To Walk The Earth

In Safety United States Department of State | Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

11th Edition July 2012

Documenting 11 Years of the United States’ Commitment to Conventional Weapons Destruction

U.S. Contributions Country Programs 

 Organization Profiles 

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

U.S. Department of State
Afghanistan� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �20

Burma � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �21

Cambodia � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �21

Kyrgyzstan � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �22

Laos � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �23

Solomon Islands � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �23

Sri Lanka � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �23

Tajikistan � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �24

Thailand � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �25

Vietnam � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 26

Asia 18

The Middle East 44

Iraq � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 46

Jordan � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 47

Lebanon � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 48

Libya� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 48

Yemen � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 50

Regional Programs

Palestinian Territories � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �50

Table of Contents

General Information

History of Conventional Weapons Destruction � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 4

FY2011 Funding Chart � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 51

FY2011 Grantees � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 58

List of Common Acronyms � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 62

U.S. Government Interagency Partners

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: International Emergency Refugee Health Branch (CDC) � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 49 

MANPADS Task Force� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 59

U.S. Agency for International Development’s Leahy War Victims Fund (USAID) � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 35

U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) � � � � � � � � 11 

Department of Defense:

Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 25

Humanitarian Demining Research & Development Program (HD R&D) � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 13 

Humanitarian Demining Training Center (HDTC) � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 37

Implementation Tools and Fora

Information Management Software for Mine Action 

(IMSMA)� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 17 

International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) � � � � � � � � � 27

Regional Approach to Stockpile Reduction (RASR) � � � � 33

U.S. Quick Reaction Force (QRF) � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 41

Angola � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �8

Burundi � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �8

Chad� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �9

Democratic Republic of the Congo � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �9

Ethiopia � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �10

Ghana� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �10

Guinea-Bissau � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �10

Kenya � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �11

Mozambique� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �12

Somalia � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �14

South Sudan� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �15

Sudan� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �16

Tanzania � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �16

Regional Programs

Africa Great Lakes Region (RECSA)� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 16

Southern Africa Region (SARPCCO) � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 16

Africa 6

Albania � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �30

Armenia � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �30

Azerbaijan � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �31

Bosnia and Herzegovina � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �31

Bulgaria � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �32

Croatia � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �32

Estonia � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �33

Georgia � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �34

Kosovo � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �34

Lithuania� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �34

Macedonia � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �34

Montenegro � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �33

Romania� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �36

Serbia� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �36

Ukraine� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �37

Europe 28

Latin America 38

Chile� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �40

Colombia � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �40

Ecuador � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �41

Peru � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �42

Regional Programs

Caribbean Islands � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 43

Small Arms and Light Weapons in Latin America � � � � � � � � � � 43
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 3

The image of the tree throughout To Walk The Earth In 

Safety symbolizes life and growth on land cleared of explosive remnants of war thanks to U.S. Government 

support. The sun peeking through these birch trees is 

a reminder of the goals of conventional weapons destruction and clearance efforts—creating a safe environment for renewal and sustainable development.

Photo courtesy of Associated Press.

To help save natural resources and protect our 

environment, this edition of To Walk The Earth In 

Safety was printed on 30-percent post-consumer-waste 

recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks.

Written, Edited, Designed, and Produced by 

the Center for International Stabilization and 

Recovery at James Madison University.

(http://cisr.jmu.edu)

on the coverS

Printed by McClung Companies 

Waynesboro, VA USA

The children of Ou Sampoar Muoy village, in Malai district, 

Northwest Cambodia collect mushrooms on ground made 

safe through The Halo Trust’s (HALO) mine clearance. 

HALO completed clearance in the village in January 2011, 

making safe 178 acres of land and destroying 3,576 landmines. 

Photo courtesy of The HALO Trust, July 2011.

A Message From Assistant Secretary Andrew J. Shapiro

Andrew J. Shapiro

Assistant Secretary

U.S. Department of State

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement

In 2011, the United States continued to lead the international donor community in providing assistance for the clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war, as well as 

the destruction of at-risk and unsecured weapons and munitions. In Fiscal Year 2011, the Department of State allocated 

$142 million in assistance to 42 countries, thereby helping 

communities recover, and countries become more secure. This 

11th edition of our annual report, To Walk The Earth In Safety, 

details the programs and partnerships that make the United 

States’ Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) program 

a lasting success.

Increased instability as a result of sweeping political change 

in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011 endangered the security of a range of weapons stockpiles across the region. In Libya, the revolution and eventual collapse of the Qadhafi regime brought increased attention to the global threat posed by illicit proliferation 

of weapons, including man-portable air-defense systems or MANPADS, also known as 

shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. For the last year, the United States has led an international effort to help Libya secure its conventional weapons stockpiles. Our commitment to 

stability and security in the Middle East, including Syria and North Africa, ensures that 

the U.S. will continue working to help reduce illicit weapons proliferation throughout the 

region. Since 2003, our cooperation with more than 30 countries around the globe has led 

to the reduction of nearly 33,000 excess, loosely secured, or otherwise at-risk MANPADS 

by the U.S. CWD program.

While MANPADS remain a top U.S. priority, landmines, unexploded ordnance 

(UXO), and explosions at poorly maintained depots continue to kill or injure thousands of 

civilians annually. A tragic example of this occurred in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo, 

on 4 March 2012 when a munitions depot exploded, resulting in more than 250 deaths and 

more than 2,000 injured. UXO was thrown as far as three kilometers (nearly two miles) 

from the blast epicenter, forcing tens of thousands of families from their homes and posing 

lingering hazards to emergency responders and complicating recovery efforts. Working in 

close coordination with national authorities and with technical experts from the United 

Nations and specialized nongovernmental organizations (NGO), the United States funded 

and deployed a team of civilian technical experts known as the Quick Reaction Force 

(QRF) to help dispose of nearly 20,000 items of damaged and unstable munitions. This 

allowed some area residents to return home and safely rebuild.

Through humanitarian mine action, the United States continues to clear a path to a 

safer world. We congratulate Burundi, Jordan, Nepal, and Nigeria on declaring themselves 

mine-impact free this year, and we are proud of the U.S. contribution to their efforts. In 

2011, under U.S. chairmanship of the Mine Action Support Group, 24 donor nations and 

NGOs worked to improve donor coordination around the world. In addition, our increasing engagement in the Pacific has resulted in the continued cleanup of abandoned and 

unexploded ordnance, mostly from World War II, in the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and 

other Pacific nations.

In 2011, our Public-Private Partnership Program grew to almost 70 partners and continued to apply new energy, ideas, and financial resources to the field of CWD, including 

humanitarian mine action. Partnering with civil society enables us to expand our reach, 

raise awareness, and encourage grassroots participation.

The United States’ CWD program has contributed close to $2 billion to more than 90 

countries to reduce the harmful worldwide effects generated by indiscriminately used, illicit, and abandoned conventional weapons of war since 1993.

I invite you to read this report and learn about the significant conflict-remediation and 

peace-building efforts the U.S. is making around the world. I extend my appreciation to 

the U.S. Congress and American taxpayers who support our efforts to help everyone “to 

walk the Earth in safety.”
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Landmines, explosive remnants of war 

(ERW), and small arms and light weapons 

(SA/LW) can affect the civilian population in 

countries recovering from conflict long after 

the conflict ends. The hazards from landmines 

and ERW are well known. These dangerous 

items can kill or permanently injure those who 

encounter them while farming, collecting water, or simply walking to work or school. They 

bar access to land and infrastructure, affecting 

the lives and livelihood of the local population 

and impeding sustainable economic development for the country. 

Alongside these hazards, excess, looselysecured, or otherwise at-risk stockpiles of conventional weapons present additional threats 

to security. Unstable or improperly maintained 

conventional munitions can spontaneously 

detonate, spreading explosive material and 

unexploded ordnance (UXO) far and wide—

creating a problem similar to ERW. Unsecured weapons depots can result in the illicit 

proliferation of SA/LW, such as man-portable 

air-defense systems (MANPADS), and pose 

grave risks to global security. To address these 

challenges, the Office of Weapons Removal 

and Abatement in the U.S. Department of 

State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 

(PM/WRA) has merged its humanitarian 

mine-action activities into its overall Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) program. 

This assistance helps to overcome threats from 

landmines, ERW, and at-risk weapons and 

munitions around the world. 

Hazards of Conventional Weapons

Post-conflict communities may face a 

range of hazards related to the presence of 

various types of conventional weapons—landmines buried in roads and near infrastructure, 

fields littered with UXO, and abandoned 

caches of weapons and munitions. Additionally national stockpiles may contain excess munitions or weapons that are poorly secured in 

the aftermath of the conflict. Whether abandoned or inadequately secured, stockpiles and 

conventional weapons pose a proliferation risk. 

Found and pilfered munitions are available 

for terrorists, insurgents and other criminals 

to create improvised explosive devices, which 

perpetuate instability. SA/LW flow into the 

black market, arming these same groups. Of 

particular concern are MANPADS, which in 

the wrong hands threaten global aviation and 

thereby the world economy. 

The risks associated with improper storage 

of munitions are not limited to post-conflict 

zones. On 11 July 11 2011, 98 shipping containers holding gunpowder exploded at the 

Evangelos Florakis naval base on Cyprus. The 

blast killed 13 people and injured 61 others. 

Additionally, the blast damaged the Vasiliko 

power plant, causing widespread rolling power 

outages. These containers had been sitting out 

in the open for more than two years. Over this 

period, fluctuations in temperature caused the 

material to degrade and eventually explode. 

Incidents such as this are occurring with increased frequency and the threat from deteriorating munitions is emerging as a challenge on 

par with that posed by landmines and UXO. 

U.S. CWD Program

A state may face one or all of these challenges. The threat could be the result of a recent armed conflict or the residue of a long 

past war or, as in the case in Afghanistan, 

the cumulative impact of decades of war. The 

CWD program merges previously separate 

programs in order to increase effectiveness 

by creating a flexible and comprehensive approach to addressing these various threats. 

Under this program structure, the United 

States can fund mine and UXO clearance, 

secure or destroy abandoned caches, destroy 

excess and aging stockpiles, provide risk 

education, fund survivor assistance or support physical security upgrades for national 

stockpiles from a unified budget based on the 

most urgent requirements. In a dynamic postconflict environment, U.S. program managers can work with the host nation and other 

relevant stakeholders to prioritize resources to 

the greatest need and address multiple threats 

at the same time without being constrained by 

a mine-action or SA/LW mandate. 

Beginning with the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) program in 1993 

and evolving to today’s CWD program, the 

United States has delivered nearly $2 billion 

in aid to help overcome threats from landmines and ERW, as well as the destruction of 

or improved security for at-risk weapons and 

munitions in more than 90 countries. These 

efforts have been led by the U.S. Department 

of State (DOS), in close partnership with the 

U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), U.S. 

Agency for International Development (USAID), the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, and a host of experts from across 

the U.S. Government, nongovernmental arena, 

and private sector, making it truly a pioneer in 

“smart power.” U.S. efforts have enabled many 

countries to reduce the impact of landmines 

and UXO and have contributed to dramatically reducing the worldwide annual casualty 

rate from these threats. 

THE UNITED STATES’ COMMITMENT TO

CONVENTIONAL 

WEAPONS 

DESTRUCTION

Improperly stored ammunition in Southeastern 

Europe – 2008.

Photo courtesy of Defense Threat Reduction Agency/

USSTRATCOM Center for Combating Weapons of Mass 

Destruction (DTRA/SCC-WMD).

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

U.S. Department of State
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 5

While the United States has consistently remained the world’s 

largest donor to HMA, it is also a global leader in combating the illicit 

trafficking of SA/LW, including MANPADS, and conventional munitions. By assisting states in improving their export-control practices, 

providing physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) for atrisk arms and munitions depots, and destroying excess weapons and 

munitions around the world, the United States continuously works to 

enhance global and national processes for controlling weapons. Furthermore, the United States supports U.N. initiatives and efforts by 

international and regional organizations to mark and trace SA/LW 

and to strengthen regulations on arms brokering.

Interagency Cooperation

Cooperation among U.S. interagency partners is essential to the 

overall success of the United States’ assistance. In humanitarian demining, partnership between DOS and DOD bridges an important gap, 

allowing DOS-managed programs to complement training carried out 

by DOD. DOD’s Humanitarian Demining Training Center is able 

to train host-nation forces to build capacity and conduct demining 

operations in a sustainable and cost-effective manner. DOD’s Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program supports 

DOS projects through testing new technologies intended to increase 

the scope and efficiency of clearance operations.

On survivor assistance, USAID’s Bureau for Democracy leads U.S. 

efforts to assist states to reduce the risks and reinforce the capabilities 

of communities and governments to provide services and protection 

for vulnerable groups through its Special Programs to Address the 

Needs of Survivors (SPANS). The Leahy War Victims Fund, one of 

the five SPANS activities, focuses on assistance to improve the health, 

mobility and social integration of disabled civilian victims of conflict. 

The CDC’s International Emergency and Refugee Health Branch’s 

technical and financial support is provided to nongovernmental 

organizations and United Nations’ agencies. This support often backs 

public-health projects and activities related to surveillance for ERWrelated injuries, mine-risk education, and survivor-assistance activities.

Interagency partnership is not limited to humanitarian mine action. 

PM/WRA and the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) 

work closely with nations requesting help to secure and manage their 

stockpiles. DTRA provides valuable technical expertise on PSSM 

issues, through assessments of host-nation stockpiles and seminars 

to orient host-nation representatives to international best practices 

on PSSM at both the technical and executive level. Similar to the 

partnership on mine action, PM/WRA is often able to work with the 

host nation to provide funds to implement DTRA’s recommendations. 

While this process is relevant to all SA/LW and conventional munitions, it is a particularly valuable part of U.S. MANPADS threatreduction efforts. Often referred to as shoulder-launched surface-toair missiles, MANPADS are generally small, lightweight weapons that 

are easy to transport and conceal. Assessments of total global MANPADS production to date exceed one million; thousands of which 

are thought to be outside of government control. According to DOS 

records, more than 40 civilian aircraft have been hit by MANPADS 

since the 1970s, causing about 28 crashes and more than 800 deaths 

around the world. The November 2002 attempted shoot down by terrorists of a civilian airliner in Mombasa, Kenya, served as wake-up call 

to the international community. Since that time, the United States has 

stepped up its efforts to keep MANPADS from falling into the wrong 

hands, launching an initiative to prevent the illicit acquisition and use 

of MANPADS by terrorists and other non-state actors. 

Because countering the proliferation of MANPADS is an overriding U.S. national security priority, the White House directed that 

a specific MANPADS interagency task force be created in 2007. This 

task force, chaired by DOS, coordinates the international efforts of 

DOS, DOD, the Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies and organizations to increase the effectiveness of the U.S. 

multipronged approach to reducing this threat. As such, the task force 

implements the United States International Aviation Threat Reduction Plan—a component of the broader National Strategy for Aviation 

Security—to protect global aviation from MANPADS attacks.

An Ongoing Commitment

In summary, the U.S. CWD program has achieved much since 1993:

•	 Nearly $2 billion donated for CWD, mostly for humanitarian 

mine action;

•	 More than 90 landmine or ERW-affected countries assisted;

•	 Nearly 33,000 MANPADS safely disposed of worldwide 

(since 2003);

•	 Approximately 1.6 million SA/LW and over 90,000 tons of 

munitions destroyed in 38 countries;

•	 Emergency assistance provided in the removal or mitigation 

of conventional weapons, landmines, and other UXO in over 

a dozen countries by the State Department-funded Quick 

Reaction Force; and

•	 20 countries declared mine-impact free with U.S. assistance.

All these actions contribute to global security. In spite of the significant progress made to reduce these threats, armed conflict continues to 

affect the lives of civilians. The United States is committed to ensuring 

that everyone is able “to walk the Earth in safety.”

A Canadian and a Sudanese explosive-ordnance disposal and demining 

expert employed by MAG (Mines Advisory Group), and funded by PM/WRA, 

move a batch of explosive remnants of war to a demolition pit behind them 

for destruction.

Photo courtesy of John Stevens, PM/WRA, U.S. Dept. of State.
6 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Africa

Africa, the world’s second most populous and 

second largest continent, encompasses 55 

diverse nations. Following decades of civil war, 

in 2011 South Sudan became the world’s newest country 

by democratic referendum. With most of the continent at 

peace, much of Africa is slowly recovering economically 

and socially from decades of armed conflicts that have 

killed, injured, displaced and impoverished millions. 

Nigeria and Burundi declared themselves “mine-free” 

in late 2011. Elsewhere, explosive remnants of war 

and landmines injure thousands annually. Several 

countries still face conflict. Despite its abundant 

natural resources and gradual reforms, according to 

the U.S. Agency for International Development, threefourths of the African population still lives in poverty. 

African Great Lakes Region (RECSA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Southern Africa Region (SARPCCO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Angola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Burundi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Chad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Dem. Republic of the Congo . . . . . . . 9

Ethiopia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Ghana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Guinea-Bissau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Kenya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Mozambique. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Somalia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

South Sudan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Sudan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Tanzania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

During International Day for Mine Awareness in Bunia, DRC, an Indonesian 

peacekeeper demonstrates robotic mine-detection equipment.

Photo courtesy of U.N./Martine Perret.

REGIONAL PROGRAMS
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 7

Burundi

Total U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction Funding

 In Africa From All Sources, 1993–2011: $301,555,000

(This chart shows the percentage of total funding allocated to each country within the region.)

Angola

Sudan

South 

Sudan

Somalia

Kenya

Ghana

Guinea-Bissau

Chad

Democratic 

Republic 

of the Congo

Tanzania

Ethiopia

Mozambique Angola

29.49%

Zimbabwe

2.11%

Zambia

Uganda 0.82%

0.35%

Togo Tanzania - TATCOT 0.01% 0.63%

Swaziland

0.42% Sudan

10.13%

South Sudan

0.36%

Somalia (NW)

4.16%

Sierra Leone

0.58%

Senegal

1.08%

Sao Tome/Principe

0.02%

Rwanda

4.21%

Nigeria

0.48%

Namibia

2.87%

Mozambique

15.58%

Mauritania

2.26%

Liberia

1.64% Lesotho

0.00%

Kenya

0.71%

Guinea Bissau

2.48%

Guinea

0.03% Ethiopia

5.23%

Eritrea

6.01%

Djibouti

1.02%

Congo, Republic of the

0.44%

Congo, DRC

2.58%

Chad

3.57%

Central African Republic

0.01%

Burundi

0.72%

Benin

0.00%
8 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Africa

In FY2011, PM/WRA granted $7.5 million to support the 

work of international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 

in Angola: 

•	 The HALO Trust (HALO) received funding to clear 849,600 

square meters (210 acres) of land, survey 90 potentially hazardous 

sites, conduct 100 post-clearance community interviews, 

and destroy 10,000 SA/LW and 70 tons of munitions. The 

government of Angola also provided funding to support the 

destruction of SA/LW.

•	 MAG (Mines Advisory Group) was granted funding to clear 

552,000 square meters (136 acres) of land, conduct 100 minerisk education sessions, and complete 660 explosive-ordnance 

disposal (EOD) spot tasks in the Moxico province.

•	 Norwegian People’s Aid received funding to clear 750,000 

square meters (185 acres) of land in Malanje and Uíge provinces, 

to reduce or clear 140 suspected hazardous areas, and to conduct 

150 EOD spot tasks.

PM/WRA plans to fund $8.48 million in Nonproliferation, 

Anti-Terrorism, Demining and Related Programs and conventional 

weapons destruction through these international NGOs in FY2012.

Also in FY2011, the U.S. Department of Defense’s 

Humanitarian Demining Research and Development (HD R&D) 

Program in partnership with HALO, continued a technology 

evaluation of the Rotary Mine Comb (RMC). The RMC’s 

intermeshing tines gently extricate large buried objects, including 

anti-tank (AT) mines, from the soil and push them to the side 

of the host vehicle’s path. HALO has reported positive clearance 

results with the RMC in sandy soil, clearing 32 kilometers (20 

miles) of road since 2008 and 46 low-metal AT mines, which 

are undetectable by metal detectors. While the progress seems 

modest, the impact is considerable given the alternative is hand 

excavation of the road. The RMC is locating mines that are 

otherwise undetectable on roads that, though previously cleared 

by heavy detonation trailers, persist in having AT mine accidents. 

The completed, mine-free road will reconnect more than 200,000 

people in southeast Cuando Cubango province with the rest of 

Angola. With total assistance valued at $850,000, the HD R&D 

Program also continued the evaluation of a JCB Loadall with 

HALO. To learn more about the U.S. Department of Defense’s 

Humanitarian Demining Program, visit http://humanitariandemining.org. 

Burundi 

In November 2011, Burundi declared itself mine-free, three 

years ahead of schedule, meeting its Article 5 obligations to the 

Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production 

and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. 

Major clearance operations by DanChurchAid and the Swiss 

Foundation for Mine Action were completed in 2008, and MAG 

(Mines Advisory Group) cleared the remaining contamination. 

Despite this accomplishment, three decades of civil war 

and genocide have left Burundi’s new democracy in a fragile 

security situation, exacerbated by the widespread proliferation 

Angola

Angola’s war for independence in the 1960s was followed by 

nearly three decades of civil war, ending in 2002. These conflicts 

left Angola’s 18 provinces contaminated with landmines and 

explosive remnants of war (ERW) and made Angola the most 

mine-affected country in Africa. Though total injuries and deaths 

from landmines are unknown, the Landmine and Cluster Munitions 

Monitor estimates that there have been between 23,000–80,000 

casualties in Angola. In addition, thousands of refugees continue 

to be resettled in the mine-affected Moxico province. Angola 

estimates that tens of thousands of small arms and light weapons 

(SA/LW) are in civilian hands; even more are in poorly secured 

government stockpiles. The destruction of SA/LW and the 

clearance of mine-affected infrastructure, fields, and communities 

are essential for development and prosperity in the region. 

Since FY1995, funding from the Office of Weapons Removal 

and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau 

of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) has resulted in the 

clearance of 19,206,643 square meters (more than 7 square miles) 

of land and 6,650 kilometers (4,132 miles) of road, and the 

destruction of 90,999 SA/LW and 1,280 tons of munitions. In 

2011 alone, PM/WRA-supported efforts identified and disposed 

of 3,600 mines. 

Thousands of surplus weapons await destruction by The HALO Trust’s Weapons 

and Ammunition Destruction team in Luanda, Angola.

Photo courtesy of Darren Manning, PM/WRA, U.S. Dept. of State.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 9

and availability of small arms and light 

weapons (SA/LW). In addition, large, 

poorly secured and maintained stockpiles 

of aging ammunition also pose a significant 

threat to civilians in Burundi. 

