NGO conference in Tokyo focuses on rebuilding Afghanistan

(Thursday 20 December 2001 Tokyo, Japan) A conference was held in Tokyo from 11 to 13 December on the reconstruction of Afghanistan. The event was organised by a consortium of NGOs, including the Association for Aid and Relief, one of the ICBL’s member organisations in Japan.

28 Afghan NGOs participated in the conference, alongside Japanese NGOs and representatives from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the media and the private sector. Various aspects of the situation were discussed, including farming, education, health, landmines and conflict prevention.

This is the report from the working group on landmines which has made proposals about funding of mine action operations, landmines ban policy and assistance for the victims of landmine casualties, amongst other issues.

Sector Working Session B: Landmines

1. CURRENT SITUATION and Background Information

It is estimated that millions mines are scattered in 64 countries around the world. In order to find a logical and realistic solution to this human tragedy, the international community has reacted and had made extensive efforts to end this tragedy.

Afghanistan is one of the countries considered to severely affect by landmines and UXO. Most of the landmines in Afghanistan were laid during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the subsequent communist regime between1980-1992. Landmines were also used in the internal fighting among various armed groups during the period 1992-1996, particularly in Kabul city and its outskirts. The extent of new mining throughout the country was investigated in 1998 and again in late 1999 by the MAPA and, while a concern, does not appear to be substantial. However, a clear picture of the fresh use of landmines is difficult to obtain as the frontline areas, where new landmines are used, are inaccessible and beyond the resources of the Landmine Monitor.

Despite remarkable progress made by MAPA INPLEMENTING PARTNERS over the past decade, Landmines and UXOs continue to endanger the security of the people in Afghanistan. The country is still littered with hazardous explosive devices, posing a major barrier to the resumption of normal life. The current estimates indicate that about 160-400 civilians including women and children fall victims to landmines.

To deal with the problem, demining activities in Afghanistan commenced under the auspices of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan (UNOCHA) in late 1989 and continues to date.

As a result of the current military interventions by the coalition forces in Afghanistan, thousands of high explosives bombs including cluster munitions and missiles were used in these military operations. It is estimated by the relevant experts that 10-30 percent of the ammunitions used have failed to explode due to technical reasons. In addition, there are reports that a considerable number of ammunitions stores have also been targeted the contents of which might have been spread over large areas. This has added to the already large landmine/UXO problem of Afghanistan.

The UXO and cluster sub-munitions pose a serious threat to the life of local population by blocking access to vital and key facilities, and have blocked major supply routes preventing the transportation of humanitarian aid to the needy people and return of refugees and internally displaced people to their villages.

Scope of the Landmine Problem:

The current known contaminated area is estimated to total approximately 723 million square meters. Of this some 344 million square meter is classified as high priority land. There are areas of the country, which are still not accessible. The full extent of the landmine problem in Afghanistan is to be determined. Mined areas are still being discovered at a rate of 12 to 14 million square meters per year. These areas were mined years ago, but are discovered by MAPA as different parts of the country become more accessible. In addition, it is estimated that about 100 million square meters landmine/UXO contaminated area will be discovered in the northern parts of the country which were not accessible due to security reasons.

Current assessments indicate that if the remaining 344 square kilometers of highly impacted mined areas were de-mined, most Afghans could resume a normal and productive life. This will take some 7-10 years if current funding levels for mine clearance are maintained.

The following table summarizes the overall landmine situation in Afghanistan as of December 2000.

2. Proposals

Mine Action operations were brought to a complete halt after the terrorist attacks in the United States due to security reasons. In addition, almost 80% of the property of mine action NGOs has been looted or damaged as a result of the dramatic political and military endeavors undertaken in Afghanistan.

Now, as agreement for an interim authority has been brokered through the United Nations which will assume the charge of the country in late December 2001, it is hoped that security situation will improve all over the country and then return to normal. The improved security situation will encourage displaced people to return to their hometowns and various reconstruction and rehabilitation projects will be undertaken.

In order to minimize civilian landmines casualties and to facilitate the safe passage of humanitarian and relief supplies/assistance to the needy people in various parts of the country, as well as to ensure safe undertaking of various humanitarian projects, the resumption of the mine action operations is an imminent need of the moment. In order to resume the mine action operations, funds are required on very urgent basis. It is estimated that about 17 million dollars are required for the full scale resumption of the mine action operations to replace the lost/damaged property and bring the workforce capacity to the prior 11^th September 2001 level.

