community-based rehabilitation programs and improving the availability of data on accidents and injuries.[99]
Although construction of the Queen Rania Center for Military Personnel with Special Needs was completed by January 2004, reportedly the center was not operational due to a lack of funds for equipment and furnishing.[100]
Several Jordanian mine survivors participated in the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in November-December 2005, the Standing Committee meetings in May 2006 and the Ad-hoc Committee meetings on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of People with Disabilities. Jordan did not include information on victim assistance in its Article 7 report submitted on 9 May 2006.
In Afghanistan, there is a Jordanian-run hospital near Mazar-e-Sharif with the capacity to treat mine casualties.[101] Jordan also supports medical teams in Iraq, Sierra Leone, Palestine, East Timor and Eritrea.[102]
The 1993 Welfare of Disabled People law outlines the rights of people with disabilities to healthcare, education, vocational training, rehabilitation, employment, sports, and participation in decision-making processes. However, high unemployment restricts job opportunities for people with disabilities, even though the law requires that two percent of public sector jobs go to people with physical disabilities. In early 2006, the 1993 law was under revision by the Ministry of Political Development. To support this work, LSN hosted a meeting on 18 May 2006, attended by all relevant parties including, the committee members.[103]
Private organizations and members of the royal family actively promoted programs to protect and advance the interests of people with disabilities. Disabled and vulnerable people are eligible for a health card if they apply to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Development accepts their case. Officially, there are approximately 220,000 people with disabilities in Jordan, but the UN estimates this number closer to 500,000.[104]
In September 2005, LSN hosted a two-week training of trainers program to build capacity and to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities in the country and the region; people from 11 Arab countries participated.[105]
[1] Previous reports were submitted on 2 May 2005, 5 May 2004, 1 May 2003, 17 March 2003, 27 November 2002, 5 June 2002, 30 June 2000 and 9 August 1999.
[2] A formal decision on location and date will be made at the Seventh Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2006.
[3] Emails from Jody Williams and Elizabeth Bernstein, ICBL Ambassadors, 17 June 2006.
[4] Intervention by Jordan, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, 25 June 2004. Jordan also said States Parties should set a limit of 1,000 retained mines.
[5] Under Protocol V to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, explosive remnants of war are defined as unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance. Mines are explicitly excluded from the definition.
[6] See Landmine Monitor 2005, p. 389; NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan: Safeguarding Life & Promoting Development, 2005-2009,” June 2005; interview with Brig. Gen. Falah al-Maiteh, Commanding Officer, Jordanian Royal Corps of Engineers (RCE), Zarqa, 12 April 2006; interview with Olaf Juergensen, Chief Technical Advisor, UNDP/NCDR, Amman, 10 April 2006.
[7] Interview with Brig. Gen. Falah al-Maiteh, RCE, Zarqa, 12 April 2006.
[8] Ibid.
[9] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan 2005–2009,” p. 3.
[10] Article 7 Report, Form C, 2 May 2005.
[11] Article 7 Report, Form I, 2 May 2005.
[12] James Trevelyan, “Technology needs: mine clearance in Egypt and Jordan,” Journal of Mine Action, Issue 5.3, Fall, 2001.
[13] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan 2005–2009,” p. 1.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid, p. 2.
[16] Interview with Olaf Juergensen, UNDP/NCDR, Amman, 10 April 2006.
[17] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan 2005–2009,” p. 7.
[18] Interview with Mohammad Breikat, Director, NCDR, Amman, 9 April 2006.
[19] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan 2005–2009,” p. 8.
[20] Ibid, pp. 2, 6-22.
[21] Ibid, p. 3.
[22] Statement by Jordan, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006.
[23] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan 2005–2009,” p. 7.
[24] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 391.
[25] Interview with Mohammad Breikat, NCDR, Amman, 9 April 2006.
[26] Interview with Chris Rawle, Deputy Program Manager, NPA, Amman, 9 April 2006.
[27] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan 2005–2009,” p. 11.