From FY2006–FY2011, the Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau 

of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) 

provided $2,293,925 for conventional 

weapons destruction, resulting in the destruction of 9,000 SA/LW, 312 man-portable air-defense systems, and nearly 75 tons 

of munitions. PM/WRA also supported the 

construction of 38 secure micro-armories for the National Police in Bujumbura, 

Burundi’s capital. 

In FY2011, PM/WRA provided funding to MAG to destroy 7,000 SA/LW 

and 70 tons of munitions in Burundi. 

Additionally, MAG trained 20 Burundian 

National Defense Force personnel to 

International Mine Action Standards 

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Level I. 

Since 2006, the Defense Threat 

Reduction Agency (DTRA) has provided 

stockpile management assistance to the 

Burundi military and police. In October 

2010, DTRA’s SA/LW Program conducted 

a technical level arms, ammunition, and 

explosives physical security and stockpile 

management seminar in Bujumbura. 

Participants included 46 Burundi national 

police officers with direct stockpile 

management responsibilities. In November 

2010, DTRA facilitated a tour of important 

U.S. officials to storage and destruction 

facilities in Burundi. 

Also in FY2011, U.S. Africa Command 

(USAFRICOM) conducted one training 

mission with Burundi engineers in explosive 

ordnance disposal and explosive remnants of 

war operations. In FY2012, USAFRICOM, 

in partnership with PM/WRA and DTRA, 

will coordinate efforts to train Burundi humanitarian mine-action personnel in identification, destruction, and management 

of existing stockpiles with three training 

missions supported by the Combined Joint 

Task Force–Horn of Africa. 

Chad 

Resulting from internal conflicts 

extending back to 1965 and an invasion 

by Libya in 1973, Chad is extensively 

contaminated by landmines and explosive 

remnants of war (ERW). According 

to the Landmine and Cluster Munitions 

Monitor, there were 2,830 known landmine 

casualties at the end of 2010, but the full 

extent of contamination in Chad has not 

been quantified. 

In FY2011, U.S. Africa Command 

(USAFRICOM) conducted one humanitarian mine-action (HMA) mission 

focused on explosive-ordnance disposal 

(EOD)/ ERW in Chad. In FY2012, U.S. 

Army Africa is planning to conduct three 

missions to continue to build the capacity of the Chad National Demining 

Authority (CND) by providing further 

instruction in EOD/ERW operations and 

medical first-responder techniques. The 

missions will also focus on the development of a CND training center to provide 

long-term HMA instruction. 

Democratic Republic

of the Congo

From 1996–2003, between three and five 

million people died as a result of armed 

conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the 

Congo (DRC). These conflicts also left the 

country widely contaminated by landmines 

and explosive remnants of war (ERW). In 

addition, the resulting proliferation of small 

arms and light weapons (SA/LW) has led 

to cross-border trafficking and violence 

and poorly secured government weapon 

stockpiles that threaten local populations. 

From FY2006 through FY2011, the 

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement 

in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau 

of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) 

invested $6,098,462 in weapons and 

munitions destruction and humanitarian 

mine-action support in DRC. In FY2011, 

PM/WRA provided $1,015,775 in funding 

the following international nongovernmental 

organizations to continue this work:

•	 MAG (Mines Advisory Group) received funding to destroy at least 11,000 

SA/LW and 110 tons of munitions. 

•	 Handicap International received grants to 

support the training and deployment by 

U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) 

of demining teams from DRC’s 

army, Forces Armées de la République 

Démocratique du Congo (FARDC).

In September 2009, DRC requested 

assistance from USAFRICOM to help reestablish a mine-action company, previously 

trained by the Belgium Army in 2002 in 

Kisangani. Eight training missions in explosive-ordnance disposal (EOD) and mine 

Weapons being destroyed by cutting at the Weapons Destruction Workshop in Bujumbura, Burundi.

Photo courtesy of Karen Hatungimana, MAG Burundi.
10 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Africa

action in 2009 and 2010 helped to build the FARDC Engineer 

Company’s capacity. From 2009 through 2011, USAFRICOM 

provided $200,000 for start-up costs, equipment, and training aids 

for EOD/ERW courses. As a result of these efforts, FARDC instructors have taught the last two courses. In FY2012, U.S. Army 

Africa will conduct four missions to continue to build FARDC 

Engineer Company’s EOD training capacity.

At the request of the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa, the SA/LW 

Program of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) 

conducted two physical security and stockpile management 

seminars (one technical and one executive seminar) for FARDC in 

Kinshasa in March 2011. This was DTRA’s first mission to DRC. 

In FY2012, PM/WRA plans to fund MAG to continue weapons and munitions destruction, train FARDC members in safe 

SA/LW and ammunition handling, and provide basic physical security upgrades at munitions storage facilities. 

Ethiopia 

Landmines and explosive remnants of war contaminate 

Ethiopia as a result of internal and international conflicts dating as 

far back as 1935. According to the Landmine and Cluster Munitions 

Monitor, there had been 16,849 known casualties due to explosives 

in Ethiopia as of the end of 2010. 

In FY2011, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s 

Leahy War Victims Fund provided $327,000 to the International 

Committee of the Red Cross to provide rehabilitation services to 

landmine survivors in northern Ethiopia. 

At the request of the United Kingdom’s Joint Arms Control 

Implementation Group ( JACIG), the Defense Threat Reduction 

Agency (DTRA) joined country representatives in the 

Multinational Small Arms and Ammunition Group (MSAG) to 

teach international best practices for small arms and light weapons 

(SA/LW) physical security and stockpile management (PSSM). 

With these international representatives, MSAG conducted a 

PSSM seminar for the Ethiopian Federal Police in January 2011. 

Previously, DTRA participated in JACIG seminars in January 

2009 and March 2010.

SA/LW control efforts in Ethiopia are also supported by the 

African Great Lakes Regional Centre on Small Arms, which 

receives funding from the Office of Weapons Removal and 

Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs (PM/WRA).

Ghana

As in other parts of Africa, the illicit proliferation of small 

arms and light weapons (SA/LW) into Ghana from neighboring 

countries presents a threat to the country’s growth and stability. 

In 2010, to combat arms trafficking, Ghana signed the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Convention 

on SA/LW.

At the request of the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping 

Training Center (KAIPTC), the Defense Threat Reduction 

Agency’s SA/LW Program provided an instructor to teach 

physical security and stockpile management of arms, ammunition, 

and explosives during the June 2011 KAIPTC SA/LW seminar. 

In the seminar, 63 students from the 15 ECOWAS countries were 

trained in stockpile management

Guinea-Bissau 

Guinea-Bissau was contaminated with landmines and 

explosive remnants of war (ERW) as a result of the War of 

Liberation (1961–1974), a civil war (1998–1999), and armed 

conflicts on its border with Senegal in the last decade. Despite 

clearance efforts, according to a survey completed by Norwegian 

People’s Aid in July 2011, 17 hazardous areas covering more 

than 250,539 square meters (about 62 acres) remained, limiting 

agriculture and endangering residents. In addition, surplus stocks 

of deteriorating and poorly secured munitions pose a significant 

humanitarian threat. 

HUMAID deminers add an artillery shell to a collection of mortar rounds in 

Guinea-Bissau.

Photo courtesy of John Stevens, PM/WRA, U.S. Dept. of State.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 11

Point of Contact:

Office of Weapons Removal and 

Abatement (PM/WRA)

U.S. Department of State

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

SA-3, Suite 6100

2121 Virginia Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20522

USA

U.S. Department of State’s Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement

telephone: +1 202 663 0100

fax: +1 202 663 0090

website: http://state.gov/t/pm/wra

The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s

Bureau of Political-MilitaryAffairs (PM/WRA) creates local, regional and international

conditions conducive to peace, stability and prosperity by cleaning up the explosive

remnants of war and curbing the proliferation of conventional weapons that fuel

conflict or support terrorism and international crime.

PM/WRA develops, implements, and monitors policy and conducts programs to

mitigate the threats to civilians posed by conventional weapons in order to promote

stability and economic recovery. The focus of our efforts is three-fold:to curb the illicit

trafficking, availability, and indiscriminate use of conventional weapons of war; to

pursue and help manage post-conflict cleanup of such weapons; and to engage civil

society to broaden support for our efforts and enhance U.S. influence.

Conventional weapons and munitions addressed by PM/WRA include landmines,

unexploded ordnance (UXO), abandoned ordnance, stockpiled conventional

munitions, man-portable air defense systems, and other small arms and light

weapons. The office strives to limit the access of terrorist or criminal groups to

such weapons and munitions. At the same time, by addressing acute humanitarian

needs, PM/WRA demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a set of values that

respect human life. PM/WRA works closely with other U.S. Government agencies

as well as nongovernmental organizations (NGO), international organizations, and

private enterprises.

More than half of PM/WRA’s humanitarian assistance is provided through grants

to NGOs. For example, PM/WRA’s support recently funded conventional weapons

destruction in Iraq, UXO clearance in Libya, and handicap access for landmine

survivors in Afghanistan.

From FY1999–FY2010, the Office of 

Weapons Removal and Abatement in the 

U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) granted 

$4.5 million for surveys, mine/ERW clearance, explosive-ordnance disposal (EOD), 

destruction of government stockpiles, and 

clearance training for humanitarian deminers in Guinea-Bissau. 

In FY2011, PM/WRA granted $1 million to the following international nongovernmental organizations for further clearance work in Guinea-Bissau:

•	 Cleared Ground Demining received 

funding to assist the government of 

Guinea-Bissau in stockpile destruction 

and to conduct ERW and unexplodedordnance (UXO) spot tasks. 

•	 HUMAID was granted funding for 

humanitarian mine action including 

demining and battle-area clearance 

(BAC), training for BAC and EOD 

teams, mine-risk education and civilian 

surveys on landmine locations. 

At the request of the U.S. military in 

Dakar, Senegal, the Small Arms Light 

Weapons Program of the Defense Threat 

Reduction Agency (DTRA) conducted a 

physical security and stockpile management 

(PSSM) assessment of ammunition 

supply points in and around GuineaBissau’s capital, Bissau. DTRA identified 

excess, obsolete, and unsafe ammunition 

for destruction and recommended 

PSSM upgrades. This was DTRA’s first 

engagement in Guinea-Bissau.

The government of Guinea-Bissau has 

said that the cleared land in Bissau has 

helped families that depend on subsistence 

agriculture. As of 1 January 2012, GuineaBissau announced that it is mine-free, 

meeting its obligations as a State Party to 

the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, 

Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on Their Destruction.

Kenya 

In July 2010, three boys were injured by 

a landmine explosion on the Kenya-Uganda 

border according to the Landmine and 

Cluster Munitions Monitor. While Kenya 

has neither emplaced anti-personnel mines 

nor manufactured them, it continues to be 
12 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Africa

affected by unexploded ordnance at military training ranges. In addition, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SA/LW) 

in Kenya hinders attempts to address regional conflicts. 

In February 2005, the International Mine Action Training 

Centre (IMATC) opened in Embakasi, Nairobi. In 2008 and 

2009, U.S. Africa Command’s (USAFRICOM) Humanitarian 

Mine Action (HMA) program trained qualified instructors 

to teach explosive-ordnance disposal (EOD) at International 

Mine Action Standard (IMAS) levels. Resulting in part from 

AFRICOM’s support, IMATC is now called the Humanitarian 

Peace Support School (HPSS) and has become a regional center 

for HMA and training.

In March 2011, at the request of HPSS, a representative from 

the SA/LW Program in the Defense Threat Reduction Agency 

(DTRA) and two HPSS representatives from Kenya and the 

United Kingdom conducted a physical security and stockpile 

management (PSSM) technical seminar for 30 participants from 

Kenya and Tanzania at HPSS in Nairobi. This was the fourth 

HPSS-led seminar in which DTRA has participated.

Demonstrating the sustainability of the program, HPSS HMA 

instructors led all classes in FY2011. In November 2011, the 

Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) sent 

two Navy EOD personnel and a medic to assist the Kenyan HMA 

instructors in their third stand-alone class.

CJTF-HOA will conduct two additional missions at HPSS in 

FY2012. Further SA/LW-control efforts in Kenya are supported 

by the African Great Lakes Regional Centre on Small Arms 

in Nairobi, Kenya, which receives funding from the Office of 

Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of 

State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA).

Mozambique 

In 1992, Mozambique emerged from almost 30 years of 

conflict, including the Mozambican War of Independence 

(1964–1974) and the Mozambican Civil War (1977–1992), as 

one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. According 

to the Landmine and Cluster Munitions Monitor, after 18 years of 

successful clearance operations and excluding the minefields along 

its border with Zimbabwe, only 322 suspected hazardous areas 

(SHA) covering 9.5 square kilometers (just under 4 square miles) 

remain. The remaining mines continue to impede farming and 

water access and present risks to hospitals and schools. 

The U.S. is Mozambique’s largest bilateral donor, and the Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department 

of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) has 

contributed almost $32 million from FY1997–FY2011, which 

has helped to clear more than 50 percent of Mozambique’s 

land. In 2011, PM/WRA provided $2,175,000 to The HALO 

Trust (HALO) for 13 manual demining teams, three Explosive 

Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams, and one mechanical demining 

team to clear more than 500,000 square meters (about 124 acres) 

of contaminated land. HALO also used this funding to visit more 

than 400 SHAs and conduct mine-risk education (MRE). Mineimpact free surveys were conducted in the Maputo, Manica, and 

Tete provinces. In FY2012, PM/WRA plans to provide $2 million 

to continue HALO’s ongoing work. If current efforts continue, 

Mozambique hopes to become mine-impact free in 2014.

U.S. Africa Command’s (USAFRICOM) initial engagement 

with the Fondas Armadas de Mozambique’s (FADM) Humanitarian 

Mine Action (HMA) Company was in 2009. USAFRICOM’s 

2010–2011 mission focused on EOD/ERW/battle-area clearance 

operations and vehicle maintenance. Resulting in part from U.S. 

assistance, the FADM HMA Company is well-trained and 

equipped and is conducting demining operations near Chokwe, 

three hours northwest of Maputo. In FY2012, the U.S. Naval Forces 

Africa will conduct three missions to continue to build FADM’s 

demining capacity.

In FY2011, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian 

Demining Research and Development (HD R&D) Program, 

in partnership with HALO, began the evaluation of two Orbit 

Screens valued at $150,000. Since January 2011, the equipment 

has sifted 67,000 cubic meters (87,633 cubic yards) of soil, 

uncovering 142 mines and items of unexploded ordnance. The 

Orbit Screens are clearing areas around power line pylons, 

providing access to critical infrastructure. To learn more about the 

U.S. Department of Defense’s HD R&D Program, visit http://

humanitarian-demining.org.

Helen Gray, The HALO Trust’s Program Manager for Mozambique in 2011, briefs 

John Stevens from the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement on mineclearance operations in the Cahora Bassa Dam area.

Photo courtesy of John Stevens, PM/WRA, U.S. Dept. of State.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 13

The Humanitarian Demining Research and Development (HD R&D) Program

focuses on developing technologies to improve the efficiency and safety of removing

post-conflict landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). It designs, builds,

demonstrates, and evaluates prototype mine- and UXO-clearing technologies for

indigenous, host-nation-conducted demining operations supported by the United

States Department of Defense. HD R&D adapts commercial off-the-shelf equipment

and leverages current developments from the U.S. Army’s counter-mine mission

area. The program aims to improve existing technologies for mine/UXO detection,

technical survey/area reduction, mechanical mine/UXO and vegetation clearance,

mine neutralization, individual deminer protection, marking and mapping of

mines/minefields, and post-clearance quality assurance.

New technology requirements are identified and validated at a biennial

requirements workshop held by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense

for Special Operations, Low Intensity Conflict. All prototypes undergo extensive

testing in the U.S. before they are deployed to support operational field evaluations

(OFE), an integral aspect of the HD R&D Program. During OFEs, equipment

capabilities are assessed by host-nation demining partners (foreign military,

nongovernmental organizations, and mine-action centers) in actual demining

conditions. The evaluations allow host countries to operate and test equipment

in active minefields and provide feedback to initiate future R&D improvements.

Since 1995 the program has fielded technologies in support of 140 OFEs in 36

countries. In FY2011, HD R&D performed OFEs in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia,

Chile, Ecuador, Iraq, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Some of the more than 40 technologies being evaluated include the Orbit Screen,

Rotary Mine Comb, Badger, Multi-Tooled Excavator, Handheld Standoff Mine

Detection System (HSTAMIDS), and the Mini MineWolf. 

Point of Contact:

Sean Burke, Program Manager

US Army RDECOM CERDEC NVESD

ATTN: RDER-NVC-HD

10221 Burbeck Road

Fort Belvoir, Virginia 22060

USA

telephone: +1 703 704 1047

fax: +1 703 704 3001

email: sean.p.burke@us.army.mil

website: http://humanitarian-demining.org

U.S. Department of Defense’s 

Humanitarian Demining Research and 

Development Program

Somalia 

Landmines, explosive remnants of war 

(ERW) and other conventional weapons 

and munitions have adversely affected 

Somalia as a result of armed conflicts 

stemming back to 1964. Conventionalweapons and small arms and light weapons (SA/LW) trafficking is a widespread 

problem, particularly across Somalia’s 

border with Kenya. In addition, multiple 

abandoned stockpiles are located within 

civilian residential areas, and high levels 

of ERW contamination exist along both 

the southern border with Kenya and the 

Ethiopian border.

From FY1998–FY2008, the Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau 

of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) 

provided $7,352,000 to nongovernmental organizations, including The HALO 

Trust (HALO), CARE International, and 

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) to assist in 

humanitarian demining, SA/LW and conventional weapons destruction (CWD), and 

mobile explosive-ordnance disposal (EOD) 

team operations.
14 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Africa

Somali children stand in a camp for internally displaced people in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

Photo courtesy of U.N./Stuart Price.

In FY2011 PM/WRA provided grants totaling $2,325,000 

as follows:

•	 MAG received funding for CWD and EOD operations, and limited capacity development for the Puntland Police EOD teams. 

•	 HALO received funding for mine action and mechanical 

clearance activities in Somaliland to protect potential victims, 

restore safe access to land and infrastructure, and destroy items 

that could be used by terrorist groups for explosive harvesting. HALO was also funded to rehabilitate six police armories 

in Somaliland and provide training for the police so that the 

rehabilitated armories are used properly and are in line with 

internationally recognized standards.

•	 Danish Demining Group was granted funding to reduce the 

threat posed by landmines, ERW, and SA/LW through minerisk education, survey, and EOD in the Mudug and Galguduud 

regions of Southcentral Somalia.

South Sudan 

As a result of a referendum in January 2011, South Sudan 

became the world’s newest nation 9 July 2011. Before South 

Sudan’s independence, more than two decades of civil war between 

the government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army 

led to extensive explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination 

and contributed to the illicit proliferation of small arms and 

light weapons (SA/LW). According to the Landmine and Cluster 

Munitions Monitor, as of December 2010, South Sudan has 

830 remaining hazardous areas, including 68 confirmed mined 

areas, 567 dangerous areas, and 195 suspected hazardous areas. 

Additionally, evidence suggests that new mines were laid in the 

Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile provinces. 

To aid in clearance efforts, the Office of Weapons Removal 

and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of 

Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) provided $2.8 million in 

FY2011 as follows:

•	 MAG (Mines Advisory Group) received funding for an 

11-person explosive-ordnance disposal (EOD) and SA/LW 

team and a community liaison team to remove all SA/LW and 

unexploded ordnance from South Sudan, as well as for survey 

and battle-area clearance (BAC) teams to continue operations 

in the Central Equatoria and Upper Nile provinces. 

•	 Norwegian People’s Aid was granted funds for the continuation 

of EOD and BAC teams in the Greater Equatoria, Jonglei, 

and Upper Nile provinces, which allowed for the demolition 

of 10 stockpiles. 

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) conducts mine-risk education in South Sudan.

Photo courtesy of Geary Cox/CISR.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 15

•	 The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) continued the capacity development of the South Sudan Integrated Mine Action 

Center (SIMAS) with PM/WRA funding. SIMAS remains the 

only internationally accredited mine-action nongovernmental organization indigenous to South Sudan, and operates in Central 

Equatoria with two manual demining teams and one EOD team. 

PM/WRA further supports SA/LW control efforts in South 

Sudan through its funding of the African Great Lakes Regional 

Centre on Small Arms in Nairobi, Kenya.

Sudan 

A 22-year conflict between the government of Sudan and the 

Sudan People’s Liberation Army has left Sudan contaminated by 

landmines, explosive remnants of war (ERW), and conventional 

arms and munitions. The ongoing conflict in the Darfur region 

has also led to mine/ERW contamination. Since the late 1980s, 

the U.S. Government and the United Nations have been providing humanitarian assistance in Sudan. In 2005, the signing of the 

Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended the civil war and allowed 

for the arrival of a U.N. mission, which included the initiation of 

a program to combat the threats posed by ERW and landmine 

contamination. This, in turn, led to a Landmine Impact Survey in 

January 2009, which identified 296 affected communities affecting 

2.5 million people. Then, in July 2011, South Sudan seceded from 

Sudan to become the world’s newest country.

To help alleviate the contamination problem, in FY2011, the 

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) 

provided $1.1 million to fund the following:

•	 MAG (Mines Advisory Group) received support for survey 

and battle-area clearance (BAC) teams to continue operations 

in the Blue Nile and Kassala provinces. The project surveyed 

14 suspected hazardous areas and released two million square 

meters (494 acres) to communities through Technical and 

Non-technical Survey.

•	 DanChurchAid was funded to continue support of explosiveordnance disposal, BAC, manual demining, and survey activities 

for a multi-task team in Southern Kordofan, clearing 60,000 

square meters (almost 15 acres) of land. 

PM/WRA further supports SA/LW control efforts in Sudan 

through its funding of the African Great Lakes Regional Centre 

on Small Arms in Nairobi, Kenya.

Tanzania 

In February 2011, the Gongo la Mboto ammunition storage 

site in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania exploded, destroying at least 

160 nearby homes and causing 26 civilian deaths and injuring 

hundreds more. In response to a request for assistance from the 

government of Tanzania, U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) 

provided an initial training in explosive-ordnance disposal/

Pierre Nkurunziza, (right) President of the Republic of Burundi, and Agathon Rwasa (left) of the Palipehutu-Forces Nationales de Libération (FNL), signing a ceasefire 

agreement in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

Photo courtesy of UN/Penangnini Toure.
16 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Africa

explosive remnants of war (EOD/ERW) operations and medical 

first-responder services.

