Partnerships for a world free from the impact of mines and other explosive hazards

The impact of mines and explosive ordnance

Armed conflicts leave behind dangerous unexploded ordnance and mines, posing a serious and lasting threat to civilians. Explosive hazards have a significant impact on people’s lives and livelihoods, generating humanitarian crises and impeding development for affected countries. Even decades after a conflict has ended, mines, cluster munitions, explosive remnants of war and poorly managed ammunition stockpiles continue to maim and kill. These weapons do not differentiate between military personnel and civilians. Such threats not only force people to live in constant fear, but also they impede daily activities such as farming and accessing water sources. They obstruct access to critical infrastructure such as schools and hospitals, and they jeopardise the safe return home of displaced persons and refugees. Humanitarian demining, or mine action, manages and removes the threat of explosive hazards to accelerate the return of land to productive use and to help establish a safe and peaceful environment where people affected by conflict can rebuild stable and dignified lives.

A Centre of Expertise is Born

The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) was founded in 1998 at a time when the field of humanitarian mine action was nascent. At the signing of the Anti-personnel mine ban Convention in Ottawa in December 1997, Switzerland took the bold and visionary step to help implement the treaty by announcing it would establish a Centre of expertise for the sector. Just four months later, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) was established with a mandate to promote international cooperation by training practitioners, developing internationally recognised methods and standards for demining operations, creating an information management system and organising conferences allowing the demining community to exchange on good practice.

Today, the GICHD supports national authorities, international and regional organisations and NGOs in their efforts to improve the relevance, performance, safety and sustainability of mine action. We enable greater national ownership of mine action operations by through training and advisory services and promoting international law, norms and standards as well as evidence-based policies. In particular, we help develop the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), which guide all operations in the mine action sector. We encourage and actively contribute to dialogue between mine-affected countries in local languages, helping foster regional cooperation.

Our partnerships are our most valuable asset to achieving our mission. This blog will highglight some of these critical partnerships while also exploring some current issues in mine action through short essays, photos journals and interviews . But here first, a few highlights of the work we have been doing most recently. Stay tuned for more in-depth pieces as we celebrate our 20th year.

Twenty years ago, States and Civil Society came together to ban landmines. This unprecedented cooperation led to the signing of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention in Ottawa in December 1997.

This past winter, we celebrated this landmark with a joint public exhibition with our partners at the Implementation Support Unit of the Anti-personnel mine ban Convention and Humanity and Inclusion (HI).

Every February, the heads of Mine Action Centres, practitioners, state representatives and civil society groups gather at the United Nations in Geneva for the biggest meeting of the year. Here, we talk, share and learn from each other. Some highlights from the GICHD’s contribution at the most recent edition.

A few more achievements from our partners since January:

The GICHD Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia Regional Cooperation Programme (EECCA RCP)in Chisinau, Moldova for an Ammunition Practitioner Training Course organized in partnership with the National Army of the Republic Moldova.

Every year, we conduct a course on Operational Efficiency: Non-Technical Survey Training in Hammelburg, Germany. Participants include some technical field managers, community liaison managers, national operations coordinators and quality management advisors.

GICHD has proudly collaborated with the Zimbabwe Mine Action Centre since 2016 to draft its National Strategic Plan on Mine Action. We were present for its launch in Harare in March.