(2) Emergency Assessment/Survey of New Ammunitions:

As a result of the current military interventions by the coalition forces in Afghanistan, thousands of high explosives bombs including cluster munitions and missiles were used. It is estimated by the relevant experts that 10-30 percent of the ammunitions used have failed to explode due to technical reasons. In addition, there are reports that a considerable number of ammunitions stores have also been targeted during these military operations. The contents of these military stores might have been spread over large areas.

The UXOs and cluster sub-munitions pose a serious threat to the life of local population by blocking access to vital and key facilities, have blocked major supply routs preventing the transportation of humanitarian aid to the needy people and return of refugees and internally displaced people to their villages. In order to have a clear picture of the UXOs and new ammunitions used by the coalition forces an emergency country-wide assessment is required to give a clear picture of the location of the bombing, the damage/casualties caused by the bombing.

The NGO conference would like to encourage the coalition forces to come forward and provide information, training and financial support for the clearance of the new explosive devices. If the required support does not come from the coalition forces, the clearance of these new munitions will take a long time and take away a huge amount of the current resources of the mine action operations.

(3) Long Term and Sustainable Funding:

The mine action activities (Mine survey, clearance and awareness) are currently funded through donations by various donor governments and agencies on annual basis. This does not allow for any long term planning. In order to plan for a period of 3-5 years, it is recommended that the donor governments commit funding for a sustainable period of time i.e. 3-5 years. In order to achieve this, funding for mine action could be included in the long term national plans and budgets of the donor countries/agencies. Based on the more than a decade practical experience, it is roughly estimated that elimination of the landmine problem in Afghanistan would cost 500-600 million US dollars.

(4) Country-wide Comprehensive Landmine Impact Survey:

The current known contaminated area is estimated to total approximately 724 million square meters. Of this some 344 million square meter is classified as high priority land. There are areas of the country, which still are not accessible and the full extent of the landmine problem in Afghanistan is to be determined. Mined areas are still being discovered at a rate of 12 to 14 million square meters per year. These areas were mined years ago, but are discovered by MAPA as different parts of the country become more accessible. In addition, it is estimated that about 100 square million landmine/UXO contaminated area will be discovered in the northern parts of the country which was not accessible due to security reasons.

However, it is worth mentioning that the previous surveys undertaken in Afghanistan are mainly mined area focused not community or impact focused. In order to have country-wide clear picture of the landmine/UXO problem with its impact on the affected communities, a country-wide landmine impact survey is required. The survey is expected to cost about 2.2 million dollars.

(5) Landmine Ban Policy:

The current interim authority is encouraged to play its role for a achieving a total ban on landmines by joining the Ottawa treaty on landmines as soon as possible. It is also expected the interim authority and the subsequent governments in Afghanistan will extend all the possible support to the mine action activities.

(6) Integration of Mine action Into other Development Project:

It is recommended that new approaches to the mine action should be investigated. A good example of this could the community based demining recently introduced in the northern parts of Afghanistan. It is also advisable that mine action be integrated into other reconstruction and development projects.

(7) Landmine Victim/Survivors Assistance:

There is no question that it is urgent to support and assist the victims of landmines. Information on the civilian landmine casualties in Afghanistan is very limited and to a large extent deficient as most data collection on landmine casualties is not systematic or well coordinated. There are studies undertaken by various agencies like ICRC, MAPA, Save the Children-US and local NGOs. The degree to which data is collected is not representative of the whole country. In addition, the data collection “is not based on any well-conceived sampling technique, and double counting may occur among the agencies involved. Part of the problem with systematic and reliable data collection is also the ongoing conflict and casualties in isolated and remote areas that go unreported. Almost 50 percent of mine victims are still believed to die before reaching a medical facility.

In order to streamline landmine casualty data collection and prepare comprehensive recommendations for the social and economic rehabilitation and reintegration of the landmine victims, a country-wide comprehensive landmine survey is required to be undertaken on priority basis as well as enhancement of victim assistance.