[28] Interview with Mohammad Breikat, NCDR, Amman, 9 April 2006.
[29] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan 2005–2009,” p. 11.
[30] Ibid, Foreword, p. i.
[31] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 390.
[32] Interview with Mohammad Breikat, NCDR, Amman, 9 April 2006.
[33] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan 2005–2009,” p. ii.
[34] Statement by Jordan, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006.
[35] Interview with Prince Mired Raad Zein Al-Hussein, Chair, NCDR, Geneva, 11 May 2006.
[36] Interview with Brig. Gen. Falah al-Maiteh, RCE, Zarqa, 12 April 2006.
[37] Email from Mohammed Abu Dalou, Deputy Director, NCDR, 15 June 2006.
[38] Information provided by Maj. Ayman Kurdi, RCE, Zarqa, 12 April 2006.
[39] Statement by Jordan, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006.
[40] NCDR, Jordan Mine Action Quarterly, Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2006, p. 2.
[41] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan 2005–2009,” p. 12.
[42] Email from Olaf Juergensen, UNDP/NCDR, Amman, 31 May 2006.
[43] Article 7 Report, Form I, 2 May 2005.
[44] Email from Lt. Col. Ahmad Mubarak, RCE, 15 June 2006.
[45] Ibid.
[46] Email from Mohammed Abu Dalou, NCDR, 11 June 2006; see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 806.
[47] Email from Olaf Juergensen, UNDP/NCDR, Amman, 31 May 2006.
[48] Email from Lt. Col. Ahmad Mubarak, RCE, 15 June 2006.
[49] Statement by Jordan, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006.
[50] Interview with Chris Rawle, NPA, Amman, 9 April 2006; statement by Jordan, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006.
[51] Email from Chris Rawle, NPA, Amman, 5 June 2006.
[52] Ibid, 31 May and 5 June 2006.
[53] Ibid, 31 May 2006.
[54] NCDR, “National Mine Action Plan 2005-2009,” June 2005, pp. 1-2.
[55] Article 7 Report, Form I, 9 May 2006.
[56] NCDR, Jordan Mine Action Quarterly, V.1.1, Amman, March 2006, p. 1; email from Lina Abu Nuwar Ghazi, Head, International Relations Department, NCDR, 5 June 2006.
[57] Interview with Jordanian delegation, Standing Committee meetings, Geneva, 11 May 2006.
[58] ICRC, “ICRC Special Report, Mine Action 2005,” Geneva, May 2006, p. 17.
[59] Email from Srdjan Jovanovic, Mine Action Delegate, ICRC, Amman, 4 July 2006; ICRC, “ICRC Annual Report 2005,” p. 319; ICRC, “Special Report, Mine Action 2005,” Geneva, May 2006, p. 17.
[60] NCDR, “Strategic Framework for Mine Risk Education in Jordan, 2006-2009,” Amman, March 2006, pp. 1-2.
[61] Email from Lina Abu Nuwar Ghazi, NCDR, 5 June 2006.
[62] NCDR, “Strategic Framework for Mine Risk Education in Jordan, 2006-2009,” Amman, March 2006, p. 2.
[63] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, pp. 392-393.
[64] Germany Article 7 Report, Form J, 9 May 2006; Mine Action Investments database. Average exchange rate for 2005: €1 = US$1.2449. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2006.
[65] Mine Action Investments database; email from Carly Volkes, DFAIT, 7 June 2006. Average exchange rate for 2005: US$1 = C$1.2115. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2006.
[66] USG Historical Chart containing data for FY 2005, by email from Angela L. Jeffries, Financial Management Specialist, US Department of State, 8 June 2006; email from Michael Moore, Landmine Survivors Network (LSN), 29 May 2006; email from Michael Gerber, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7 March 2006.
[67] Emails from Laura Liguori, Security Policy Unit, Conventional Disarmament, EC, June-July 2006.