For FY2012, USAFRICOM has assigned Tanzania to the U.S. 

Naval Forces Africa, which will conduct two missions in 2012 to 

continue to build EOD/ERW operations capacity. Conventional 

weapons and munitions destruction efforts in Tanzania are also 

supported by the African Great Lakes Regional Centre on Small 

Arms in Nairobi, Kenya, which receives assistance from the Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of 

State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA). 

African Great Lakes Region 

The Great Lakes Region of Africa, including countries 

surrounding Lake Kivu and Uganda, has experienced decades of 

civil war as non-state actors and neighboring countries vied for 

influence in the region. Though most major armed conflicts in 

the area ended in the beginning of the 21st century, the region 

is still plagued by a cross-border black market in small arms and 

light weapons (SA/LW). Non-state actors in the eastern and 

northern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 

(DRC) continue to terrorize civilians and occasionally conduct 

cross-border operations against neighboring countries. The porous 

borders between DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda facilitate 

arms smuggling, and the resulting illicit SA/LW trafficking poses 

a significant challenge to peace building and stability in the region.

In 2000, governments in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn 

of Africa sought to address the SA/LW challenge by creating the 

Nairobi Protocol, a plan for legislative and civil action. As a part of 

this agreement, the Regional Centre on Small Arms in the Great 

Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa (RECSA) was established 

in June 2005. Located in Nairobi, Kenya, the center coordinates 

regional activities aimed at reducing the illicit proliferation of SA/

LW and implementing the Nairobi Protocol. RECSA member 

states comprise the countries that signed the Nairobi Agreement 

including: Burundi, Central African Republic, DRC, Djibouti, 

Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South 

Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.

The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. 

Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/

WRA) has provided $2,291,787 since 2006 to RECSA. These 

funds have purchased 26 marking machines, providing at least 

two for each RECSA member state, and funded two regional 

training seminars on SA/LW marking. More than 86,000 SA/

LW have been marked with this equipment, and Rwanda and 

Seychelles have finished marking all police equipment. PM/WRA 

funds also facilitated SA/LW destruction activities and workshops 

focusing on man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) 

proliferation, arms brokering, and stockpile security. As a result, 

all RECSA member states have agreed to adopt MANPADS 

control guidelines.

In FY 2011, PM/WRA provided $300,617 in funding for the 

following work by international organizations in the region:

•	 Small Arms Survey conducted an evaluation of RECSA member 

states’ efforts to strengthen firearm marking and record keeping 

capacity, helping PM/WRA identify successes and challenges 

in order to maximize the impact of future funding for weapons 

marking and tracing programs globally. 

•	 RECSA received funding to continue SA/LW workshops for 

regional governments, support SA/LW marking (including 

refresher training and spare parts) in member states, and to 

strengthen RECSA as an institution through administrative 

capacity-building.

Southern Africa Region 

The illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons 

(SA/LW) has prolonged conflicts, heightened tensions, and resulted in increased violent crime throughout Africa. In 1995, the 

South African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization 

(SARPCCO) was established to create a regional body to combat cross-border crime, including weapons trafficking, in Southern 

Africa. Its current members include Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, 

Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, 

Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

In FY2011, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement 

in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs (PM/WRA) granted $700,000 to MAG (Mines Advisory 

Group) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) to improve the 

weapons marking and tracing capacity of SARPCCO states. As a 

result, MAG and ISS provided 12 marking machines and training 

for 175 police and military personnel in Angola, Botswana, 

Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, 

Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Small arms and light weapons collected in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Photo courtesy of UN/Stuart Price.

REGIONAL PROGRAMS
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 17

THE INFORMATION 

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 

FOR MINE ACTION

The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining 

(GICHD) launched the Information Management System for 

Mine Action (IMSMA) in response to requests from the mineaction community for a software tool that could help organizations 

facilitate mine-action programs with greater degrees of safety, speed, 

efficiency, and effectiveness. Provided free of charge, IMSMA is 

a highly customizable system that offers computerized decisionsupport and resource-planning tools for mine-action organizations. 

IMSMA helps mine-action managers document and analyze survey 

and field data information, and the results help them make decisions 

to support the best operational practices. 

Created for national governments, nongovernmental organizations, international organizations and various peacekeeping forces, 

IMSMA is currently used by more than 80 percent of mine-action 

programs around the world and can be found in more than 1,200 

installations in 57 countries. Initially developed and released in 

Kosovo in 1999 by Zurich’s Institute of Technology, IMSMA records contaminated areas and allows organizations to keep track of 

remaining threats, as well as to follow trends in casualties, survey 

and clearance rates, and other key factors. IMSMA users can produce detailed maps and a wide variety of statistics and planning 

tools from the data they enter. Based on user feedback, GICHD 

worked with FGM, Inc., a software developer, to create the Next 

Generation of IMSMA in 2006. Core funding for IMSMA’s development and deployment is provided by the Swiss government. 

Other financial supporters of IMSMA include Australia, Sweden 

and the U.S. 

Referred to as IMSMANG, this new version of the 

software provides a high level of flexibility and is based on 

the information-management cycle, an iteractive process that 

includes user feedback and subsequent updates throughout the 

implementation of the system. Intuitive in design, some of the 

core concepts for IMSMANG include report design, which allows 

users to customize their own reports; data quality validation, 

which ensures only high-quality data is stored; and data 

classification, which aids in organization.

IMSMA is frequently updated and revised. Periodic releases 

give developers opportunities to respond to feedback and 

provide patch software; the current release of IMSMANG is 

5.05.04. GICHD provides IMSMA free of charge to national 

authorities on mine action or any organizations that serve this 

role, and other organizations involved in mine-action activities 

may contact GICHD directly to obtain the software. 

Contact Information:

Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining

info@gichd.org.

http://www.imsma.org or http://gichd.org
18 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

ASIA

Afghanistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Burma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Cambodia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Kyrgyzstan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Laos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Solomon Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Tajikistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Thailand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Asia, the world’s largest continent, is home to 

the world’s oldest continuous civilization and 

nearly two-thirds of its population. Despite 

rapid economic growth and development, it has been 

challenged with recent humanitarian crises, including 

natural disasters and war. Large gaps exist between 

the wealth of developed or nearly developed nations, 

such as Japan or China, and those of developing 

nations, such as Laos and Burma. Civilians throughout 

Southeast Asia regularly face injury or death from 

explosive remnants of war, landmines, and unexploded 

ordnance, resulting from decades of armed conflicts 

since World War II. Asia contains the world’s most 

heavily mined country, Afghanistan, and the country 

most heavily bombed per capita, Laos.

Children get water in a refugee camp near Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Ethnic clashes in 

Kyrgyzstan forced many from their homes in 2010.

Photo courtesy of UN.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 19

Solomon Islands

Kyrgystan

Vietnam

Burma

Sri Lanka

Laos

Cambodia

Tajikistan

Thailand

Afghanistan

Afghanistan

55.18%

Vietnam

11.13%

Uzbekistan

Thailand 0.02%

1.87%

Tajikistan

0.93%

Sri Lanka

Solomon Islands 5.76%

0.07%

Philippines

0.45%

Palau

0.02% Pakistan

0.15% Nepal

0.18%

Laos

9.61%

Kyrgyzstan

0.09%

Kazakhstan

0.05%

Cambodia

14.47%

Burma

0.02%

Total U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction Funding In Asia 

From All Sources, 1993–2011: $549,628,000

(This chart shows the percentage of total funding allocated to each country within the region.)
20 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

ASIA

Afghanistan 

After more than three decades of violent conflict, Afghanistan 

has one of the highest levels of landmine and unexploded ordnance 

(UXO) contamination in the world, as well as large stores of poorly 

secured conventional weapons and munitions. As of December 

2011, the Mine Action Coordination Center of Afghanistan 

(MACCA) estimated that Afghanistan has 6,048 hazardous areas, 

affecting 588 square kilometers (more than 227 square miles) and 

1,930 communities. Additionally, insurgents still use landmines and 

explosive remnants of war (ERW) as improvised explosive devices 

to attack civilian and military targets, as well as noncombatants. 

Although the Mine Action Program in Afghanistan (MAPA) 

has successfully cleared more than half of all suspected hazardous 

areas, deteriorating infrastructure, difficult terrain, and ongoing 

conflict leave the remaining contaminated land inaccessible.

In FY2011, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 

(PM/WRA) provided $40,475,000 for humanitarian demining 

activities. PM/WRA funds for Afghanistan in FY2011 were used 

as follows:

•	 United Nations Mine Action Service received funding to 

support MAPA with particular emphasis on host-nation 

capacity development within the Afghan Department of Mine 

Clearance. Responsibility and managerial oversight resided 

within MACCA and included operational program coordination; 

development and assessment of the national demining program; 

a minimum of five quality-assurance/quality-control visits 

The Halo Trust facilitates demining operations in Afghanistan.

Photo courtesy of The HALO Trust.

to deployed demining organizations throughout the fiscal 

year; and an operational assessment of U.S.-funded national 

nongovernmental organizations (NGO) that includes results in 

a balanced-scorecard approach to efficiency assessment. 

•	 Afghan Technical Consultants was granted funding for 

continued mine-action operations in the East, Southeast, and 

Central provinces. Clearance operations included 13 manual 

demining teams, two mechanical demining units, five minedetection dog (MDD) groups, and three explosive ordnance 

disposal (EOD) teams. 

•	 Clear Path International received funding to support 10 

subgrant recipients that will expand and support integrated 

victim-assistance initiatives throughout North, East, and 

South Afghanistan. 

•	 Counterinsurgency-related community based demining (CBD) 

was funded to support the International Security Assistance 

Force’s post-kinetic operations by providing security and infrastructure to locals while screening the population for insurgents, and establishing or re-establishing essential services using 

NGO and local workforces.

•	 Danish Demining Group (DDG) continued mine-clearance 

operations in Panjshir province with funding from PM/WRA. 

DDG conducted polygon surveys, cleared confirmed hazardous 

areas, destroyed excess and abandoned ordnance and small arms 

and light weapons, and conducted battle-area clearance on land 

contaminated with ERW. 

•	 Demining Agency for Afghanistan received assistance to 

continue mine-clearance operations in Kabul, Kandahar, and 

Nangarhar provinces of Afghanistan. Operations included 13 

manual demining teams, four mine-detection units, five MDD 

groups, three CBD teams, and two EOD teams.

•	 DynCorp International received funding for the oversight of 

mine-clearance projects, the mentoring of five NGOs, and 

the management of eight conventional weapons destruction 

EOD teams. 

•	 The HALO Trust (HALO) received support for weapons and 

ammunition disposal teams in the East and Central provinces 

of Afghanistan and continued mine-clearance operations in 

the Central and Northern regions of Afghanistan. HALO’s 

clearance operations include: manual demining teams, 

mechanical demining units, and technical survey teams. 

•	 Marshall Legacy Institute was funded to support the connection 

of two Afghan schools with two American “sister schools” 

through the implementation of the Children Against Mines 

Program. Funding also supported the travel and compensation 

for a specialized veterinarian to evaluate the MDD program in 

Afghanistan.

•	 Mine Clearance Planning Agency was funded for continued 

mine-action operations in Khost, Logar, Nangarhar, Paktiya, and 

Parwan provinces of Afghanistan. Clearance operations included 

18 manual demining teams, five MDD groups, two EOD teams, 

and two mechanical demining units. It also received support to 
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 21

clear the remaining two hazardous areas 

in Daman district, Kandahar.

•	 Mine Detection Dog Center was granted 

funding for continued mine-clearance 

operations in Nangarhar and Kandahar 

provinces. 

•	 Organization for Mine Clearance and 

Afghan Rehabilitation received support 

for the deployment of 15 demining teams, 

four MDD groups, and one manual 

demining unit to Kabul, Laghman, 

Logar, and Nangarhar provinces in the 

East and Central regions of Afghanistan.

•	 Swiss Foundation for Mine Action 

(FSD) was funded to support continued 

demining operations in Darwaz district, Badakhshan province. This was the 

Afghan-side of a regional, cross-border 

demining project that collaborated project management and support through 

the Republic of Tajikistan. MACCA 

designated Darwaz district as one of the 

highest priority areas within Badakhshan 

province. FSD’s project operations included: two manual demining teams; two 

technical survey teams; one EOD team; 

and operational support and development of a regional medical clinic to assist casualty evacuation and treatment of 

injured deminers.

Also in FY2011, the U.S. Department of 

Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Research 

and Development (HD R&D) Program, 

in partnership with HALO, continued 

evaluations of equipment valued at $1 

million. The equipment includes the Orbit 

Screen, which sifts mine-contaminated soil, 

several sifting excavator attachments, and the 

Mantis, an armored area-preparation and 

mine-clearance tractor. These systems have 

cleared more than 920,000 square meters 

(about a quarter of an acre) of land and sifted 

over 228,000 cubic meters (about 288 cubic 

yards) of soil. More than 25,000 mines and 

pieces of UXO were cleared or destroyed. In 

FY2011, the Raptor armored tractor with 

the Rotary Mine Comb anti-tank (AT) 

mine-clearance attachment began operation, 

clearing 61,000 square meters (15 acres) of 

land and finding two AT mines. In FY2012, 

the technologies will continue to clear mines 

and perform technical survey in villages and 

agricultural areas throughout Afghanistan. 

To learn more about the U.S. Department of 

Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Program, 

visit http://humanitarian-demining.org.

Burma 

Burma has suffered from a prolonged 

series of internal conflicts and governmental 

crises throughout much of the last half 

century. As a result of these conflicts, 

landmines were frequently laid in many 

areas of Burma by various sides, including 

the government and armed ethnic 

groups, and it is possible that landmines 

continue to be laid in some areas of the 

country. Extensive areas are known to be 

contaminated, especially in the south and 

east, and unknown numbers of Burmese are 

killed or injured by landmines every year. 

Little or no assistance reaches most victims, 

but recent political progress in the country 

has made it possible to get medical and 

other aid to more victims and their families. 

In FY2011, the Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement in the U.S. 

Department of State’s Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs (PM/WRA) granted 

$189,106 to the Humpty Dumpty Institute 

to establish victim-assistance and mine-risk 

education programs inside Burma. These 

programs were organized in partnership 

with the Sitagu Association, a leading 

Buddhist humanitarian organization within 

Burma, to use the association’s network of 

16 hospitals to implement programming 

activities in six regions and seven states.

Cambodia 

Cambodia is severely affected by 

landmines and explosive remnants of war 

as a result of nearly three decades of armed 

conflicts involving the Khmer Rouge, 

the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, 

Vietnamese government forces, the United 

States, and the Thai Army. In particular, 

the K-5 landmine belt spans much of the 

border separating Cambodia and Thailand, 

limiting mobility. Eastern Cambodia is also 

heavily affected with unexploded ordnance 

(UXO) from conflicts with Vietnam, and 

from U.S. air and artillery strikes during the 

Vietnam War. 

In FY2011, the Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement in the U.S. 

Department of State’s Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs (PM/WRA) provided $5 

million for clearance, capacity-building, 

victim assistance, and risk education to the 

following groups: 

•	 DynCorp International was funded to 

support the Cambodian Mine Action 

Center (CMAC), including training 

for mobile mine/UXO clearance and 

deployment of roving UXO clearance 

teams in the eastern part of Cambodia. 

•	 The HALO Trust (HALO) received 

funding to clear mines and UXO from 

the K-5 belt and newly-settled areas of 

the north. 

•	 MAG (Mines Advisory Group) was 

granted funding to support battlefield 

clearance of mines and UXO, as well as 

mine/UXO education, in the Battambang region and elsewhere. 

•	 Golden West Humanitarian Foundation 

(GWHF) was funded for the Explosive 

Harvesting Program and for providing 

training to CMAC personnel. GWHF 

also received funding for technical capacitybuilding and for provision of explosives to 

all clearance operators in Cambodia. 

A mine-risk education billboard in Cambodia.

Photo courtesy of CISR/Suzanne Fiederlein.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Burma.

Photo courtesy of U.S. State Dept.
22 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

ASIA

Demining operations in Cambodia.

Photo courtesy of CISR/Suzanne Fiederlein.

•	 Clear Path International received support for victimassistance activities.

•	 Landmine Relief Fund was granted funds to support the 

clearance operations of the local nongovernmental organization 

Cambodian Self-Help Demining.

•	 Spirit of Soccer received funding for sports-based risk education.

The U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining 

Research and Development (HD R&D) Program has also 

worked for many years in Cambodia, providing technologies for 

operational field evaluations (OFE) with CMAC, HALO, MAG, 

and GWHF valued at more than $3 million. 

Since 2006, HALO and MAG have integrated the dual-sensor 

Handheld Standoff Mine Detection System (HSTAMIDS) metal 

detector into their manual mine-clearance operations in densely 

cluttered minefields. In total, the HSTAMIDS operations have 

cleared 3.5 million square meters (865 acres) of land and detected 

19,300 anti-personnel mines. The HD R&D Program continued 

the evaluation of Long-handled Tools to augment the speed of 

the HSTAMIDS preparatory and clutter investigation processes.

In FY2011, the HD R&D Program continued OFEs of the 

Badger, an area-preparation and mine-clearance excavator; the 

Storm area-preparation and mine-clearance excavator capable of 

operating on steep slopes; and the Tempest vegetation cutting flail. 

Also during FY2011, the HD R&D Program initiated OFEs of 

the Nemesis, a remote-controlled skid-steer with area preparation 

attachments, and the Rex, a small tracked excavator with area 

preparation and mine-clearance attachments. Those technologies 

have cleared 195,000 square meters (48 acres) of vegetation and 

suspect soil, finding 798 mines and pieces of UXO. Through 

FY2011 GWHF’s innovative Explosive Harvesting and Mine 

Cutting Systems operating in Cambodia have processed 10,475 

pieces of ordnance, recovering 26,000 kilograms (29 U.S. tons) of 

explosives and 69,000 kilograms (76 U.S. tons) of metal for safe 

recycling. To learn more about the U.S. Department of Defense’s 

Humanitarian Demining Program, visit http://humanitariandemining.org.

Kyrgyzstan 

Kyrgyzstan is affected by landmines along its border with 

Uzbekistan, laid by both countries between 1999 and 2000. 

Unfortunately, rainfall and landslides have caused many of these 

mines to shift, and two mines found on a road in the capital city 

of Bishkek have raised fears of further contamination changes. 

Kyrgyzstan also faces instability from small arms and light 

weapons (SA/LW) stockpiles. In March 2011, the Organization 

for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) conducted an 

assessment and determined that current SA/LW, conventional 

weapons, and ammunitions storage sites pose serious dangers to 

the civilian population. 
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 23

To help with weapons stability, the Office of Weapons Removal 

and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of 

Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) provided $500,000 to 

OSCE to conduct conventional weapons destruction programs in 

FY2011. As a direct result of the grant, the project will develop a 

national regulatory framework for the management of SA/LW and 

conventional ammunition stockpiles to accommodate OSCE and 

United Nations best practices. Additionally, the project will help 

mitigate the threat of explosions and educate Kyrgyzstan’s military 

on the necessity for strict weapons storage guidelines. 

Laos

During its prolonged air campaign against North Vietnamese 

forces operating in Laos, the U.S. military dropped more than 

two million tons of bombs, and estimates indicate that up to 30 

percent of some types of these aerial munitions failed to detonate 

on impact. Cluster munitions are known to have had a particularly 

high failure rate. On a per capita basis, Laos is considered to be the 

most heavily bombed country in history, and unexploded ordnance 

(UXO) continues to take a heavy civilian toll, especially among 

children. Although casualty statistics remain unreliable, most 

observers agree UXO kills or wounds roughly 100 to 150 people 

a year in Laos. UXO also has considerable impact on economic 

development, driving up the cost of infrastructure construction and 

preventing large amounts of arable land from being safely farmed. 

In 1996, the Lao government established UXO Lao as the 

national clearance organization to systematically address this 

explosive contamination, and in 2006 the government created the 

National Regulatory Authority (NRA) as the policy-level body for 

all aspects of UXO clearance efforts. Since clearance operations 

began, at least 186 types of munitions from all former combatants 

have been located, highlighting the complexity of the challenges 

faced by clearance personnel.

Since 1995 the United States has contributed more than $45 

million to UXO removal, risk education, and victim-assistance 

programs in Laos, and the U.S. is by far the largest single donor 

to the UXO sector there. In FY2011, the Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s 

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) allotted more 

than $5 million for the following humanitarian UXO clearance 

and related work:

•	 Armor Group North America received funding to provide 

financial and technical support to UXO Lao and NRA.

•	 MAG (Mines Advisory Group) was funded to provide survey 

and clearance services.

•	 Norwegian People’s Aid received funding for survey and 

clearance work.

•	 World Education received financial support to provide victimassistance and risk education.

•	 Clear Path International was funded to provide victimassistance services.

•	 Spirit of Soccer received funding to provide risk education. 

Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands are contaminated with unexploded 

ordnance (UXO) as a consequence of World War II. In FY2011, 

the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. 

Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 

(PM/WRA) provided $400,000 to Golden West Humanitarian 

Foundation to provide International Mine Action Standards Level 

2 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) training to the Royal 

Solomon Islands Police EOD section, including medical, deep 

search, and excavation training. PM/WRA funding also supported 

the establishment of a headquarters facility on Guadalcanal, 

including necessary UXO-clearance operations to prepare the site. 

Sri Lanka 

Armed conflict lasting nearly three decades between government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 

contaminated Sri Lanka with landmines and explosive remnants 

of war. Additional contamination occurred when a 2002 cease-fire 

collapsed in 2006. This contamination continues to challenge economic reconstruction and the return of internally displaced people 

Little Swoop was donated to the Sri Lankan Army’s Humanitarian Demining 

Unit through Marshall Legacy Institute’s (MLI) Mine Detection Dog Partnership 

Program in 2011. Nicholas, pictured with Little Swoop, is a student from an 

inner city school in Philadelphia. His school partnered with the Philadelphia 

Eagles football team to sponsor this dog for Sri Lanka. MLI took Nicholas, a 

student leader in the dog-sponsorship campaign, to Sri Lanka last summer to 

meet Little Swoop.

Photo courtesy of MLI.
24 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

ASIA

demining machine with attached mineaction team, two technical survey teams, 

and six mine-action teams to conduct 

clearance in high-priority areas for 

seven months.

•	 The HALO Trust received funding 

to support the deployment of one 

combined minefield survey, explosive 

ordnance disposal (EOD) and 

community liaison team; 13 manual 

demining sections; and one mechanical 

mine-clearance support team.