Appendix

Size of the Mine Action Programme in Afghanistan:

The Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA) is coordinated by the Mine Action Center for Afghanistan (MACA). MAPA is comprised of the UN Mine Action Center for Afghanistan (MACA), temporary located in Islamabad (Pakistan), five UN Regional Mine Action Centers (RMACs), all located inside Afghanistan, and 15 implementing partners or NGOs. The RMAC’s are responsible for the overall coordination and oversight of mine action activities in their respective regions. The five regions and the provinces that belong to them are given below:

Central region: Kabul, Parwan, Kapisa, Bamiyan, Wardak, Logar, and Ghazni provinces

Northern region: Baghlan, Samangan, Balkh, Jozjan, Faryab, Kunduz, Takhar, and Badakhshan provinces.

Southern region: Urozgan, Zabul, Kandahar, Helmand, and Nimroz provinces

Western region: Badghis, Ghor, Herat, Farah provinces

Eastern region: Nengerhar, Kunar, Laghaman, Paktia, Paktika provinces

Annual national and regional mine action plans are prepared by MACA and its RMAC with input from all mine action NGOs and in consultation with UN agencies, other concerned NGOs, local communities and concerned government bodies such as Office for Disaster Preparedness (ODP) and the Department for Mine Clearance (DMC). Other factors considered in the planning process include the prevailing security situation, availability of surveyed area in need of clearance, climatic conditions, mine and UXO casualty data and socio-economic impact. Once national and regional plans are developed, specific tasks are then allocated to mine action teams from the implementing partners under the direction of the MACA overseen by the RMACs.

Since it started in 1989, MAPA has expanded from few hundred deminers assisted by a dozen foreign experts to a workforce of some 4,900 Afghans and fewer than ten expatriates. It continues to be one of the largest, most efficient and cost-effective mine action programs in the world. As of January 2001, there were 31 technical survey teams, 114 clearance teams (manual, mechanical, EOD/bomb disposal and mine detecting dog), 11 training and monitoring teams, 10 mine awareness projects and a range of management, technical and support services. The 15 national and international NGOs involved in mine action are as follows:

o AMAA Afghan Mine Awareness Agency

o ARCS Afghan Red Crescent Society

o AREA Agency for Rehabilitation and Energy Conservation in Afghanistan

o ARI Ansar Relief Institute (Iran- based mine awareness organization)

o ATC Afghan Technical Consultants

o BBC AEP British Broadcasting Corporation, Afghan Education Projects

o DAFA Demining Agency for Afghanistan

o DDG Danish Demining Group

o HALO Trust Hazardous Area Life Support Organization

o MCPA Mine Clearance Planning Agency

o MDC Mine Detection Dog Center

o META Monitoring, Training and Evaluation Agency

o OMAR Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation

o HI Handicap International

o SC Save the Children (US)

Mine action operations are funded by various donor countries through the Afghan Emergency Trust Fund (AETF), which channels funds through the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan (UNOCHA) to the Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA). Some donors also provide direct funding to NGOs and some provide in-kind contributions. Funding requests for the MAPA are included in the annual consolidated funding appeal for the United Nations programs in Afghanistan. MAPA received approximately $172 million in funds from 1991 through 2000. The funding for mine action operations reached to its peak after which it started to decline. For instance, in 2000, MAPA experienced a severe funding shortfall. While the program budget for 2000 was $26.3 million, only $16.9 million was received. As a result, MAPA had to decrease its operations by 50 percent in the last quarter of 2000. Because of the shortage, MAPA was able to achieve only 64 percent of its mine clearance target for the year, 68 percent of the mine awareness target, and 98 percent of the technical survey target.

Achievements:

As of December 2000, general survey of approximately 947 million square meters mined area, technical survey of about 296 million square meters of minefields and more than 348 million square meter of former battle areas had been completed since the start of survey operations in 1990.

From 1990 through 2000, over 224 million square meters of mined area and about 320 million square meters of former battle areas were cleared of mines and UXO. In the same period, 215,908 antipersonnel mines, 9,897 antitank mines, and 1,305,558 different types of UXO were detected and subsequently destroyed. Implementing partners of MAPA have provided mine awareness education to more than 7 million people from 1990 to 2000. As a result of the clearance of high priority areas and comprehensive mine awareness campaign, there has been a significant decline in the number of civilian landmine/UXO casualties over the past several years. According to data collected by MAPA and the Afghan Campaign, there were on average about 130 reported mine casualties per month in 1999. The data collected by MAPA and the ICRC for 2000 indicates an average of about 88 reported mine casualties per month compared to about 600 casualties per months in 1993.