[68] UNMAS, “2005 Portfolio End-Year Review,” p. 2, www.mineaction.org, accessed 20 May 2005.
[69] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 393.
[70] Statement by Jordan, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006.
[71] Email from Adnan al-Aboudi, Jordan Office Director, LSN, Amman, 11 May 2006; email from Lina Abu Nuwar Ghazi, NCDR, Amman, 28 May 2006.
[72] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, pp. 393-394; Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 524.
[73] Email from Adnan al-Aboudi, LSN, Amman, 11 May 2006.
[74] Email from Lina Abu Nuwar Ghazi, NCDR, Amman, 28 May 2006.
[75] Email from Adnan al-Aboudi, LSN, Amman, 11 May 2006; email from Lina Abu Nuwar Ghazi, NCRD, Amman, 28 May 2006.
[76] Ibid.
[77] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 394.
[78] “National mine risk education plan to be developed,” Jordan Times (Amman), 16 March 2006; UNDP, “Jordan has a lot to celebrate on the occasion of the first International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action,” Amman, 4 April 2006.
[79] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan 2005-2009,” Amman, June 2005, p. 4.
[80] US Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” 5th Edition, Washington DC, August 2004, p. 54; ICRC, “Special Report, Mine Action 2004,” Geneva, June 2005, p. 39.
[81] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan 2005-2009,” Amman, June 2005, pp. 13-15.
[82] Ibid.
[83] Email from Kamel Saadi, MRE/SVA Officer, NCDR, Amman, 5 May 2006.
[84] Ibid.
[85] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan, 2005-2009,” Amman, June 2005, p. 13.
[86] WHO, “Working together for health,” World Health Report 2006, Geneva, March 2006, p. 220.
[87] NCDR, “Jordan’s National Mine Action Plan 2005-2009,” June 2005, p. 14; see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 854; Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 321. Average exchange rate for 2005: US$1 = JOD0.71203. Landmine Monitor estimate based on www.oanda.com.
[88] “RMS to establish new hospital,” PETRA (Amman), 6 April 2006. For details on the King Hussein Medical Center, Hashemite Charitable Society for Soldiers with Special Needs, and Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development, see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, pp. 395-396.
[89] Email to Landmine Monitor (HI) from Kamel Saadi, NCDR, Amman, 5 May 2006; NCDR, Jordan Mine Action Quarterly, Volume 1, Issue 1, Amman, March 2006, p. 1.
[90] Jordan Islamic Hospital, www.islamic-hospital.org, accessed 1 May 2006.
[91] Al-Hussein Society, “Annual Report 2005,” Amman, March 2006, pp. 1-31.
[92] King Abdullah University Hospital , www.kauh.jo, accessed 1 May 2006.
[93] Email from Adnan al-Aboudi, LSN, Amman, 11 May 2006.
[94] “Job opportunities for landmine survivors,” IRIN, Amman, 29 March 2005.
[95] Email from Adnan al-Aboudi, LSN, Amman, 11 May 2006.
[96] AVSI, www.avsi-usa.org, accessed 1 May 2006.
[97] UNDP, “One-day workshop to help integrate the physically disabled in Jordan,” Amman, 14 December 2005.
[98] Email from Gill Hammuri, International Coordinator, Jordanian Red Crescent, Amman, 22 May 2006.
[99] WHO, “Country Cooperation Strategy for WHO and Jordan 2003-2007,” WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, 2003, p. 25.
[100] Email from Kamel Saadi, NCDR, 5 May 2006.
[101] “Afghan Forces Raid North District For Feuding Commanders,” Associated Press (Kabul), 27 October 2004.
[102] Royal Medical Services, “Analytical Study,” Amman (undated but 2004), p. 4.
[103] Email from Kirsten Young, LSN, 6 July 2006.
[104] US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2005: Jordan,” Washington DC, 8 March 2006; email from Kamel Saadi, NCDR, Amman, 5 May 2006.
[105] Email from Adnan al-Aboudi, LSN, Amman, 11 May 2006.