•	 Danish Demining Group received funding to support the deployment of three 

manual demining teams, one survey 

team, one quick-reaction team equipped 

with metal detectors, and one mechanical 

ground preparation unit. 

•	 The Swiss Foundation for Mine 

Action received funding to support the 

deployment of two manual demining 

teams, three mechanical demining teams, 

and one EOD team. 

•	 The Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI) 

received funding to support the 

transportation, training, and sheltering 

of six mine-detection dogs previously 

purchased by donations raised by MLI.

(IDPs), thousands of whom are prevented, 

in part, from returning to their homes by 

the continued presence of mines. 

From FY2002–FY2010 the Office of 

Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau 

of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) 

spent $20,862,000 in Sri Lanka to address landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in affected areas, build operational capacity within the Sri Lankan 

Army, deliver mine-risk education, and 

expedite the resettlement of IDPs. In addition, during FY2002–FY2010, the U.S. 

Agency for International Development’s 

(USAID) Leahy War Victims Fund 

provided $4,350,000 for orthotics, prosthetics, and victim assistance to help Sri 

Lankan victims of war. The U.S. Department of Defense also provided training 

and equipment support.

In FY2011, PM/WRA granted $2.5 

million to sustain the following clearance 

operations in Sri Lanka:

•	 (MAG) Mines Advisory Group 

received funding to support the 

deployment of two community 

liaison teams, one mechanical Bozena 

Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) weapons-and-ammunition disposal personnel prepare a 225-mm 

rocket for demolition in Tajikistan.

Photo courtesy of FSD.

In addition, in FY2011, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining 

Research and Development (HD R&D) 

Program, in partnership with MAG, began 

an evaluation of the Improved Backhoe 

system. The equipment, valued at $220,000, 

provides area preparation, area reduction 

and mine-clearance capabilities to release 

villages and agricultural land to returning 

IDPs. In its first six months of operation, 

the Improved Backhoe cleared vegetation 

and mines from 26,000 square meters (almost 6.5 acres) of land, itself uncovering 

64 mines and assisting in the clearance of 

more than 1,000 additional mines in follow-up manual clearance. To learn more 

about the U.S. Department of Defense’s 

Humanitarian Demining Program, visit 

http://humanitarian-demining.org.

Tajikistan 

Tajikistan is contaminated with landmines from the Soviet-conducted border 

defense operations during the 1979–1989 

occupation of Afghanistan, the 1992–1997 

civil war, and the extension of Uzbekistan 

into Tajik territory to stop the Islamic 

Movement of Uzbekistan. Demining activities are currently concentrated on the 

Tajik-Afghan border. 

In FY2011, the Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement in the U.S. 

Department of State’s Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs (PM/WRA) provided $1 

million to the Swiss Foundation for Mine 

Action (FSD) to support a weapons-andammunition disposal team in stockpile 

reduction operations and to support land 

release through technical survey, battle-area 

clearance, and manual demining clearance. 

As part of the Defense Threat Reduction 

Agency’s (DTRA) ongoing support to 

Tajikistan and the Organization for 

Security and Co-operation in Europe 

(OSCE), the Small Arms Light Weapons 

(SA/LW) Program of DTRA led an 

international team to Dushanbe in October 

2010 to conduct a physical security and 

stockpile management (PSSM) technical 

seminar for 17 Tajik junior officers and 

noncommissioned officers who handle 

and maintain arms and ammunition on 

a daily basis. Instructors included PSSM 
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 25

First established in October 1998, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)

is a combat-support agency for the United States Department of Defense. DTRA

aims to reduce the global threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), including

chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives. Each of DTRA’s

several offices and enterprises has its own specific objectives and responsibilities,

working together to mitigate the effects of WMDs by providing capabilities to reduce,

eliminate, and counter the threat.

In addition to its focus on WMDs, DTRA works to improve physical security and

stockpile management (PSSM) of small arms and light weapons (SA/LW) throughout

the world. DTRA’s SA/LW Program aims to reduce proliferation by aiding foreign

governments with security improvements and the management of state-controlled

stockpiles of man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), SA/LW, and conventional

ammunition. Since the SA/LW Program began in 2001, it has provided assistance to

67 countries.

The SA/LW Program accomplishes its objectives by employing teams of SA/LW experts

to provide foreign governments with assessments and technical advice to orient them

with PSSM best practices. As a result, DTRA’s efforts have decreased the availability

of weapons to terrorists and insurgents, reduced cross-border weapons transfers that

threaten regional stability, and lowered the risk of ammunition accidents.

Point of Contact:

Defense Threat Reduction Agency

DTRA Public Affairs

8725 John J. Kingman Road

Stop 6201

Fort Belvoir, Virginia 22060-6201

USA

U.S. Department of Defense’s

Defense Threat Reduction Agency

telephone: +1 800 701 5096

email: salw@dtra.mil

website: http://dtra.mil

experts from DTRA, U.S. Army Central 

Command, the Austrian Verification 

Agency, the Belgian Verification Agency, 

and the Swedish Verification Agency. 

Since December 2004, DTRA has 

conducted four assessments and six seminars in support of the OSCE’s SA/LW 

and conventional ammunition program in 

Tajikistan. In less than five years, the OSCE 

program has eliminated more than 26,000 

weapons and 99 tons of excess ammunition 

and explosives, while nine SA/LW storage 

facilities were constructed and 61 existing facilities were renovated. Additionally, 

more than 140 Tajik personnel from numerous government agencies have attended 

DTRA’s seminars on international best 

practices for PSSM of arms, ammunition, 

and explosives. 

Also in FY2011, the U.S. Department 

of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining 

Research and Development (HD R&D) 

Program, in partnership with the Tajikistan Ministry of Defense, Tajikistan Mine 

Action Center and OSCE, continued an 

evaluation of the Mini MineWolf, which 

is a remote-controlled, earth-tilling system 

capable of clearing anti-personnel and antitank landmines. Tasked with locating and 

clearing unmarked minefields along the 

Tajik-Afghan border to allow better policing, the Mini MineWolf cleared 518,000 

square meters (128 acres) of land and found 

or destroyed 793 mines and pieces of unexploded ordnance. The assistance, valued 

at $1.2 million, included support to operate and maintain the system. To learn more 

about the U.S. Department of Defense’s 

Humanitarian Demining Program, visit 

http://humanitarian-demining.org. 

Thailand 

While the precise amount of landmine 

and explosive remnants of war (ERW) 

contamination is unknown, a 2001 

Landmine Impact Survey estimated the 

contamination at 2,557 square kilometers 

(987 square miles). In 2008, Thailand 

claimed only 1,202 square kilometers (464 

square miles) of suspected hazardous area 

(SHA) still needed to be addressed, and of 

that number only 528.2 square kilometers 

(203.94 square miles) were considered 
26 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

ASIA

“real minefields” requiring manual clearance. However, the 

Thailand Mine Action Center is still in the process of revising 

its official estimates.

In addition to these mines and ERW, unexploded ordnance 

and victim-activated improvised explosive devices still threaten 

national and regional security and stability, particularly where 

clustered around the borders with Burma, Cambodia, Laos, 

and Malaysia. The 700-kilometer (435-mile) long ThaiCambodian border, for example, is still heavily contaminated 

with unexploded artillery, mortar shells, and grenade and 

ammunition caches left behind by Cambodian non-state actors 

in the 1980s and 1990s. 

In FY2011, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian 

Demining Research and Development (HD R&D) Program 

partnered with the Thailand Mine Action Center to continue 

operational field evaluations of several mechanical technologies 

in Thailand. The technologies, some of which have been used 

in Thailand for 10 years, include the small remote-controlled 

Wolverine, Beaver, and Tempest systems, and the large-class 

Survivable Demining Tractors and Uni-Disk excavator. Valued at 

$1.5 million, the technologies are used for vegetation clearance and 

area preparation. Since 2001, in preparation for manual clearance, 

the machines have collectively cleared vegetation from more than 

6.3 million square meters (almost 2.5 square miles) of SHA. To 

learn more about the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian 

Demining Program, visit http://humanitarian-demining.org.

Men wait their turn to be fitted for professionally made prosthetics at a prosthetic 

clinic in Vietnam.

Photo courtesy of CISR/Ken Rutherford.

Vietnam 

The heavy explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination in 

Vietnam is a result of a series of conflicts involving France, Japan, 

and the United States from World War II through the 1970s. 

The placement of landmines during conflicts with Cambodia 

and China in the late 1970s further exacerbated the situation. 

Vietnam’s border with Laos is also heavily affected by ERW as 

a result of U.S. bombings during the Vietnam War (1961–1973).

Vietnam has recently taken a number of significant steps to 

reform and refocus its national ERW program. These actions 

included establishing an inter-agency committee headed by 

the prime minister to direct sector policy, developing national 

mine-action standards, and implementing new land-release 

methodologies.To ensure efficacy, the Office of Weapons Removal 

and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of 

Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) has mandated mine-action 

organizations use the findings of the PM/WRA-funded Landmine 

Impact Survey (LIS) in Vietnam before commencing projects. The 

final report of the six-province LIS was released in July 2009, and 

provides Vietnam and the donor community with vital information 

regarding the impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance 

(UXO) upon communities. Surveys have now been completed in 

more than 20 additional provinces, but that data has not yet been 

made publicly available. Vietnam’s Ministry of Labor, Invalids, 

and Social Affairs released a report in 2000 stating that UXO and 

landmines were responsible for killing 38,849 people and injuring 

65,852 between 1975 and 2000. International observers have 

reported more than 1,600 casualties since 1999. In 2009 32 new 

landmine/ERW casualties were reported in Vietnam.

PM/WRA funded a total of $3.5 million in mine and ERW 

action in Vietnam in FY2011. Grantees included MAG (Mines 

Advisory Group), PeaceTrees Vietnam, the International 

Center/Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, Clear Path 

International, Golden West Humanitarian Foundation, the 

Humpty Dumpty Institute, Catholic Relief Services, and the 

Vietnam Assistance Project. 

In FY2011, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian 

Demining Research and Development (HD R&D) Program, in 

partnership with MAG, continued an operational field evaluation 

of vegetation cutters, ultimately cutting 7,800 square meters 

(almost two acres) of vegetation. The vegetation cutters provide 

critical access in densely vegetated areas to manual clearance 

teams. Norwegian People’s Aid, in partnership with Vietnam 

Veterans Memorial Fund’s Project RENEW, evaluated an armored 

excavator in area-preparation and clearance roles. Total assistance 

is valued at $275,000. To learn more about the U.S. Department 

of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Program, visit http://

humanitarian-demining.org.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 27

The International Mine 

Action Standards 

To ensure that mine-action programs are planned, implemented, 

and managed safely and efficiently, a set of operations guidelines 

called the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) were 

issued under the supervision of the United Nations Mine Action 

Service (UNMAS). Designed to support the development of 

mine-action standards within a country, the guidelines recognize 

the varying realities in communities throughout the world and are 

designed be used more as a reference than a stringent set of rules 

when needed.

To simplify IMAS, the standards are divided into 14 

categories, or series, ranging from equipment procurement to 

stockpile destruction. For each series, multiple standards provide 

in-depth information on how best to approach particular aspects 

of mine action. 

The first six series provide general guidelines. Series 1–3 

indicate how to apply IMAS to operations, establish mine-action 

programs, procure and evaluate equipment, and research related 

technology. The fourth series includes a glossary of terms and 

definitions while the fifth and sixth deal with information systems 

and training.

The remaining eight series provide detailed information on 

specific mine-action tasks. Series 7 focuses on how to facilitate 

work between different types of organizations. In addition to 

explaining types of land surveillance, the eighth series also 

describes how to release suspected-hazardous areas. Series 9 

includes standards and procedures for different types of demining, 

such as battle-area clearance, the use of mine-detection dogs, 

and mechanical demining. Describing basic safety concerns, 

the 10th series includes risk reduction and gives guidelines for 

safe working environments. Series 11 provides procedures for 

stockpile destruction. Standards on planning, implementing, 

monitoring, and evaluating mine-risk education projects are 

covered in the 12th series. Series 13, on victim assistance, has not 

yet been incorporated as of the most recent revision in October 

2011. The 14th and final series provides guidelines for assessing 

program values.

Originally endorsed by the U.N. Agency Coordination Group 

on Mine Action on 26 September 2001, IMAS has evolved from 

its introduction in March 1997. As new standards are approved 

and as changes are made to existing standards, the IMAS are 

amended by technical committees coordinated by the Geneva 

International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD). 

UNMAS is responsible for developing and maintaining IMAS, 

and the latest, up-to-date series are available online at http://bit.

ly/JL89Dd. Additionally, online support is offered by GICHD 

(http://bit.ly/gichdimas) and UNMAS (http://mineaction.org).
28 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Europe

Europe is the second smallest continent and 

contains just over one-tenth of the world’s 

population. Starting with the economic 

cooperation among six countries after World War II, the 

European Union now includes 27 nations. Founded in 

1949, NATO includes 28 member states of which 26 

are European. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union 

and Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Eastern Europe has 

undergone extensive transitions. Explosive remnants of 

war, as well as stockpiles of arms and aging munitions 

dating back to WWII, the Cold War, and the Yugoslavian 

conflict, remain the focus of destruction and clearance 

efforts. Now largely “mine-impact free” as a result of 

U.S. and international assistance, these efforts focus 

on minimizing illicit arms proliferation and removing 

threats to civilians living near military depots, several 

of which exploded with catastrophic consequences 

in recent years. With NATO support, the largest arms 

destruction project in history continues apace in 

Ukraine. Landmine and explosive remnants of war 

clearance continues in some countries in the Balkans 

and Baltics. In November 2011, the Abkhaz region of 

Georgia declared itself “mine-free.”

Albania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Armenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Azerbaijan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Bosnia and Herzegovina . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Bulgaria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Croatia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Estonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Kosovo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Lithuania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Macedonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Montenegro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Romania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Serbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Ukraine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

A team from Sterling International with local Montenegrin partners, working under 

a subcontract to ArmorGroup North America with funding from PM/WRA, with the 

last BL-755 cluster bomb in Montenegrin government stocks. It was destroyed 

5 October 2010, making the country cluster-bomb safe.

Photo courtesy of John Stevens, PM/WRA, U.S. Dept. of State.
29

Ukraine

Albania

Azerbaijan

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria

Croatia

Georgia

Kosovo

Montenegro

Serbia

Estonia

Lithuania

Macedonia

Romania

Bosnia & Herzegovina

29.06%

Azerbaijan

9.64%

Armenia

3.49%

Albania

9.81%

Ukraine

4.53%

Serbia & Montenegro

1.86%

Serbia

4.22%

Romania

0.83%

Montenegro

2.03%

Moldova

0.02% Macedonia

0.66%

Lithuania

0.17%

Kosovo

9.53%

Georgia

9.46%

Estonia

1.44%

Czech Republic

0.20%

Cyprus

0.00%

Croatia

10.85%

Bulgaria

2.19%

Armenia

Total U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction Funding

 In Europe From All Sources, 1993–2011: $302,745,000

(This chart shows the percentage of total funding allocated to each country within the region.)

TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY
30 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Europe

gram of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) conducted 

a physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) assessment 

and a technical level seminar in Albania in February 2011. During 

the assessment, the team provided recommendations at five ammunition depots concerning suitability and specific requirements 

to upgrade selected depots to meet international standards for the 

long-term storage of conventional ammunition. The technical level 

seminar oriented 27 participating ammunition technical workers 

to the international best practices for PSSM of conventional arms, 

ammunition, and explosives.

Also in 2011, the U.S. European Command Humanitarian 

Mine Action Program (USEUCOM HMA) conducted the 

third phase of a multi-year, train-the-trainer program to help 

the Albanian Armed Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal 

(EOD) program establish an effective command-and-control 

structure. Assessments and training to improve current EOD 

procedures, recruiting and training, standard operating procedure 

development, internal certification, sustainability, and operation 

safety were initiated as a part of the project. USEUCOM HMA’s 

total mission cost was $11,000.

Armenia

Armenia has minefields resulting from the Nagorno-Karabakh 

conflict. Armenian officials have commented that this land cannot 

be cleared until the conflict is resolved. Armenia also has an unknown amount of stockpiled mines remaining from the Soviet era.

In FY2011, the Humanitarian Demining Training Center 

deployed two training specialists to Armenia to assess demining 

assistance opportunities in training and education. Overseas Humanitarian Disaster Assistance and Civic Aid funded the travel 

costs, totaling $8,379. 

Also in FY2011, the Leahy War Victims Fund of the U.S. 

Agency for International Development began a new program to 

provide meaningful employment opportunities for persons with 

disabilities in Armenia, providing $1 million for efforts that will 

engage the public and private sectors to develop innovative employment models in five provinces: Ararat, Gegharkunik, Lori, 

Shirak, and Yerevan.

Albania 

From the end of World War II until his death in 1985, Enver 

Hoxha’s regime in Albania manufactured and imported vast 

quantities of arms and munitions that were stockpiled, often in 

poorly built structures, around the country. In the government 

transitions of the late 1990s, widespread looting of military depots 

resulted in the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SA/

LW) and abandoned ordnance throughout the country. Additionally, 

along its border with Kosovo, Albania faced contamination from 

landmines and explosive remnants of war generated by the armed 

forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo 

crisis in 1998–1999. Made possible in large part by U.S. support 

channeled through the Slovenia-based ITF Enhancing Human 

Security (formerly the International Trust Fund for Demining 

and Mine Victims Assistance) and coordination by the Albanian 

Mine and Munitions Coordination Office (formerly the Office 

Albanian Mine Action Executive), Albania declared itself mine 

free in October 2009. 

In FY2011, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 

(PM/WRA) granted $5,677,151 to ITF and to NATO Support 

Agency (NSPA, formerly NATO Maintenance and Supply, or 

NAMSA). A portion of these funds was used to conduct clearance 

at two of Albania’s 19 unexploded ordnance (UXO) Hot Spots, 

former Albanian artillery ranges and UXO disposal sites that now 

pose a hazard to civilians living in proximity to them. ITF worked 

with its implementing partners Sterling International and DanChurchAid to make these two Hot Spots safer. Funding was also 

granted to ITF to continue searching for and clearing UXO (much 

of it buried deep in the ground) remaining from the 2008 massive 

explosion at the Gërdec munitions-handling site where many Albanians were killed or injured. ArmorGroup North America began 

this clean-up task in 2008 under a PM/WRA contract, awarding 

subcontracts to Sterling International in partnership with EOD 

Solutions. When ITF assumed the task in 2011, it elected to retain Sterling International’s and EOD Solutions’ proven expertise 

at the site. U.S. Government-supplied equipment from previous 

work by ArmorGroup North America was transferred to ITF to 

complete these projects. 

PM/WRA also funded NSPA to continue its work for a 

second year helping the Albanian government’s Uzina e Le ̈nde ̈ve 

Plase ̈s Mjeke ̈s (ULP Mjekes) factory to manage, modernize, 

demilitarize, and as necessary, destroy excess and aging munitions. 

This second year of the project resulted in the destruction of 

3,597 tons of 120-millimeter mortar shells, anti-vehicle mines, 

122-millimeter artillery shells, and 14.5-millimeter small arms 

ammunition rounds. If PM/WRA can sustain its current level of 

annual funding for two more years, a total of 16,000 tons of excess 

Albanian munitions will be destroyed, and the Albanian people 

will be considerably safer as a result.

At the request of the U.S. Embassy in Tirana and through coordination with PM/WRA, the Small Arms Light Weapons ProJohn Stevens from PM/WRA visits an Ammunition Hot Spot in Albania funded 

by PM/WRA through a grant to the ITF Enhancing Human Security (ITF). ITF 

contracted the task to Sterling International, which sub-contracted the clearance to DanChurchAid.

Photo courtesy of John Stevens, PM/WRA, U.S. Dept. of State.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 31

for Sterling International to demilitarize 

excess and aging stockpiles of arms and munitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These 

FY2010 funds were obligated in anticipation of an immediate host-government 

decision to proceed with this project. Following the Bosnia and Herzegovina government’s approval in 2011, Sterling International began the first phase of destruction 

of 6,000 tons of approximately 20,000 total tons of stockpiled munitions, including 

cluster and G-class munitions such as white 

phosphorus, and 67,000 excess small arms 

and light weapons (SA/LW).

In FY2011 PM/WRA granted 

$3,185,000 to the Slovenia-based ITF 

Enhancing Human Security (formerly the 

International Trust Fund for Demining and 

Mine Victims Assistance) to continue longstanding U.S.-supported humanitarian 

mine action in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Clearance efforts were contracted by ITF to 

Bosnian demining companies. The Bosnia 

and Herzegovina Mine Action Center 

Steel and copper casings pulled apart from artillery shells that were deteriorating or were in excess of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s security needs are stacked at the 

Unis Pretis facility on the outskirts of Sarajevo. The casings will be recycled and sold for their metal to partially offset the cost of destruction.

Photo courtesy of John Stevens, PM/WRA, U.S. Dept. of State.

Azerbaijan 

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict left 

landmines and explosive remnants of 

war contamination in Azerbaijan. The 

Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine 

Action (ANAMA) estimates that landmines 

have caused 1,400 casualties since 1988. 

A Landmine Impact Survey revealed that 

18 of Azerbaijan’s 65 districts are mineaffected, and the majority of affected 

districts are in Western and Northwestern 

Azerbaijan in the Fizuli region and in 

Agstafa near a former Soviet military base. 

In addition, abandoned stockpiles of aging 

Soviet munitions and unexploded ordnance 

(UXO) pose risks to civilians in Azerbaijan.

From FY2000–2011, the Office of 

Weapons Removal and Abatement in the 

U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of 

Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) 

granted $21,988,000 to ANAMA for 

clearance training and equipment and the 

expansion of humanitarian demining teams, 

including mine-detection dog teams.

In FY2011, PM/WRA provided 

$365,000 to the NATO’s Partnership for 

Peace Trust Fund Project to help fund the 

first year of a three-year clearance project. 

ANAMA, the national implementing 

partner, used the funds to begin clearance of 

mines and UXO from 19 square kilometers 

(more than 7 square miles) of a former 

Soviet military testing and training area in 

Northwest Azerbaijan. The United States 

is the lead international donor, and the 

Azerbaijani government is providing half 

of the total amount of funding for these 

clearance efforts. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina 

Bosnia and Herzegovina emerged from 

its 1992–1995 conflict as the most landmine 

and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contaminated country in the Balkans.

In FY2010 the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs (PM/WRA) allocated $1,151,000 
32 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Europe

(BHMAC), and ITF provided oversight. PM/WRA funding also 

enabled Southpac Consulting Ltd. to continue examining the 

ability of Bosnian firms to provide mine-clearance services that 

meet International Mine Action Standards. In 2011 according 

to BHMAC, 145 technical surveys and 131 clearance tasks were 

implemented, demining 12.69 square kilometers (almost 5 square 

miles) of land. In this process 1,816 anti-personnel mines, 389 

anti-tank mines, 5,346 items of unexploded ordnance, including 

59 cluster munitions, were cleared.

At the request of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the SA/LW Program of the 

Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) sent an expert on an 

OSCE-led assessment visit to Sarajevo, Tuzla, Bihac, and Mostar 

to assess the need for an OSCE-funded SA/LW and conventional 

ammunition storage and security-improvement program at seven 

depots. The DTRA report concluded that a long-term program 

will provide necessary improvements to bring those sites to OSCE 

International best-practice standards.

Bulgaria 

Bulgaria was declared mine free in 1999 following the clearance 

of its minefields along its border with Greece. However, it still 

faces humanitarian, security, and financial challenges stemming 

from its massive Cold War-era stockpiles of conventional arms 

and munitions. 

In FY2011, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement 

in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs (PM/WRA) granted $2.5 million to the Slovenia-based 

ITF Enhancing Human Security (formerly the International 

Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance), for 

clearance of unexploded ordnance (UXO) after Bulgaria agreed 

to destroy 500 of its excess SA-7 man-portable air-defense systems 

(MANPADS) and 500 MANPADS grip stocks. ITF’s work focused 

on the destruction of UXO in and around the Bulgarian military’s 

Chelopechene depot near Sofia, which experienced catastrophic 

explosions in 2008. ITF contracted Sterling International to detect 

and clear UXO on surface and subsurface areas, and contracted the 

Montenegrin-based Regional Center for Underwater Demining 

(RCUD) to find and clear UXO that had dispersed from the 

explosions into an adjoining river, ponds, and part of a reservoir. 

The underwater UXO clearance was completed in November 2011 

and quality assured by a Slovenian firm, P.E.D. Sava d.o.o., that was 

also contracted by the ITF under the PM/WRA grant. Sterling 

International is expected to successfully complete the terrestrial 

clearance in July 2012. 

Croatia 

Croatia remains the second-most mine-affected country in 

the region as a result of mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) 

contamination from the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s. Despite 

having a very strong national mine-action program, residents 

of Croatia remain at risk and the United States continues to 

provide support for Croatia to clear high-priority areas needed for 

residential or economic purposes. However, mines are not the only 

risk to civilians in Croatia. Residents who live in proximity to some 

military munitions depots are also increasingly at-risk from aging 

and excess munitions often in legacy facilities inherited by Croatia. 

In September 2011 a brush fire caused a munitions depot near 

the town of Knin to explode, resulting in the destruction of the 

depot and the temporary evacuation of villages in the proximity. 

The Croatian Ministry of Defense (MOD) had scheduled this 

depot for closure later that year. The MOD is now supervising the 

cleanup of UXO at that site and environs. 

In FY2011, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement 

in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs (PM/WRA) provided $1 million to MOD to destroy 

71 of its outdated SA-7 man-portable air-defense systems 

(MANPADS) and up to 17,000 tons of its surplus, aging 

munitions, as well as improve the security features at three longterm storage sites, bringing them closer to NATO standards. 

U.S.-Croatia initiatives in previous years led to the destruction 

of 929 of its obsolete MANPADS, thereby reducing Croatia’s 

storage and security burden. 

In FY2011, PM/WRA also granted $2,546,848 to the 

Slovenia-based ITF Enhancing Human Security (formerly 

the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims 

During the war the unique soil in Croatia where maraschino cherries are grown 

was polluted with landmines. With the assistance of PM/WRA working with ITF 

Enhancing Human Security, and in cooperation with the Croation Mine Action 

Center, the land is once again safe and productive.

Photo courtesy of John Stevens, PM/WRA, U.S. Dept. of State.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 33

Instability and humanitarian disasters resulting from the illicit proliferation of weapons

and accidental explosions of stockpiles filled with aged, deteriorating munitions,

respectively, can destabilize individual countries or entire regions. The Regional

Approach to Stockpile Reduction (RASR) initiative is a coordinated and comprehensive

effort to eliminate threats posed by decrepit, excess, dangerously stored or poorly

secured, unstable, or otherwise hazardous stockpiles of conventional weapons and

munitions in Southeast Europe. RASR engages the expertise of the U.S. Defense Threat

Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Slovenia-based ITF Enhancing Human Security (formerly

the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance), NATO Support

Agency (NSPA, formerly NATO Maintenance and Supply, or NAMSA), Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe, RACVIAC Center for Security Cooperation, South

Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light

Weapons, Small Arms Survey, Swiss Implementation and Verification Unit of the Swiss

Army, and the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of

State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA).

RASR held its inaugural workshop in Zagreb, Croatia in May 2009. Southeast Europe government officials who have authority for the management of their countries’ stockpiles

were invited along with officials from relevant donor government agencies and various

experts on arms and munitions issues. As a result of this workshop, RASR identified the

following five priority issues related to stockpile reduction:

1.	 National and regional policy

2.	 Infrastructure

3.	 Training, education, and capacity building

4.	 Sharing of best practices and other information

5.	 Standardization of munitions classifications, surveillance systems, and

points of contact

The inaugural workshop was followed by four more workshops between 2009 and 2012.

The fourth and fifth RASR Workshops were held in Ljubljana, Slovenia and Durres, Albania, and featured visits to military munitions testing and demilitarization facilities.

Representatives from the United States and European states have participated in one or

more of these RASR workshops, which provide opportunities to network and build professional relationships, share practices and lessons learned, encourage regional stockpile

reduction efforts that leverage economies of scale, obtain information on technical and

financial assistance, and contribute to regional stability. 

Point of Contact:

Regional Approach to Stockpile Reduction

The Regional Approach 

to Stockpile Reduction

email: info@rasrinitiative.org

website: http://rasrinitiative.org 

Assistance); $1.5 million of this funding 

is reserved for the destruction of 3,700 

tons of Croatia’s aging stockpiled 

munitions. The remaining $1,046,848 

supported technical surveys and mine 

clearance in Osijek-Baranja, VukovarskoSrijemska, and Karlovac counties, which 

was conducted by Croatian demining 

firms contracted by ITF. 

Estonia 

Sea mines and water-borne unexploded 

ordnance (UXO) placed in the Baltic Sea 

and in the Gulf of Finland during World 

Wars I and II still affect maritime commerce 

and recreation off the coast of Estonia. 

Likewise, UXO from World Wars I and II 

and from the period of Soviet occupation 

are commonly found in Estonian forests 

and cities, causing a number of deaths 

and injuries every year. The problem is 

sufficiently severe that all Estonian schools 

teach a mandatory course on UXO safety. 

From FY1999 through FY2010, the Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau 

of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) 

provided $2,499,000 for clearance efforts. 

In FY2011, U.S. European Command 

Humanitarian Mine Action Program 

(USEUCOM HMA) conducted a minerisk education (MRE) train-the-trainer 

course for the Estonian Rescue Board 

(ERB) and provided some demining 

equipment. Five hospital corpsmen from 

U.S. naval hospitals Sigonella and Naples 

trained 17 ERB explosive-ordnance disposal chiefs, deputy chiefs, MRE program managers and instructors, and four 

regional bomb groups on a national MRE 

strategy using mass communications. As 

a result of the training, USEUCOMfunded MRE video segments were 

shown at local movie theaters, linked to 

pop-up internet banners, and aired on 

television. Hundreds of thousands of additional Estonian citizens have received 

landmine/UXO awareness education as a 

result. USEUCOM funds also provided 

15 ground-penetrating radar detectors, 

compact UXO detectors, large search 

heads, software and training. The total 

mission cost was $225,000. 
34 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Europe

Georgia 

Landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination in Georgia remains around former Soviet Union military 

bases and along its administrative boundary lines with the occupied territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In 2008, after a 

week of fighting between Georgian and Russian forces in South 

Ossetia, 20 square kilometers (almost 5,000 acres) of land between the cities of Gori and Tskhinvali was contaminated by additional cluster munitions. In addition, Georgia also faces threats 

from stockpiles of old and deteriorating munitions remaining 

from Soviet times.

In FY2011, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 

(PM/WRA) granted $1,158,207 to fund the following international clearance efforts in Georgia:

•	 The HALO Trust (HALO) received support to continue technical survey and clearance of the high-priority minefields remaining from the Soviet era.

•	 HALO also received funding to finish survey and clearance 

of ERW, landmines, and abandoned munitions in the 

Abkhazia region.

•	 DELTA (State Military Scientific-Technical Center), a 

national Georgian entity, received a grant to assist with the 

destruction of excess and aging conventional munitions.

In November 2011, as a result of efforts supported by PM/WRA 

funding, HALO declared all 336 known minefields in the Abkhazia 

region to be mine-free. 

Kosovo

Kosovo was contaminated in the 1990s by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) as a result of conflicts between 

the Kosovo Liberation Army and the army of the Federal Republic 

of Yugoslavia (FRY), and by NATO airstrikes on FRY forces. In 

addition, unexploded ordnance (UXO) from World War II were 

found in Kosovo. 

From the conclusion of the conflict in 1999 through FY2010, 

the United States provided more than $28 million in mine-action 

assistance to Kosovo, much of it through grants to the Sloveniabased ITF Enhancing Human Security (formerly known as the 

International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance). This assistance, coupled with that of other donors, resulted 

in most of Kosovo being cleared of landmines and ERW. The humanitarian demining arm of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) has 

received significant training and equipment. Some rural areas with 

little or no permanent habitation, but where hunting and forestry 

take place, remain contaminated by vestigial mines and UXO.

In FY2011, PM/WRA provided $450,000 in a grant to ITF, 

which contracted local demining companies to clear remaining 

landmines and explosive remnants of war in 62 hazardous areas 

and to verify 56 other suspected hazardous areas throughout the 

country. This grant also included assistance to the KSF’s humanitarian demining operations with mine-detection dog teams based 

in Bosnia. 

Lithuania 

Though there are no known remaining mined areas, Lithuania 

is still affected by scattered unexploded ordnance generated by 

combat during World War II. In addition, some of the arms and 

conventional munitions stockpiled by the Lithuanian armed forces 

are excess to their national security needs. 

In FY2010, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement 

in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs (PM/WRA) granted $500,000 to the Slovenian-based 

ITF Enhancing Human Security (formerly the International 

Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance) to 

support the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense’s efforts 

to begin destruction of these excess conventional weapons and 

munitions. The destruction phase of the project was completed in 

2011 with the collaboration of the Czech Ministry of Defense. 

The warehouse upgrade is scheduled to be completed in 2012. 

Macedonia 

World Wars I and II and clashes in 2001 between government 

forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents left landmine and explosive 

remnants of war contamination in Macedonia. Resulting in part 

from United States’ assistance in clearance efforts, Macedonia became mine impact-free in September 2006. For several years the 

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) 

also provided grants to ITF Enhancing Human Security (formerly 

the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance) for the training and equipping of scuba divers from Macedonia’s Protection and Rescue Directorate, which enabled them 

to safely remove several tons of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and 

clear tens of thousands of square meters of lake bottom in the process. On March 22, 2012, the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, representatives from ITF, and the government of Macedonia held a ceremony 

on the banks of Lake Ohrid to commemorate the successful conPaul D. Wohlers, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia, greets divers 

working on underwater demining.

Photo courtesy of Lindinta Ahmeti, U.S. Embassy, Skopje.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 35

clusion of U.S. assistance, using the last of its 

FY2010 funds to help Macedonia clear underwater UXO. The ceremony also marked 

Macedonia’s achievement of the national 

capacity to clear the remaining underwater 

hazards on its own. 

Following significant decreases in the 

size of the Macedonian army between 2007 

and 2011, the Macedonian government 

began reducing its stockpiles of excess 

arms and munitions. In March 2011, in 

response to a request from the Macedonian 

Ministry of Defense, the Defense Threat 

Reduction Agency led a U.S. Government 

inter-agency team, including an officer 

from PM/WRA, to assess the state of 

Macedonia’s military depots and their 

contents. Following the assessment, the 

team immediately briefed the Macedonian 

Ministry of Defense on its findings.

Montenegro 

Despite contamination from explosive 

remnants of war (ERW) from World War 

I and II, and unexploded ordnance and 

landmines from the conflicts surrounding 

the breakup of the Federal Republic 

of Yugoslavia, Montenegro is largely 

mine-impact free today, thanks to the 

international donor community and the 

United States in particular. However, the 

emerging post-Cold War threat posed by 

stockpiles of excess small arms and light 

weapons (SA/LW) and deteriorating 

munitions now endangers Montenegrins 

who live in proximity to military depots, and 

consequently the United States has been 

helping to confront this newer challenge.

From FY2007–FY2010, the Office of 

Weapons Removal and Abatement in the 

U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) provided 

more than $6.4 million to international organizations for demining and conventional 

weapons and munitions destruction programs in Montenegro. In February 2010, in 

coordination with PM/WRA and at the request of the Office of Defense Cooperation 

at the U.S. Embassy in Podgorica, a Defense 

Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) team 

conducted a physical security and stockpile 

management (PSSM) assessment at five 

stockpile sites containing ammunition and 

The Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund (LWVF), managed by the United States Agency for

International Development (USAID), has been the foundation of United States’ efforts to

respond to the needs of civilian victims of conflict in war-affected developing countries

since its creation in 1989. The LWVF provides a dedicated source of financial and technical assistance for people living with disabilities, particularly those who have sustained

mobility-related injuries from explosive remnants of war (ERW), anti-personnel landmines, and other direct and indirect causes of disability, including preventable diseases

that might result from interrupted immunization campaigns. To date, the LWVF has provided more than $194 million in assistance to more than 40 countries. 

Over time, the scope of the LWVF has expanded from its original focus on delivering

immediate care to include myriad development programs that accommodate the

changing needs of the populations they serve, as well as establishing the foundations

for sustainable services in developing countries. It contributes to the design and

enforcement of international standards to ensure that practitioners who provide care to

survivors are competent. In addition, the LWVF ensures that treatment and equipment

are used effectively to increase the mobility of people with disabilities around the world.

In FY2011, the LWVF contributed to programs in Cambodia, Colombia, the Democratic

Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,

and Vietnam, as well as numerous regional and international initiatives spanning

multiple countries.

Moreover, through two other programs specifically focused on helping wheelchair users

(some disabled as a result of ERW), as well as a broader cohort of people with disabilities,

USAID provided an additional $10 million in FY2011 in more than 30 countries, including

Georgia, Iraq, Jordan, Kosovo, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe.

Point of Contact:

Rob Horvath, Manager

Leahy War Victims Fund

U.S. Agency for International Development

Washington, D.C. 20523

USA

U.S. Agency for International Development’s 

Leahy War Victims Fund

telephone: +1 202 712 5239

email: rhorvath@usaid.gov

website: http://transition.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/

the_funds/lwvf/
36 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Europe

weapons belonging to both the Montenegrin Ministry of Defense 

and Ministry of Interior. The DTRA team gave recommendations 

on the safe storage of conventional ammunition, priorities for ammunition/weapons destruction, and a plan for PM/WRA engagement in Montenegro.

In FY2011, PM/WRA granted $1.75 million to the Sloveniabased ITF Enhancing Human Security (formerly the International 

Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance), which 

contracted Sterling International to demilitarize and destroy 

1,300 tons of aging munitions. The Montenegrin Ministry 

of Defense will use funds generated by scrap metal and other 

substances remaining from the deactivation of these munitions to 

improve the PSSM of its remaining arms and munitions and to 

further support munitions destruction. In addition, ArmorGroup 

North America transferred equipment from a previous PM/WRA 

contract to ITF to support Sterling International’s munitions 

destruction efforts.

Romania

Extensive defense industry and excess weapons stockpiles still 

remain in Romania from Nicolae Ceausescu’s regime (1965–1989) 

in Soviet times. As a result, Romania is working toward compliance 

with international arms-control standards, including improving 

police capacity and stockpile management.

At the request of the Romanian Ministry of Defense (MOD) 

and the U.S. Embassy, the Small Arms Light Weapons (SA/

LW) Program of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency conducted a SA/LW physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) 

technical seminar in Bucharest, Romania from 8–12 November 

2010. The technical ammunition seminar was jointly sponsored 

by the Office of Defense Cooperation and the Romanian Joint 

Logistics Command ( JLC) in Bucharest for 33 unit commanders 

and senior leaders from ammunition storage units throughout Romania. The seminar culminated in a practical exercise at a nearby 

ammunition storage site. 

The U.S. European Command Humanitarian Mine Action 

Program conducted a demolitions operations train-the-trainer 

course for the MOD JLC. Four explosive-ordnance disposal 

(EOD) technicians from the 702nd EOD Company, U.S. 

Army Europe, trained 26 JLC EOD technicians to significantly 

enhance their demolition operations capacity while conducting 

safer and more effective demolition procedures. As a result of 

the training, JLC raised its 60-kilogram single-demolition shot 

limit to 400 kilograms. This new limit allows for more efficient 

explosive remnants of war destruction and gives JLC the ability 

to start the process of destroying their 50,000 metric tons (about 

55,116 tons) of excess stockpiled munitions. The total cost of 

this mission was $150,000. 

Serbia 

Some landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) still 

contaminate parts of Serbia as a result of conflicts surrounding 

the break-up of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. 

NATO’s air strikes on Serbia to end ethnic cleansing in Kosovo 

in 1999 left additional ERW contamination. Through clearance 

efforts, the extensive landmines along Serbia’s border with Croatia 

were cleared in 2009. However, some mine-affected areas still 

remain along the border with Kosovo. 

In FY2011, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 

(PM/WRA) granted $1,275,000 to the Slovenia-based ITF 

Enhancing Human Security (formerly known as the International 

Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance) to 

undertake humanitarian mine action and battle-area clearance 

as well as a pilot physical security and stockpile management 

(PSSM) project. Within the ITF grant, Norwegian People’s Aid 

(NPA), was provided a subaward to supervise landmine clearance 

conducted by Serbian firms. The grant also funded training and 

PSSM assessment for the Serbian Ministry of Defense. ITF 

used previously unspent PM/WRA funds to conduct additional 

cluster-munitions clearance in Serbia.

At the request of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Small Arms Light Weapons 

(SA/LW) Program of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency 

(DTRA) provided one expert to an OSCE-led visit to Belgrade, 

Serbia in September 2011 to assess the need for an OSCE-funded 

conventional ammunition assistance project at four ammunition 

sites in Serbia. The DTRA SA/LW expert provided technical 

expertise during the mission and assisted in the production of the 

report completed by OSCE’s Conflict Prevention Center. 

A warning sign at the edge of woods infested with explosive remnants of war in 

Serbia. The Cyrillic lettering at the top provides a warning in Serbian while the 

Latin lettering at the bottom warns ethnic Albanians.

Photo courtesy of John Stevens, PM/WRA, U.S. Dept. of State.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 37

The United States Department of Defense’s (DOD) Humanitarian Demining Training

Center (HDTC) is located at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and is the training and

information center for the DOD U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) program.

Established in 1996, HDTC trains and prepares U.S. forces for overseas deployment in

support of DoD HMA strategy to provide training and education in explosive remnants

of war (ERW) disposal. Training is provided to partner nations accepted into the U.S.

Government (USG) HMA program.

Training at HDTC develops the ability of U.S. forces to provide ERW disposal instruction

in a train-the-trainer format,with emphasis on the operational procedures and practices

of the partner nation’s HMA program. Training is conducted in accordance with USG

law, policy, and the International Mine Action Standards. Upon completion of the twoweek HMA Basic Course, students are required to demonstrate proficiency in subjects

ranging from basic deminer tasks in ERW disposal to HMA program management.

U.S. forces attendingHDTC useOverseasHumanitarianDisaster and Civic Aid (OHDACA)

funding to attend HMA courses, conduct partner-nation training and pre-deployment

surveys, and HMA training operations. HDTC is funded via OHDACA appropriation.

Since its inception, HDTC graduates have performed train-the-trainer missions in 40

nations supporting the U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Central Command, U.S European

Command, U.S Pacific Command, and U.S. Southern Command HMA programs.

Point of Contact:

Jonathan D. Green, Director

U.S. Department of Defense

Humanitarian Demining Training Center

Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri 65473

USA

U.S. Department of Defense’s 

Humanitarian Demining Training Center

telephone: +1 573 563 6199

email: leon.dscapgmhd@conus.army.mil

website: www.wood.army.mil/hdtc

Ukraine 

Ukraine is working to destroy excess 

stockpiles of small arms and light weapons 

(SA/LW) and munitions under a U.S.-led 

NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) project. 

In addition to the United States and the 

European Union, the following 17 donor 

countries have made financial contributions 

to the project: Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, 

Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, 

Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, 

Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, 

Turkey, and the United Kingdom. 

This is one of the largest weapons and 

munitions destruction projects in history, 

and represents the largest PfP project 

undertaken by NATO. The project is in 

response to Ukraine’s request for help in 

eliminating 133,000 tons of munitions and 

1.5 million SA/LW. The stockpiles, mainly 

dating from the Soviet era, pose a potential 

proliferation risk and are a threat to public 

safety and the environment. From 2006 

to 2011, the Office of Weapons Removal 

and Abatement in the U.S. Department 

of State’s Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs (PM/WRA) provided more than 

$12 million to support Phase I of this 

project, which was completed in May 

2011. A total of 15,000 tons of munitions, 

400,000 SA/LW, and 1,000 man-portable 

air-defense systems were destroyed during 

Phase I. The NATO Support Agency 

(NSPA, formerly the NATO Maintenance 

and Supply Agency, or NAMSA) executed 

these weapons destruction efforts on behalf 

of donor states. 

In FY2011 the U.S. agreed to continue 

as the lead nation for Phase II of this 

project and began preparations with NSPA 

and the government of Ukraine in June 

2011. Phase II involves the destruction 

of 366,000 SA/LW and 76,000 tons of 

munitions. PM/WRA provided $3.1 

million to support the destruction of 5,000 

tons of munitions and 83,182 SA/LW in 

FY2011. Phase II destruction activities 

commenced in April 2012.
38 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

latin america

L

atin America is home to almost 10 percent of the 

world’s population and covers approximately 14 

percent of the world’s land area, extending from 

the deserts of Mexico through the Strait of Magellan 

and Tierra del Fuego. The region has experienced much 

violence over the past 50 years, from border disputes 

and civil wars to conflicts with internal armed groups. 

Security challenges and increases in recent violence 

largely are due to transnational organized crime, illicit 

arms dealing, and drug trafficking. Improved security 

and maintenance of arms stockpiles in some countries 

has helped to reduce violence and unintended 

explosions that affect surrounding communities. While 

Peru aims to be “mine free” by 2017, only several 

years ago, in 2005 and 2006, Colombia had the most 

new mine victims in the world, a devastating 1,100 per 

year. Colombia continues to have among the highest 

incident rates of new mine victims in the world.

Chile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Colombia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Ecuador. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Peru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Caribbean Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

SA/LW in Latin America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Children participating in a mine-risk education program in San Jacinto, Colombia.

Photo courtesy of OAS/Carl Case.

REGIONAL PROGRAMS
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 39

Chile

Colombia

Ecuador

Peru

Argentina

0.92%

Uruguay Suriname 0.32% 0.62%

Peru

34.72%

Paraguay

0.32%

Nicaragua

6.80% Honduras

0.50% Guatemala

0.40%

El Salvador

6.98%

Ecuador

12.87%

Colombia

31.34%

Chile

4.15%

Total U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction Funding 

In Latin America From All Sources, 1993–2011: $63,936,000

(This chart shows the percentage of total funding allocated to each country within the region.)
40 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

latin america

Chile 

Landmines remain along Chile’s borders from tensions with 

Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru during Augusto Pinochet’s regime 

in the 1970s. According to the Landmine and Cluster Munitions 

Monitor, as of 31 March 2011, Chile reported that 143 of its original 

199 mined areas in 17 municipalities remained to be cleared.

In cooperation with the Chilean National Demining 

Commission, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian 

Demining Research and Development Program (HD R&D) 

continued an operational field evaluation of one Multi-Tooled 

Excavator and five Air Spade® demining digging tools in FY2011. 

These technologies represent a $450,000 investment to augment 

Chilean mine-clearance activities. The excavator cleared 176 

anti-tank (AT) and anti-personnel (AP) mines from 13,000 

cubic meters (17,003 cubic yards) of sediment in challenging 

riverbeds. The current objective is a dry creek bed located next to 

a busy highway, containing the deep, jumbled washout of a mixed 

low-metal AT and AP minefield. To learn more about the U.S. 

Department of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Program, visit 

http://humanitarian-demining.org.

Colombia 

Frequent armed conflicts between Colombia and non-state illegal armed groups, particularly the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, 

or FARC), designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. Government, have left unknown amounts of landmine and explosive 

remnants of war contamination throughout the country. Unsecure 

munitions and small arms and light weapons (SA/LW) stockpiles 

also present risks throughout the region. Anti-personnel and antivehicle mines, as well as improvised explosive devices, have been 

laid by terrorist groups along routes used by government forces, 

around their camps, and around schools, civilian routes, water resources, bridges, housing areas, and illicit crop cultivations, also 

contributing to the internally displaced people rate. In 2005 and 

2006, there were 1,100 new landmine victims each year in Colombia, the highest mine casualty rate in the world. In 2007 and 2008, 

casualties decreased to below 900 each year, halting a decade-long 

upward trend but still remaining among the highest in the world. 

According to the Landmine & Cluster Munitions Monitor, in 2009 

and 2010 respectively, this figure was reduced to 741 and 512 annual casualties.

From FY2006–FY2010, the Office of Weapons Removal 

and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of 

Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) invested $5.9 million in 

humanitarian mine action (HMA) in Colombia. From FY2005–

FY2010, the U.S. Government also provided more than $5 

million in funding for HMA in Colombia through projects 

overseen by the U.S. Agency for International Development 

(USAID), including USAID’s Leahy War Victims Fund, and 

U.S. Southern Command.

In FY2011, PM/WRA provided a total of $2,350,000 to 

fund the following HMA projects:

•	 The Organization of American States (OAS) received funding 

to continue to support the maintenance and development of six 

emergency response teams.

•	 Centro Integral de Rehabilitacion de Colombia (Integral Center of 

Rehabilitation of Colombia, or CIREC) “Seeds of Hope” program was provided support to fund three medical mobile brigades and three new associations. CIREC provides integrated 

rehabilitation services, as well as medical services, psychosocial 

support, educational opportunities and direct financial assistance to civilians affected by armed conflict.

•	 Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas (Colombia Campaign to 

Ban Landmines) received a grant to fund a mine-risk education 

project in 12 municipalities in Antioquia. The program aims to 

strengthen the local capacity for mine action by training local 

authorities, social organizations, and community groups.

•	 The Polus Center for Social and Economic Development 

received funding for the Coffeelands Trust, which provided 

prosthetic/economic/social services to victims in Nariño and 

Caldas departments. 

In addition, in August 2011, at the request of the U.S. Military 

Group in Bogotá, the SA/LW Program of the Defense Threat 

Reduction Agency conducted a physical security and stockpile 

management (PSSM) technical seminar in Colombia. The goals 

of the seminar were to orient Colombia’s operational staff working 

directly with weapons and munitions to international PSSM best 

practices. A total of 29 participants from the Colombian army, 

navy, air force, and police attended.

Also in FY2011, USAID’s Leahy War Victims Fund granted 

$3.2 million to implementing partners CIREC, Servicio Nacional 

de Aprendizaje (National Apprenticeship Service or SENA) 

and Fundación Arcángeles (Archangels Foundation) to provide 

rehabilitation and vocational services to landmine survivors.

The Organization of American States provides mine-risk education in San 

Jacinto, Colombia.

Photo courtesy of OAS.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 41

During FY2011 Colombia made some 

progress toward developing a civilian demining authority that would allow international nongovernmental organizations 

to operate in Colombia and augment 

the established military-only emergency 

response teams funded by PM/WRA 

through the OAS. Nevertheless, more intensive efforts are needed to overcome remaining impediments. 

Ecuador 

During a brief conflict between Peru 

and Ecuador in 1995, border regions on 

both sides were heavily mined, especially 

in the provinces of El Oro, Loja, MornoaSantiago, and Zamora-Chinchipe on the 

Ecuadorian side of the border. These mined 

areas have hindered economic development 

in the region. With U.S. assistance, the 

development of a common demining effort strengthened the relationship between 

Ecuador and Peru. In addition, Ecuador is 

working to eliminate excess small arms and 

light weapons (SA/LW) and man-portable 

air-defense systems (MANPADS). 

From FY2000–2004, the U.S. Government provided more than $5 million 

in funding to support lowland coastal 

demining efforts. In FY2011, the Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau 

of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) 

provided $500,000 to the Organization 

of American (OAS) States to procure replacement humanitarian-demining equipment for Ecuador. 

In February 2011, at the request of the 

U.S. Military Group in Quito, the SA/LW 

Program of the Defense Threat Reduction 

Agency (DTRA) assessed the physical security and stockpile management practices 

and procedures at Ecuador’s storage facilities. In the Galapagos Islands, the team 

worked with Ecuador’s Defense Forces to 

assess the condition of recently recovered 

WWII ordnance, while in Quito, the team 

assessed the facilities of Ecuador’s National 

Police. The objectives of this mission were 

to provide recommendations on the safe 

storage of arms, ammunition, and explosives, while also outlining security priorities 

for implementation. 

Point of Contact:

Dennis Hadrick, QRF Program Manager 

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA)

U.S. Department of State

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

SA-3, Suite 6100

2121 Virginia Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20522

USA

U.S. Quick Reaction Force

telephone: +1 202 663 0100

fax: +1 202 663 0090

website: http://state.gov/t/pm/wra

Since 2008, Dyncorp International, a global government-service provider based in Falls

Church, Virginia, has been supporting the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement

in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) with a

Quick Reaction Force (QRF). The State Department’s QRF is a deployable team of

conventional weapons destruction experts that works in concert with U.S. Embassies

and host nations to respond to critical risks posed by explosive remnants of war,

including cluster munitions, landmines, and other types of explosive hazards. The

QRF complements international humanitarian operations and post-conflict stability

initiatives in the host nation, allowing them to proceed unhindered by the presence

of explosive hazards.

QRF teams have been deployed to Bulgaria, Cyprus, Libya, Papua New Guinea, the

Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts, Tanzania, Tarawa, Uruguay, and

Vietnam. After a QRF Assessment Team enters these areas to assess the situation, it

develops tentative disposal plans and identifies and coordinates logistics for the QRF

Operational Element, which conducts necessary disposal operations. In addition

to these operations, QRF mentors and trains local forces on disposal operations and

training to safely and effectively handle, store, and dispose of hazards including small

arms and light weapons, and man-portable air-defense systems on their own.
42 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

latin america

More than 30 individuals, including mine-action personnel from Peru and Ecuador, officials from the Peruvian National Police and Peruvian Army, and Ecuadorian 

government officials and military officers attended the Peru-Ecuador Binational Workshop for Management in Humanitarian Demining in Lima, Peru in August 2011.

The workshop was jointly sponsored by the U.S. Southern Command through the U.S. Embassy in Peru and the Peruvian government’s Ministry of Foreign Relations 

and mine-action office, CONTRAMINAS. Faculty from JMU’s CISR and College of Business provided management training as part of the workshop.

Photo courtesy of CISR/Suzanne Fiederlein.

Also in FY2011, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Research and Development (HD R&D) Program, in cooperation with the National Demining Center of Ecuador, the Ecuadorian Army Demining Command, and the OAS 

continued a technology evaluation of Long-handled Tools, valued 

at $7,000, along the Ecuador-Peru border. The hand-held power 

tools are a logistically sustainable and efficient system that assists 

deminers with the clearance of access lanes in the dense jungle. 

Additional technology—an orbital sifter and crusher—valued at 

$235,000 began operations in FY2011 to clear mines from a dry 

riverbed. The low-metal mines are dispersed among mine-sized 

rocks, which are themselves capable of triggering standard mine 

detectors. The equipment sifted soil from 7,700 square meters 

(almost two acres) of soil. To learn more about the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Program, visit http://

humanitarian-demining.org.

Peru 

The five Peruvian departments of Amazonas, Cajamarca, Loreto, 

Piura, and Tumbes were mined during a brief conflict between Peru 

and Ecuador in 1995. The most heavily-mined section of the border 

is the area known as the Cordillera del Condor, which was the center 

of the border conflict. Anti-personnel mines were also emplaced 

during the 1980s and 1990s to protect critical infrastructure against 

attacks from subversive movements, such as Sendero Luminoso

(Shining Path, or SL). More recently, SL has used homemade improvised explosive devices and booby traps against security forces 

in the drug-producing Apurimac and Ene River Valley. In response 

to these challenges, Peru’s humanitarian mine-action (HMA) goals 

include increasing the security and social harmony in areas affected 

by landmines and offering assistance to mine victims. 

From FY2000–FY2005, the U.S. Government granted $5 

million in HMA funding to clear contamination remaining from 

internal conflicts between 1980 and 2000. From FY2008–FY2010, 

the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. 

Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/

WRA) provided $4,820,000 to further build national capacity and 

support clearance efforts and victim assistance.

In FY2011, PM/WRA provided $2 million for nonproliferation, 

anti-terrorism, demining, and related programs as follows:

•	 The Polus Center for Social and Economic Development 

(Polus) received an HMA operational grant in Peru. Polus 

awarded a subcontract to RONCO Consulting Corporation to 

fund three technical experts for 12 months to develop national 

capacity. One technical expert was assigned to the Centro 

Peruano de Acción contra las Minas Antipersonales (The Peruvian 

Mine Action Center or CONTRAMINAS), the second to 

the training centers at Bagua Grande and Chiclayo to support 

military and police-force training, and the third to monitor 

field operations. 

•	 Polus was also awarded a grant for a two-year victim-assistance 

survey and rehabilitation package. The survey of needs was to 

find scattered mine victims in Peru dating back many years and 

provide physical, social, and economic assistance to victims. 

Caribbean Islands

The illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons 

(SA/LW) heightens regional instability and contributes to 

increases in violent crime in the Caribbean region. 

In efforts to combat trafficking of SA/LW in the region, in 

FY2011, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

REGIONAL PROGRAMS
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 43

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau 

of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) 

provided $725,000 to the United Nations 

Centre for Peace, Disarmament and 

Development in Latin America and the 

Caribbean (UNLiREC) to fund the first 

part of a two-year project to destroy surplus, 

obsolete, and unstable SA/LW and munitions. The project also provided physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) 

for remaining stockpiles. In FY2011, 

UNLiREC focused on Dominican 

Republic, Jamaica, and Trinidad and 

Tobago. In FY2012, PM/WRA plans to 

fund the second part of the project, in the 

Bahamas, Belize, Dominican Republic, 

Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent 

and the Grenadines.

In July 2011, at the request of U.S. 

Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) 

and the U.S. Department of State (DOS), 

the SA/LW Program of the Defense 

Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) 

organized the Combating Illicit Trafficking 

of SA/LW in the Caribbean: Stockpile 

Management and Destruction Conference 

at USSOUTHCOM headquarters in 

Doral, Florida. The conference educated 

individuals who work directly with arms, 

ammunition, and explosives in international 

PSSM best practices. Conference attendees 

included representatives from Antigua and 

Barbados, Dominica, Dominican Republic, 

Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts 

and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the 

Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and 

Tobago. The conference agenda also included 

presentations by PM/WRA; the U.S. 

Department of Homeland Security; the U.S. 

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and 

Explosives; the Organization of American 

States; the U.S. Caribbean Command 

Implementation Agency for Crime and 

Security; and UNLiREC. 

In addition, in FY2011, the U.S. Agency 

for International Development’s Leahy War 

Victims Fund (USAID/LWVF) provided 

$1.5 million to Handicap International 

and Healing Hands for Haiti to design 

and implement a rehabilitation training 

program for 30 Haitian technicians. 

USAID/LWVF also granted $500,000 to 

the International Foundation for Electoral 

Systems to promote the inclusion of people 

with disabilities in the 2012 election in the 

Dominican Republic. 

SA/LW Program in Latin 

America

Precipitated by the transnational drug 

trade, small arms and light weapons (SA/

LW) trafficking continues to cause violent 

crime and instability throughout Latin 

America. In response to these challenges, 

the SA/LW Program of the Defense Threat 

Reduction Agency (DTRA) organized the 

following physical security and stockpile 

management (PSSM) seminars throughout the region in FY2011 to educate senior 

decision-makers in international PSSM 

best practices:

•	 Belize—From 4 February–11 March 2011, 

a PSSM executive seminar was conducted 

The Presidents of Ecuador and Peru meet 

with Peruvian deminers at Chiclayo, pledging 

cooperation on demining. Chiclayo is the site of a 

training center funded by PM/WRA.

Photo courtesy of Ed Trimakas, PM/WRA, U.S. Dept. 

of State.

for four participants at the request of the 

U.S. Military Liaison Office. 

•	 El Salvador—At the request of U.S. 

Southern Command and the U.S. 

Military Group in San Salvador, a 

PSSM executive seminar was organized 

in November–December 2010 in El 

Salvador. Additionally, two PSSM 

technical seminars were conducted, one 

in December 2010 and the other April 

2011. A total of 90 participants attended 

the three seminars.

•	 Paraguay—In March 2011, at the request 

of the U.S. Office of Defense Cooperation, a PSSM executive seminar was organized for 23 participants in Paraguay.

In addition, at the request of the U.S. Military Liaison Office and Guyana’s Defense 

Forces, the SA/LW Program of DTRA conducted an assessment visit to Guyana in May 

2011. The team assessed PSSM practices and 

procedures used at a newly constructed ammunition storage facility. They also provided 

recommendations on the safe storage of ammunition and explosives and outlined security priorities for implementation. 

Peruvian Air Base No. 6 in Chiclayo, showing where Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and Ecuadorian 

President Rafael Correa visited deminers who attended the U.S.-funded demining school in nearby Pimentel.

Photo courtest of Dave Bruce/RONCO.
44 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

middle east

The arid climate of the Middle East is home 

to approximately 5 percent of the world’s 

population and is the birthplace of three major 

world religions. The relative wealth of the resourcerich economies of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United 

Arab Emirates sharply contrasts with the neighboring 

mineral-poor or conflict-embroiled economies of Iraq 

or Yemen. The region has been plagued by recent 

civil wars, border disputes, and internal unrest, and 

explosive remnants of these conflicts continue to affect 

the daily lives of residents. In contrast, in April 2012, 

Jordan announced that it is “minefield free.” It is the 

first country in the Middle East to declare this status.

Iraq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Jordan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Lebanon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Libya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Yemen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Participants of the Pathways to Resilience Psycho-social Rehabilitation 

Workshop held in Lebanon in May 2011 participate in a small group activity.

The PM/WRA-sponsored workshop was implemented by James Madison 

University’s Center for International Stabilization and Recovery.

Photo courtesy of CISR.

Palestinian Territories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

REGIONAL PROGRAMS
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 45

Libya

Yemen

Iraq

Jordan

Lebanon

Iraq

68.88%

Egypt

0.24%

Bahrain

Yemen 0.00%

5.93% Tunisia

0.07%

Palestinian Territories

0.07%

Oman

1.42%

Libya

0.99%

Lebanon

15.25%

Jordan

7.15%

Total U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction Funding 

In The Middle East From All Sources, 1993–2011: $304,489,000

(This chart shows the percentage of total funding allocated to each country within the region.)

Palestinian Territories
46 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

middle east

Iraq 

Iraq is severely affected by landmines and unexploded 

ordnance (UXO) as a result of several decades of conflict. In spite 

of progress, at least 1,863 square kilometers (719 square miles) 

of land are still contaminated, containing as many as 20 million 

landmines and millions of pieces of UXO. This contamination 

affects at least 1,670 Iraqi cities, towns, and villages, with most 

of the contaminated area located on agricultural land, making 

clearance an economic necessity, as well as a security priority.

Since 2003, the United States has invested more than $209 

million in conventional weapons destruction (CWD) projects 

in Iraq aimed at clearance and safe disposal of landmines, UXO, 

and excess weapons and munitions. The U.S. CWD Program in 

Iraq aims to protect victims of conflict through innovative risk 

education and victim-assistance projects, restore access to land and 

infrastructure by introducing mechanical technologies and minedetection dogs (MDD), and reinvigorate host-nation development 

by providing subject-matter experts to conduct an assessment of 

Iraq’s mine-action capabilities.

In FY2011, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement 

in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs (PM/WRA) provided $22 million to Iraq for CWD 

programs that cleared landmines and UXO and provided minerisk education (MRE) as follows:

•	 Danish Demining Group returned nearly 9 million square 

meters (almost 3.5 square miles) of land to communities for safe 

use for agriculture, grazing, infrastructure, and development in 

Central and Southern Iraq.

•	 Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining 

received support and funding to conduct an assessment of Iraq’s 

mine-action capabilities and develop a two-to-three year plan 

for Iraq’s training and capacity development.

•	 Information Management and Mine Action Programs 

(iMMAP) received funding to provide operational management, 

strategic planning, and victim-assistance support. iMMAP 

delivered five workshops and 13 training courses, successfully 

training 146 students in information management, data 

collection, and mapping and 82 rehabilitation technicians 

who will subsequently treat thousands of landmine, UXO, and 

improvised explosive-device victims.

•	 Iraq Mine/UXO Clearance Organization (IMCO) Central/

Southern Iraq received funding to provide clearance services. 

IMCO returned more than 2.5 million square meters (almost 

618 acres) of land to the Iraqi population. In addition, funding 

supported the IMCO Southern Iraq Compound Relocation. The 

Al-Zubayr compound was handed over to the Iraqi government 

near the end of 2011. IMCO relocated to a new compound near 

the main city of Basra.

Children give an anti-mine performance in Halshoo village, Suleimania governorate, Iraq, where mine-risk education is funded by UNICEF and taught to grades 

1 through 9.

Photo courtesy of UN/Bikem Ekberzade.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 47

•	 Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI) 

received funding in partnership with 

IMCO to expand the MDD program 

in Southern Iraq. MLI and IMCO 

established the first rehabilitation/

vocational training facility in Southern 

Iraq for landmine/explosive remnants of 

war survivors.

•	 MAG (Mines Advisory Group) received 

funding for Northern and Central Iraq 

CWD. As a result of minefield and battlearea clearance, MAG returned close to 2 

million square meters (494 acres) of land 

to communities for safe use for agriculture 

and economic development.

•	 Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) received 

funding to provide technical advisors to 

the Regional Mine Action Center-South 

(RMAC-S) to assist RMAC-S in fulfilling its role as a regulatory body that is 

able to coordinate, monitor, and regulate 

mine-action activities. This project has 

enabled RMAC-S to implement a nontechnical survey designed to provide a 

more accurate picture of the mine/ERW 

situation in Southern Iraq.

•	 RONCO Consulting Corporation 

(RONCO) was given funding to 

provide security services in Iraq. Due 

to the ongoing security challenges 

in the country, RONCO continued 

to provide secure transportation and 

accommodation in the center and south 

for all U.S.-funded CWD implementing 

partners and local staff.

•	 Spirit of Soccer (SoS) was funded in 

cooperation with other implementing 

partners to expand its mine/UXO-risk 

education projects throughout Iraq. 

SoS implements innovative projects using soccer as a means to promote mine/

UXO messages to children living in regions deemed at high-risk of landmine/

ERW contamination.

In addition, the U.S. Department 

of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining 

Research and Development (HD R&D) 

Program, in partnership with MAG, 

continued evaluations of several excavator 

sifting attachments, a stand-alone orbital 

sifter, and a commercial front-loader 

attachment. The assistance, valued at 

$300,000, included support to repair and 

improve a vehicle-mounted portable sifting 

system. To date, the equipment has sifted 

86,000 cubic meters (112,484 cubic yards) 

of contaminated soil and uncovered or 

destroyed 1,800 mines and pieces of UXO. 

MAG continues to utilize the equipment 

in clearing villages and agricultural areas 

that have been mine-affected for more than 

20 years. Though the figures are modest, 

the equipment consistently locates mines 

where manual clearance or MDDs are not 

feasible, and without which MAG would 

be unable to complete and handover many 

of the sites. To learn more about the U.S. 

Department of Defense’s Humanitarian 

Demining Program, visit: http://

humanitarian-demining.org.

Jordan 

Jordan is contaminated by anti-personnel and anti-vehicle landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) as a result of 

the 1948 partition of Palestine, the 1967–

1969 Arab-Israeli conflict, the 1970 civil 

war, and the 1975 conflict with Syria. Most 

of the concentration is along the northern 

border with Syria, the western border with 

Israel, and the eastern border with Iraq. 

At one point, military records indicated as 

many as 305,000 mines covering 60 million 

square meters (more than 23 square miles). 

In April 2012, Jordan announced it completed its Article 5 obligations to the Convention on the Prohibition, Use, Stockpiling, 

Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel 

Mines and on Their Destruction. 

From FY1996–FY2011, the Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of 

Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) invested $21,771,568 in conventional weapons destruction, including humanitarian 

mine action in Jordan. 

In FY2011, PM/WRA spent $2,014,568 

for the following efforts:

•	 Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) in partnership with Jordan’s National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation 

(NCDR) received funding to support 

mine clearance along the Syrian border.

•	 NCDR was funded to support mine-risk 

education, undertake quality-management 

operations for demining activities along 

the Jordan-Syrian border, and continue 

ERW software and database development.

•	 NCDR received a grant to support the 

ERW Senior Managers’ Training Course 

to provide comprehensive training to 

senior officials from national mine/ERWaction programs in various countries.

James Madison University Professor, Fernando Pargas, conducts class at the Explosive Remnants of War 

Training Course in Jordan.

Photo courtesy of CISR.
48 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

middle east

Lebanon 

Landmines, explosive remnants of war (ERW), cluster 

munitions and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) contaminate 

Lebanon largely as a result of the 1975 civil war and the Israeli 

occupation of Lebanon (1982–2000). The conflict between Israel 

and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006 further exacerbated the 

situation, resulting in large levels of new cluster munitions and 

other UXO contamination. In 2003, a Landmine Impact Survey 

found that Lebanon had 306 communities affected by 933 mineand UXO-contaminated sites over 137 square kilometers (about 

53 square miles) of land. 

From FY1998 to FY2010, the Office of Weapons Removal and 

Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs (PM/WRA) invested more than $33,593,000 

in assistance to Lebanon, $10 million of which was emergency 

assistance provided in response to the 2006 conflict. U.S. financial 

assistance has led to the integration of mine-detection dog (MDD) 

teams, mechanical flails, and manual deminers in clearance 

activities by the Lebanese Armed Forces.

In FY2011, PM/WRA invested $2,225,000 in Lebanon 

as follows:

•	 MAG (Mines Advisory Group) received funding to support 

three battle-area clearance (BAC) teams to clear cluster 

munitions and other conventional weapons.

•	 DynCorp received funding to support host-nation capacitybuilding efforts and implementation of conventional weapons 

destruction, and to establish and provide oversight to the first 

local mine-action nongovernmental organization in Lebanon.

•	 Swiss Foundation for Mine Action was granted funding to 

support one BAC team in South Lebanon and to ensure all 

ERW are located and destroyed.

•	 DanChurchAid (DCA) received funding to support one BAC 

team in South Lebanon to increase the possibilities of land use, 

alleviate risk through clearance of cluster munitions/landminecontaminated areas, and build national capacities for Lebanese 

clearance efforts.

•	 Lebanese Demining Organization was funded to support two 

non-technical survey teams for data collection and verification 

and to provide technical advisory support to the national mineaction initiative.

•	 ITF Enhancing Human Security (formerly the International 

Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance)/DCA 

received funding as a matching grant to support land release 

through continued cluster-munitions clearance throughout South 

Lebanon and to continue capacity-building of the national staff.

•	 Marshall Legacy Institute/American Task Force for Lebanon 

was provided a cost-share grant to assist the Lebanese Mine Action Center with training for its MDD detachment and to help 

with their mine-risk education and survivor-assistance program.

Also in FY2011, the U.S. Agency for International 

Development’s Leahy War Victims Fund provided $800,000 to 

the World Rehabilitation Fund for ongoing support to provide 

meaningful employment opportunities for landmine survivors in 

the Jezzine province.

 Libya 

In mid-February 2011, following civilian protests in Tunisia and 

Egypt, the people of Libya began protesting against Mu’ammar 

Qadhafi’s government. As unrest spread throughout the country, 

Libyan security forces began responding with violence, which 

escalated into armed conflict. In March 2011, a coalition of NATO 

Allies and partners began enforcing an arms embargo, maintaining 

a no-fly zone and protecting civilians and civilian-populated areas 

from attack or the threat of attack in Libya under Operation 

Unified Protector. Since the Transitional National Council formed 

a new government in November 2011, the security situation has 

largely stabilized; however, insecurity still affects some areas. As 

a result of the conflict, the country is extensively contaminated 

with landmines, unexploded ordnance, and small arms and light 

weapons, which are flowing into neighboring countries and 

affecting regional stability. 

In FY2011, the U.S. Agency for International Development 

(USAID) and the U.S. Department of State provided a total of 

$91,976,414 to Libya. The Office of Weapons Removal and 

Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs (PM/WRA) provided nearly $3 million for the 

clearance of unexploded ordnance, and destruction of unsecured 

conventional weapons including man-portable air-defense systems 

(MANPADS) through its implementing partners, MAG (Mines 

Advisory Group) and the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action. 

Additionally, PM/WRA provided $2.75 million through its Quick 

Reaction Force, which worked with Libyan-led teams tasked with 

accounting for and securing MANPADS and other conventional 

weapons. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, 

Refugees, and Migration provided $60 million to assist internally 

displaced persons, refugees, and migrants in Libya and neighboring countries. USAID granted $28,977,810 to support conflictaffected populations in Libya and neighboring countries through 

agriculture, food security, health, logistics, protection, and water, 

sanitation, and hygiene activities. 

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) clears ordnance in Libya.

Photo courtesy of Sean Sutton/MAG.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 49

The International Emergency and Refugee Health Branch (IERHB) of the U.S. Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention provides public-health assistance and interventions in the

context of humanitarian emergencies such as civil strife, disaster, displacement, drought,

famine, genocide, and war.

The IERHB’s public-health mission involves investigating, planning, training, and developing

public-health guidelines, and advancing partnerships. To date, the IERHB has formed

key partnerships with the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, the United Nations

High Commissioner for Refugees, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and numerous

nongovernmental organizations.

Since 2004, the IERHB has worked in 40 countries, improving the lives and livelihood of

individuals and communities in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Eritrea,

Ethiopia, Iraq, Liberia, Mozambique, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, among others. Most recently, the

IERHB has focused attention on the Horn of Africa, where it is providing technical guidance,

U.N. cluster-system support, and disease surveillance to assist the millions of people

displaced by famine; and on Haiti, where it is implementing water and sanitation programs

in areas heavily affected by 2010’s devastating earthquake.

The CDC provides technical assistance to mine action and other partners. For instance,

IERHB conducted evaluations of landmine/explosive remnants of war programs in Nepal

and Sri Lanka during FY2011. The IERHB also provided support to UNICEF’s landmine team

for training and data collection.

Point of Contact:

Michael Gerber

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

4770 Buford Highway

Atlanta, Georgia 30341

USA

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention: International Emergency Refugee 

Health Branch

telephone: +1 770 488 0695

email: mcg9@cdc.gov

website: http://cdc.gov

Yemen 

Yemen is contaminated with landmines 

and unexploded ordnance (UXO) as a result 

of several conflicts from 1962 until today, 

including the 1962–1975 war between 

republicans and royalists, the 1963–1967 

Aden Insurgency, almost two decades of 

simmering conflict between the formerly 

separate countries in North and South 

Yemen, and the 1994 Civil War. In July 

2000, a national Landmine Impact Survey 

(LIS) revealed that 19 out of the country’s 

20 governorates were mine/UXO-affected, 

adversely affecting 592 villages. The LIS 

also identified 1,078 mined areas covering 

more than 923 square kilometers (356 

square miles). In addition, small arms and 

light weapons (SA/LW) are readily found 

in the homes of Yemeni citizens. Although 

there is no reliable data about the exact 

number of arms in people’s hands, a study 

conducted by the Small Arms Survey in 

2003 came to an estimate of 6–9 million 

SA/LW in circulation. 

From FY1997–FY2010, the Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of 

Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) invested more than $11 million in humanitarian mine action and SA/LW destruction. In 

December 2010, clearance was completed 

in all 14 Yemeni communities highly affected by mines and UXO, except for three 

minefields subject to permanent marking. 

Clearance was also completed in 81 of 86 

medium-affected communities, and as of 

December 2010 a total of 89,201 antipersonnel mines, 716 anti-tank mines, and 

190,564 items of UXO were cleared from 

782.8 million square meters (302 square 

miles) of land.

In FY2011, PM/WRA invested 

$1,075,000 to fund demining and recovery efforts as follows:

•	 United Nations Development Programme 

received funding to support existing mineaction efforts in Yemen, replace necessary 

equipment, provide medical care, and 

provide reintegration support and facilities for landmine/UXO survivors. It was 

also funded to assist the government of 

Yemen in efforts to achieve more cost-
50 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

middle east

effective mine-action field operations, reduce landmine/ERW 

victim rates through mine-risk education, clear and mark suspected hazardous areas, and modify existing mine-action structures for long-term sustainability.

•	 Marshall Legacy Institute was provided a grant to implement the 

Children Against Mines Program (CHAMPS) in partnership 

with the Yemen Mine Action Center and the Yemen Association 

for Landmine Survivors. CHAMPS promotes awareness of 

landmine/UXO issues and cross-cultural understanding among 

the world’s children and provides landmine survivor assistance 

with grassroots support.

Palestinian Territories

The Palestinian Territories are contaminated with landmines 

and explosive remnants of war as a result of decades of conflict 

since 1948. Although the exact amount of contamination is 

unknown, the mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) threat has 

increased over the years, with at least 15 minefields confirmed 

across the Palestinian Territories, including 20 square kilometers 

(almost 8 square miles) of the West Bank. 

In FY2011, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 

(PM/WRA) provided $309,284 in grants. The HALO Trust received funding for a grant, entitled, “Building Humanitarian Mine 

Action Capacity followed by Humanitarian Mine Clearance and 

Mine Risk Education (MRE) in the Palestinian Territories.” The 

overall goal of this grant is to advance peace and human security 

in the West Bank through efficient, neutral, needs-focused MRE 

and mine action. Additionally, PM/WRA provided a grant to 

the Slovenia-based ITF Enhancing Human Security (formerly 

the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims 

Assistance) in order to provide medical assistance to eight conflict-affected children with amputated limbs, partial paralysis of 

lower limbs, or cerebral paralysis. The children received state-ofthe-art medical treatment and rehabilitation at the University 

Rehabilitation Institute of the Republic of Slovenia-Soča.

A Yemeni boy is fitted for a new prosthetic arm.

Photo courtesy of MLI.

REGIONAL PROGRAMS
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 51

TSince 1993, the United States has donated 

over $1.9 billion for Conventional Weapons 

Destruction (CWD) in more than 90 countries. 

Most of the U.S. assistance funded humanitarian mine 

action, an area in which the U.S. remains the world’s 

top donor. Many of our ongoing programs combine 

humanitarian demining, small arms/light weapons 

(SA/LW) destruction, and efforts to improve the safety 

and storage of conventional munitions stockpiles.

FUNDING

Conventional Weapons 

Destruction Funding

legend For charts on pages 47–53

CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CENTCOM U.S. Central Command

DOD U.S. Department of Defense

DOS NADR-CWD U.S. Department of State - Conventional Weapons Destruction

DOS Other U.S. Department of State - Other funding

SEED USAID Support for Eastern European Democracy

OHDACA DoD Overseas Humanitarian Disaster and Civic Aid

350,000

300,000

250,000

200,000

150,000

100,000

50,000

0

Thousands of Dollars

Afghanistan

Iraq

Top 10 Countries Funded (Aggregate) FY1993–11

Angola

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Cambodia

Vietnam

Laos

Mozambique

Lebanon

Croatia

The following chart provides a consolidated view of 

the United States’ funding for CWD globally. For a 

more detailed view of this funding chart, including 

additional details such as funding for humanitarian 

mine action and SA/LW projects, please refer to the 

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the 

U.S Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs (PM/WRA) website at the following address: 

http://state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/index.htm. 

legend For charts on pages 47–53

RDT&E DOD Research Development Test & Evaluation Fund

HAP/EP DOD Humanitarian Assistance - Excess Property Program

IRRF DOD Iraq Relief and Construction Fund

ITF ITF Enhancing Human Security

HD Humanitarian Demining

SA/LW Small Arms and Light Weapons

USAID US Agency for International Development
52 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

FUNDING

U.S. CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION Program Funding History (Fiscal Years 1993–2011)

Country Sources FY93-03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 Total 

 Afghanistan 

 DOS NADR - CWD 23,915 12,529 16,700 17,152 15,821 21,589 30,253 45,800 40,475 224,234 

 DOS Other 20,000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20,000

 CDC 1,300 400 0 0 50 50 0 0 0 1,800 

 DOD 4,264 0 0 0 0 0 520 996 0 5,780 

 USAID 20,125 29,875 700 397 350 0 0 0 0 51,447 

 Country Total 69,604 42,804 17,400 17,549 16,221 21,639 30,773 46,796 40,475 303,261 

 Albania 

 DOS NADR - CWD 3,852 1,750 1,000 1,300 1,480 7,091 2,395 5,909 3,500 28,277 

 DOD 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 11 22 

 USAID 1,049 340 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,389 

 Country Total 4,901 2,090 1,000 1,300 1,480 7,091 2,406 5,909 3,511 29,688 

 Angola 

 DOS NADR - CWD 16,210 5,300 6,287 6,120 5,250 7,562 7,300 10,000 7,500 71,529 

 DOS Other 3,170 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,170 

 CDC 0 0 0 0 75 75 0 0 0 150 

 DOD 4,000 0 0 0 14 0 850 850 0 5,714 

 USAID 5,900 800 651 1,000 0 0 0 0 0 8,351 

 Country Total 29,280 6,100 6,938 7,120 5,339 7,637 8,150 10,850 7,500 88,914 

 Argentina 

 DOD 550 0 0 29 0 0 0 0 0 579 

 Country Total 550 0 0 29 0 0 0 0 0 579 

 Armenia 

 DOS NADR - CWD 2,600 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2,600 

 DOS - Other 1,800 1,200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,000 

 DOD 2,551 67 0 0 0 200 0 0 8 2,826 

 USAID 1,148 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,000 2,148 

 Country Total 8,099 1,267 0 0 0 200 0 0 1,008 10,574 

 Azerbaijan 

 DOS NADR - CWD 4,580 2,468 3,900 3,064 2,487 1,280 2,199 752 365 21,095 

 DOS - Other 1,100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,100 

 DOD 4,540 304 483 425 723 200 0 300 0 6,975 

 Country Total 10,220 2,772 4,383 3,489 3,210 1,480 2,199 1,052 365 29,170 

 Bahrain 

 DOD 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 10 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 10 

 Benin 

 DOD 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 0 14 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 0 14 

Bosnia & 

Herzegovina 

 DOS NADR - CWD 27,551 3,535 3,373 3,300 3,390 4,650 4,103 5,425 3,685 59,012 

 DOS - Other 1,000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,000 

 CDC 1,300 500 500 500 205 205 0 0 0 3,210 

 DOD 4,263 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4,263 

 USAID 20,500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20,500 

 Country Total 54,614 4,035 3,873 3,800 3,595 4,855 4,103 5,425 3,685 87,985 

 Bulgaria 

 DOS NADR - CWD 2,344 500 0 400 0 300 0 0 3,100 6,644 

 Country Total 2,344 500 0 400 0 300 0 0 3,100 6,644 

 Burma 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 90 90 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 90 90 

 Burundi 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 381 200 438 400 516 1,935

 DOD 0 0 0 0 0 0 74 0 155 229 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 381 200 512 400 655 2,164 

 Cambodia 

 DOS NADR - CWD 14,603 3,716 3,949 4,900 4,142 4,054 5,152 5,040 5,250 50,806 

 DOS Other 4,943 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4,943

 CDC 0 0 0 0 50 50 0 0 0 100 

 DOD 4,763 86 180 94 7 0 2,500 3,000 0 10,630 

 USAID 7,908 865 2,825 950 0 0 500 0 13,048 

 Country Total 32,217 4,667 6,954 5,944 4,199 4,104 7,652 8,540 5,250 79,527 
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 53

Country Sources FY93-03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 Total 

Central African 

Republic 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 37 0 0 0 0 37 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 37 0 0 0 0 37 

 Chad 

 DOS NADR - CWD 2,904 950 1,000 1,780 200 0 65 0 0 6,899 

 DOD 2,678 244 169 596 0 0 0 0 190 3,877 

 Country Total 5,582 1,194 1,169 2,376 200 0 65 0 190 10,776 

 Chile 

 DoD 0 0 735 973 0 0 454 450 0 2,612 

 Country Total 0 0 735 973 0 0 454 450 0 2,612 

 Colombia 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 300 791 1,881 1,523 2,000 2,500 8,995 

 CDC 150 0 0 200 50 50 0 0 0 450 

 DOD 0 0 0 0 940 0 10 575 0 1,525 

 USAID 0 0 500 0 2,000 0 1,600 1,500 3,200 8,800 

 Country Total 150 0 500 500 3,781 1,931 3,133 4,075 5,700 19,770 

Congo, Democratic 

Republic of the 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 1,185 2,000 119 937 841 1,016 6,098 

 DOD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 65 305 370 

 USAID 800 0 0 500 0 0 0 0 0 1,300 

 Country Total 800 0 0 1,685 2,000 119 937 906 1,321 7,768 

Congo, Republic 

of the 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 445 675 200 0 0 1,320 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 445 675 200 0 0 1,320 

 Croatia 

 DOS NADR - CWD1 12,582 1,500 2,300 2,300 2,009 3,111 2,000 2,000 5,037 32,839 

 Country Total 12,582 1,500 2,300 2,300 2,009 3,111 2,000 2,000 5,037 32,839 

 Cyprus 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 10 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 10 

 Czech Republic 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 600 0 0 0 0 600 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 600 0 0 0 0 600 

 Djibouti 

 DOS NADR - CWD 1,900 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,900 

 DOD 1,100 67 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 1,172 

 Country Total 3,000 67 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 3,072 

Dominican Republic 

 USAID 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 500 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 500 

 Ecuador 

 DOS NADR - CWD 3,323 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,002 500 4,825

 DOD 1,762 0 507 313 0 0 258 433 0 3,273 

 Country Total 5,085 0 507 313 0 0 258 1,435 500 8,098

 Egypt 

 DOD 718 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 718 

 Country Total 718 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 718 

 El Salvador 

 DOS NADR - CWD 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 50 

 CDC 1,200 450 400 400 195 195 0 0 0 2,840 

 USAID 1,500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,500 

 Country Total 2,750 450 400 400 195 195 0 0 0 4,390 

 Eritrea 

 DOS NADR - CWD 6,971 1,452 2,800 400 0 0 0 0 0 11,623 

 DOS - Other 1,560 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,560 

 CDC 450 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 450 

 DOD 4,485 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4,485 

 Country Total 13,466 1,452 2,800 400 0 0 0 0 0 18,118 

 Estonia 

 DOS NADR - CWD 1,070 0 0 0 157 250 699 323 0 2,499 

 DOD 1,551 0 0 55 0 100 0 0 160 1,866 

 Country Total 2,621 0 0 55 157 350 699 323 160 4,365 

 Ethiopia 

 DOS NADR - CWD 3,545 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,545 

 DOS - Other 1,500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,500

 CDC 1,300 400 400 400 173 173 0 0 0 2,846 

 DOD 3,984 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,984 

 USAID 1,230 0 0 25 0 0 300 2,000 327 3,882 

 Country Total 11,559 400 400 425 173 173 300 2,000 327 15,757 

(Dollars in thousands)
54 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

FUNDING

Country Sources FY93-03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 Total 

 Georgia 

 DOS NADR - CWD 3,216 1,500 3,402 2,123 1,750 6,265 2,614 2,845 1,158 24,873 

 DOS - Other 0 0 0 0 0 2,644 0 0 2,644 

 DOD 1,110 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,114 

 Country Total 4,326 1,504 3,402 2,123 1,750 6,265 5,258 2,845 1,158 28,631 

 Guatemala 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 250 0 250 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 250 0 250 

 Guinea 

 DOS NADR - CWD 103 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 103 

 Country Total 103 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 103 

 Guinea-Bissau 

 DOS NADR - CWD 813 0 0 400 945 809 1,000 1,000 1,070 6,037 

 DOD 0 0 0 162 1,212 70 0 0 0 1,444 

 Country Total 813 0 0 562 2,157 879 1,000 1,000 1,070 7,481 

 Haiti 

 USAID 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,000 1,500 2,500 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,000 1,500 2,500 

 Honduras 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 316 0 0 0 0 0 316 

 Country Total 0 0 0 316 0 0 0 0 0 316 

 Iraq 

 DOS NADR - CWD 2,950 0 2,840 0 15,149 17,080 19,417 24,913 22,000 104,349 

 DOS - Other 0 0 0 0 0 992 0 0 0 992 

 CDC 350 0 0 0 50 50 0 0 0 450 

 DOD 12,268 61,000 9,000 13,200 5,150 2,881 120 318 0 103,937 

 Country Total 15,568 61,000 11,840 13,200 20,349 21,003 19,537 25,231 22,000 209,728 

 Jordan 

 DOS NADR - CWD 7,001 950 0 0 0 514 2,700 2,906 2,015 16,086 

 DOS Other 300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 300 

 CDC 1,200 400 400 400 284 284 0 0 0 2,968 

 DOD 2,418 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2,418 

 Country Total 10,919 1,350 400 400 284 798 2,700 2,906 2,015 21,772 

 Kazakhstan 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 295 0 0 0 0 0 0 295 

 Country Total 0 0 295 0 0 0 0 0 0 295 

 Kenya 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 180 458 500 269 75 1,482 

 DOD 0 0 0 0 0 0 56 25 175 256 

 USAID 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 400 

 Country Total 400 0 0 0 180 458 556 294 250 2,138 

 Kosovo 

 DOS NADR - CWD 5,025 0 0 110 205 150 150 1,000 450 7,090 

 DOD 4,300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4,300 

 USAID 17,472 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17,472 

 Country Total 26,797 0 0 110 205 150 150 1,000 450 28,862 

 Kyrgyzstan 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 500 

 DOD 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 7 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 500 507 

 Laos 

 DOS NADR - CWD 9,507 1,412 2,500 3,300 2,692 3,050 3,350 5,100 5,000 35,911 

 DOS - Other 750 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 750

 DOD 6,856 0 0 0 5 0 0 6 0 6,867 

 USAID 5,350 500 0 1,500 350 0 600 1,000 0 9,300 

 Country Total 22,463 1,912 2,500 4,800 3,047 3,050 3,950 6,106 5,000 52,828 

 Lebanon2

 DOS NADR - CWD 5,778 900 2,300 1,420 1,556 5,184 4,791 1,997 2.225 26,151

 DOS Other 0 0 0 2,000 0 0 0 0 0 2,000 

 DOD 504 1,155 1,470 5,007 0 0 5 289 0 8,430 

 USAID 2,000 700 700 1,200 1,400 1,500 800 750 800 9,850 

 Country Total 8,282 2,755 4,470 9,627 2,956 6,684 5,596 3,036 2,725 46,431 

 Lesotho 

 DOS NADR - CWD 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 

 Country Total 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 

U.S. CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION Program Funding History (Fiscal Years 1993–2011)
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 55

(Dollars in thousands)

Country Sources FY93-03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 Total 

 Liberia 

 DOS NADR - CWD 200 160 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 360 

 CDC 0 0 0 0 75 75 0 0 0 150 

 USAID 3,256 173 500 0 0 500 0 0 0 4,429 

 Country Total 3,456 333 500 0 75 575 0 0 0 4,939 

 Libya 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,000 3,000 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,000 3,000 

 Lithuania 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 0 500 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 0 500 

 Macedonia 

 DOS NADR - CWD 1,602 0 0 50 96 50 50 150 0 1,998 

 Country Total 1,602 0 0 50 96 50 50 150 0 1,998 

 Mauritania 

 DOS NADR - CWD 1,395 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,000 0 2,395 

 DOD 3,952 0 0 0 458 0 0 0 0 4,410 

 Country Total 5,347 0 0 0 458 0 0 1,000 0 6,805 

 Moldova 

 DOD 71 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 71 

 Country Total 71 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 71 

 Montenegro4

(FY07 to present) 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 2,050 497 804 1,048 1,750 6,149

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 2,050 497 804 1,048 1,750 6,149

 Mozambique 

 DOS NADR - CWD 14,011 1,492 2,336 2,344 440 0 2,124 2,000 2,175 26,922 

 DOS - Other 1,600 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,600

 CDC 1,200 50 400 400 25 25 0 0 0 2,100 

 DOD 11,449 0 0 0 0 0 49 3 326 11,827 

 USAID 4,533 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4,533 

 Country Total 32,793 1,542 2,736 2,744 465 25 2,173 2,003 2,501 46,982 

 Namibia 

 DOS NADR - CWD 3,351 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,351 

 DOS Other 670 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 670 

 DOD 4,400 0 0 0 0 0 0 78 165 4,643 

 Country Total 8,421 0 0 0 0 0 0 78 165 8,664 

 Nepal 

 USAID 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 500 0 1,000 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 500 0 1,000 

 Nicaragua 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 300 32 1,749 1,400 250 350 0 0 4,081 

 DOD 200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 200 

 Country Total 200 300 32 1,749 1,400 250 350 0 0 4,281 

 Nigeria 

 DOS NADR - CWD 1,449 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,449 

 Country Total 1,449 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,449 

 Oman 

 DOS NADR - CWD 1,785 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,785 

 DOD 1,053 1,500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2,553 

 Country Total 2,838 1,500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4,338 

 Pakistan 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 32 0 0 0 0 500 300 0 832 

 Country Total 0 32 0 0 0 0 500 300 0 832 

 Palau 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 85 0 0 85 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 85 0 0 85 

Palestinian 

Territories 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 209 209 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 209 209 

 Paraguay 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 200 0 0 0 200 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 200 0 0 0 200 

 Peru 

 DOS NADR - CWD 3,086 0 0 0 0 200 2,620 2,000 2,000 9,906 

 DOD 2,233 9,669 0 0 0 0 42 0 0 11,944 

 Country Total 5,319 9,669 0 0 0 200 2,662 2,000 2,000 21,850 

 Philippines 

 DOS NADR - CWD 250 0 0 150 0 270 0 250 0 920 

 USAID 0 750 0 0 0 800 0 0 0 1,550 

 Country Total 250 750 0 150 0 1,070 0 250 0 2,470 
56 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

FUNDING

Country Sources FY93-03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 Total 

 Romania 

 DOS NADR - CWD 1,369 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,000 0 2,369 

 DOD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150 150 

 Country Total 1,369 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,000 150 2,519 

 Rwanda 

 DOS NADR - CWD 3,285 0 0 476 0 0 200 242 0 4,203

 DOS Other 700 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 700 

 DOD 7,790 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7,790 

 Country Total 11,775 0 0 476 0 0 200 242 0 12,693 

Sao Tome/Principe 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 50 

 Country Total 0 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 50 

Senegal 

 DOS NADR - CWD 92 112 0 0 421 655 725 500 0 2,505 

 DOD 0 0 0 0 252 0 0 0 0 252 

 USAID 500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 

 Country Total 592 112 0 0 673 655 725 500 0 3,257 

Serbia4 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 700 8,133 1,000 1,400 1,552 12,785 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 700 8,133 1,000 1,400 1,552 12,785 

Serbia & 

Montenegro4

 DOS NADR - CWD 2,217 1,021 1,408 1,000 0 0 0 0 0 5,646 

 Country Total 2,217 1,021 1,408 1,000 0 0 0 0 0 5,646 

Sierra Leone 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 147 0 147 

 USAID 1,093 0 500 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,593 

 Country Total 1,093 0 500 0 0 0 0 147 0 1,740 

Solomon Islands 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 400 400 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 400 400 

Somalia (NW) 

 DOS NADR - CWD 5,943 0 0 0 0 754 1,523 2,000 2,325 12,545 

 Country Total 5,943 0 0 0 0 754 1,523 2,000 2,325 12,545 

South Sudan5 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,100 1,100 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,100 1,100 

Sri Lanka 

 DOS NADR - CWD 2,400 1,775 2,700 1,108 400 1,479 6,600 4,400 2,500 23,362 

 DOS - Other 122 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 122 

 CDC 100 25 0 0 25 25 0 0 0 175 

 DOD 247 0 0 0 0 0 98 280 0 625 

 USAID 2,600 900 0 350 0 500 750 300 2,000 7,400 

 Country Total 5,469 2,700 2,700 1,458 425 2,004 7,448 4,980 4,500 31,684 

Sudan5 DOS NADR - CWD 896 2,858 3,060 3,020 3,325 4,643 4,600 5,350 2,800 30,552 

 Country Total 896 2,858 3,060 3,020 3,325 4,643 4,600 5,350 2,800 30,552 

Suriname 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 100 290 0 0 0 0 390 

 Country Total 0 0 0 100 290 0 0 0 0 390 

Swaziland 

 DOS NADR - CWD 210 0 0 0 0 0 0 229 0 439 

 DOD 836 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 836 

 Country Total 1,046 0 0 0 0 0 0 229 0 1,275 

Tajikistan 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 200 300 0 180 0 2,194 1,000 3,874 

 DOD 0 7 0 0 0 0 25 1,200 0 1,232 

 Country Total 0 7 200 300 0 180 25 3,394 1,000 5,106 

Tanzania - TATCOT 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 16 

 DOD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 185 185 

 USAID 1,200 0 500 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,700 

 Country Total 1,200 0 500 0 0 0 0 0 201 1,901 

Thailand 

 DOS NADR - CWD 4,190 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4,190 

 DOD 3,079 8 8 8 86 0 1,400 1,500 0 6,089 

 Country Total 7,269 8 8 8 86 0 1,400 1,500 0 10,279 

Togo 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 32 0 0 0 0 0 32 

 Country Total 0 0 0 32 0 0 0 0 0 32 

U.S. CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION Program Funding History (Fiscal Years 1993–2011)
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 57

(Dollars in thousands)

Country Sources FY93-03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 Total 

Tunisia 

 DOD 0 0 0 3 214 0 0 0 0 217 

 Country Total 0 0 0 3 214 0 0 0 0 217 

Uganda 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 40 0 0 0 0 16 56 

 USAID 1,000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,000 

 Country Total 1,000 0 0 40 0 0 0 0 16 1,056 

Ukraine 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 642 1,500 1,500 1,800 1,000 0 2,590 4,500 13,532 

 DOD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 177 0 177 

 Country Total 0 642 1,500 1,500 1,800 1,000 0 2,767 4,500 13,709 

Uruguay 

 DOS NADR - CWD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 200 0 200 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 200 0 200 

Uzbekistan 

 DOD 0 0 0 0 0 0 30 69 0 99 

 Country Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 30 69 0 99 

Vietnam 

 DOS NADR - CWD 7,812 2,714 2,850 3,300 2,859 2,575 2,120 3,750 3,500 31,480 

 CDC 500 400 400 400 74 74 0 0 0 1,848 

 DOD 761 0 0 0 2 0 0 275 0 1,038 

 USAID 16,530 1,000 500 3,264 0 1,500 605 1,500 1,900 26,799 

 Country Total 25,603 4,114 3,750 6,964 2,935 4,149 2,725 5,525 5,400 61,165 

Yemen 

 DOS NADR - CWD 5,491 2,195 750 700 900 500 609 1,000 1,075 13,220 

 DOD 4,631 54 4 0 0 0 157 0 0 4,846 

 Country Total 10,122 2,249 754 700 900 500 766 1,000 1,075 18,066 

Zambia 

 DOS NADR - CWD 2,050 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2,050 

 DOD 424 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 437 

 Country Total 2,474 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 2,487 

Zimbabwe 

 DOS NADR - CWD 3,086 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,086 

 DOD 3,265 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,265 

 Country Total 6,351 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6,351 

Global/

Multi-country 

 DOS NADR - CWD 61,119 10,705 8,403 8,740 4,654 15,438 14,294 9,172 4,460 136,985

 DOS Other 1,450 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,450 

 CDC 6,150 1,500 1,625 1,200 2,569 2,569 3,040 0 0 18,653 

 DOD 160,584 13,653 14,874 1,576 2,820 1,949 5,462 49 682 201,649 

 USAID 28,535 4,902 7,524 3,614 5,900 9,050 7,845 19,950 7,773 95,093 

 Global Total 257,838 30,760 32,426 15,130 15,943 29,006 30,641 29,171 12,915 453,830

 Grand Total 763,831 196,466 122,340 115,620 106,799 147,238 160,840 201,132 163,917 1,978,183

U.S.CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION Program Funding History (totals By SOURCE)

Sources FY93-03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 Total 

 NADR - CWD6 289,697 62,518 75,885 74,479 81,002 123,096 130,000 161,194 142,405 1,140,276 

 DOS - Other 7 40,665 1,200 0 2,000 0 992 2,644 0 0 47,501 

 CDC 15,200 4,125 4,125 3,900 3,900 3,900 3,040 0 0 38,190 

 DOD2,3 273,640 87,818 27,430 22,441 11,897 5,400 12,156 10,938 2,512 454,232 

 USAID Leahy 84,483 11,930 14,900 11,600 10,000 13,850 13,000 24,000 19,000 202,763 

 USAID Other 60,146 28,875 0 1,200 0 0 0 5,000 0 95,221 

 Grand Total 763,831 196,466 122,340 115,620 106,799 147,238 160,840 201,132 163,917 1,978,183 

1. FY08 amount includes $110,000 SEED funds apportioned as NADR.

2. All CENTCOM demining-centric activities for FY10 were conducted with Theater Security Cooperation funding pending new guidance from 

the Central Command Directorate for Strategic Plans and Policy, not OHDACA funding.

3. DOD funds include OHDACA, RDT&E, HAP/EP, and IRRF.

4. Serbia and Montenegro split into two countries in 2007.

5. South Sudan and Sudan split into two countries in 2011.

6. In the past NADR-CWD included ITF, HD and SA/LW.

7. DOS - Other includes a variety of DOS funding sources.

For more detailed version of this chart, including specific funding sources, please visit our website at

 http://state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/index.htm
58 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Rwanda’s genocide began when two man-portable air-defense

system (MANPADS) missiles hit the plane carrying the presidents

of Burundi and Rwanda, causing it to crash and killing everyone on

board. Elsewhere, MANPADS have been used against U.S. forces by insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq, destroyed humanitarian flights in

Angola and Sudan, and hit numerous civilian aircraft across Africa. A

successful attack against a commercial airliner could ground civil aviation, analogous to the grounding of the U.S. civilian air fleet for days

following 9/11, and would cost the world economy billions of dollars.

To address the challenge of illicit MANPADS proliferation, a

comprehensive U.S. National Strategy for Aviation Security was

written under National Security Presidential Directive 47 in 2006. The

strategy organizes U.S. Government efforts toward aviation threats.

The International Aviation Threat Reduction Plan, one of seven

supporting plans to the Strategy, focuses on international aspects

of the MANPADS threat. The U.S. Interagency MANPADS Task Force,

chaired by the U.S. Department of State, was created to coordinate U.S.

Government action on MANPADS threat reduction.

WHAT THE TASK FORCE DOES

The MANPADS Task Force addresses MANPADS proliferation

in every region of the world in a variety of ways. Excess MANPADS

production is discouraged, while strict export controls and end-use

monitoring are promoted. The Task Force aids foreign governments

with the implementation of MANPADS stockpile-security measures

to prevent against loss to terrorists, criminals, insurgents, and

other non-state actors. Additional efforts include border-security

assistance to ensure that MANPADS already for sale or transfer on the

black market cannot be trafficked from one country to another.

The Department of State leads Task Force engagement with

foreign government officials, partnering in bilateral and multilateral

efforts to reduce the worldwide threat from MANPADS. Meanwhile,

the Department of Defense supports international negotiations

by providing expertise on the proper management and control of

MANPADS in foreign government holdings, and by enforcing stringent

physical security and accountability for MANPADS in U.S. possession.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security supports international

efforts through an International MANPADS Assist Visit program within

the Transportation Security Administration. Several other agencies

also support MANPADS Task Force activities and initiatives.

The tragic loss of human life combined with the far-reaching implications for international security and stability associated with a successful MANPADS attack against a civilian airliner continue to ensure

that MANPADS threat reduction is a U.S. national security priority. 

WHAT ARE MANPADS?

Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) are surface-to-air

missiles that can be carried and fired by a single individual or carried

by several individuals and fired by a crew. Originally developed in

The MANPADS Task Force

the 1960’s, MANPADS were designed to be used by national military

forces to protect their troops and facilities. With their relatively short

range, MANPADS are regarded as the last missile-based air defense

available to protect against aerial attack.

Most MANPADS consist of: 1) a missile packaged in a tube; 2) a

reusable trigger mechanism (commonly known as a “gripstock”); and

3) a battery. The tubes, which protect the missile until it has been

fired, are disposable. Many systems have rudimentary sights mounted

on the tube. A single-use battery is typically used to power the missile

prior to launch.

The most widely proliferated MANPADS are infrared (IR)-guided

systems that automatically hone in on an aircraft’s heat source,

usually the engine or the engine’s exhaust plume. Other types of

MANPADS require the operator to remotely steer the missile to the

target aircraft; these involve more operator input and require more

training. Most of the older systems are ineffective against modern

military aircraft, though civilian aircraft remain vulnerable due to the

lack of countermeasures.

MANPADS launch tubes typically range from about 4 feet to 6.5 feet

(1.2 to 2 meters) in length and are about 3 inches (72 millimeters) in

diameter. Their weight, with launcher, varies from about 28 pounds to

just over 55 pounds (13 to 25 kilograms). Consequently, they are easy

to transport and conceal. Some of the most commonly proliferated

MANPADS can easily fit into the trunk of an automobile.

Although similar in appearance externally, MANPADS should not be

confused with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). MANPADS missiles

can attain a velocity about twice the speed of sound and strike aircraft

flying at altitudes up to approximately 15,000 feet (4.57 kilometers)

at a range of up to 3.2 miles (5 kilometers). RPGs are also portable

and shoulder-fired. However, RPGs are unguided weapons designed

primarily to be used against ground targets and are generally much

less effective against aircraft, except at very close range. Some RPG

attacks on aircraft flying at low altitudes and relatively slow speeds

have been mistaken for MANPADS attacks.

Securing MANPADS in Libya.

Photo courtesy of Quick Reaction Force representative.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 59

FY2011 Grantees

Afghan Technical Consultants (ATC), established in 1989, was the first humanitarian mine-clearance organization in Afghanistan to be endorsed by 

the United Nations. ATC works to reduce civilian casualties and enable 

land release through detection, clearance, and mine-risk education activities. For more information: http://atcafghanistan.org.

The Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR), established as the Mine Action Information Center in 1996, is a Center of 

Excellence at James Madison University helping communities around the 

world affected by conflict and trauma through innovative and reliable research, training, information exchange, and direct services. For more information: http://cisr.jmu.edu.

The Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas, or the Colombian Campaign to 

Ban Landmines, was created in 1997. Its mission is to reduce the social, 

economic, and cultural effects of landmines and unexploded ordnance in 

Colombia through advocacy, diplomacy, and humanitarian work. For more 

information: http://colombiasinminas.org.

Cleared Ground, headquartered in London, U.K., is an independent notfor-profit nongovernmental organization that works around the globe to 

reduce the threats posed to local communities by landmines and unexploded ordnance. For more information: http://clearedground.org. 

Centro Integral de Rehabilitación de Colombia (CIREC), or the Integral 

Center of Rehabilitation of Colombia, founded in 1976, is a private nonprofit rehabilitation center based in Bogotá. CIREC provides medical 

services, physical and occupational therapy, and psychological and social 

support. It also manufactures prosthetics and orthotics with an integrated 

approach to the recovery of survivors of landmine accidents. For more information: www.cirec.org/ or contactenos@cirec.org

Clear Path International (CPI), headquartered in Seattle, Washington, is 

devoted to bringing hope, help and opportunity to landmine survivors and 

others disabled by war. CPI identifies, collaborates and helps build sustainable local partners that empower conflict survivors to overcome physical, 

psychological, social, and economic challenges, promote equality and accessibility, and provide innovative, integrated, and sustainable programs to 

support conflict survivors. For more information: http://cpi.org.

In 1943 the Catholic Bishops of the United States created Catholic Relief 

Services in response to the need for World War II survivor assistance in 

Europe. Since then, CRS has worked in more than 100 countries across five 

continents to carry out its mission to assist poor and disadvantaged communities outside the United States by promoting the sacredness of human 

life and the right to human dignity. For more information: http://crs.org.

DanChurchAid (DCA) is an independent ecumenical humanitarian organization based in Copenhagen, Denmark that strives to provide humanitarian assistance and advocate for oppressed, neglected, and marginalized 

groups in poor countries, strengthening their possibilities for a life with 

dignity. DCA’s humanitarian mine-action programs combine mine-risk 

education, mine clearance, and strong community-development activities. 

For more information: www.danchurchaid.org.

Danish Demining Group (DDG) is a nongovernmental organization based 

in Copenhagen, Denmark operating under the auspices of the Danish 

Refugee Council. It assists individuals and populations hampered by landmines and other explosive remnants of war. In doing so, DDG also strives 

to procure supplies from local communities and to train a local staff in 

order to create national ownership opportunities as soon as possible. For 

more information: www.danishdemininggroup.dk.

DELTA (State Military Scientific-Technical Centre) is a Georgian organization that processes and demilitarizes outdated, obsolete and unused ammunition at Georgian military bases. 

The Demining Agency for Afghanistan (DAFA) is an Afghan humanitarian mine-clearance organization formed in June 1990. DAFA’s mission 

is to clear all hazardous and mine-contaminated areas in Afghanistan by 

committing resources to humanitarian demining, demining for road reconstruction, local government rehabilitation plans, and the Disarmament, 

Demobilization, and Reintegration campaign. For more information: 

sattar_dafa@yahoo.ca or dafafinance@yahoo.com.

The Federation of American Scientists is an independent, nonpartisan 

think tank and registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization, 

dedicated to providing rigorous, objective, evidence-based analysis and 

practical policy recommendations on national and international security 

issues connected to applied science and technology. More than 65 Nobel 

laureates serve on the FAS Board of Sponsors. For more information: 

www.fas.org.

Freedom Fields USA, based in Carmel, California, is a nonprofit organization of concerned citizens focused on the humanitarian demining of wartorn countries and returning them to a path of economic development 

and hope. Freedom Fields’ current initiative is to help demine and restore 

valuable land in the notorious K5 Mine Belt in the border region between 

Cambodia and Thailand. For more information: http://ffusa.org.

The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) is 

a nonprofit organization established in 1998 by Switzerland and several 

other countries. Through applied research, capacity development, and standards development, GICHD’s mission is to eliminate the threat of landmines, unexploded ordnance, and explosive remnants of war around the 

world. For more information: http://gichd.org.

The Golden West Humanitarian Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit 

charitable organization. It conducts surveys and assessments, and develops 

mine-risk education materials and landmine/unexploded ordnance disposal technologies. For more information: http://goldenwesthf.org.

The HALO Trust, an American and British nonprofit charity, specializes in 

the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance from post-conflict 

zones. Since pioneering the concept of humanitarian landmine clearance 

in Afghanistan in 1988, it has destroyed more than 12 million explosive 

items. For more information: www.halotrust.org/.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton applauded the more than $1.9 billion in U.S.

contributions toward making the world a safer place at the 19 December 2011 

launch of the 10th edition of To Walk The Earth In Safety. She also congratulated the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery at James Madison 

University for its efforts in the production of the publication. Pictured left to right: 

Eric Wuestewald, Dr. Suzanne Fiederlein, Dr. Ken Rutherford, Hillary Clinton, 

Lois Carter Crawford, and Heather Bowers.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Dept. of State.
60 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

FY2011 grantees

Handicap International (HI) is an independent and impartial international 

aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict 

and disaster. HI currently implements mine-action programs in 17 countries—working to clear landmines and other unexploded ordnance from 

civilian areas, providing risk-education programs aimed at civilians living 

or traveling through affected regions, and providing assistance to those unfortunate enough to have been injured. For more information: http://www.

handicap-international.us. 

Humanitarian Aid (HUMAID), a Guinean nongovernmental organization 

registered in both Guinea-Bissau and the United States, was founded in 

1999. Since 2000, HUMAID has worked in the capitol city of Bissau; the 

regions of Casamance, Illonde, Prabis; and around the village of Buruntum, 

providing services related to survey, detection, clearance, and mine-risk 

education. For more information: jdblacken@yahoo.com. 

The International Center (IC), founded in 1977, is a nonprofit organization 

based in Washington, D.C., that was created to foster mutual aid between 

the United States and the developing world. In 2009, the Vietnam Veterans 

of America Foundation (VVAF) began working under the IC in the areas 

of mental health, education, and landmine/unexploded-ordnance clearance. 

VVAF has been addressing the harsh consequences war, especially the war 

in Vietnam, since 1978. For more information: http://theintlcenter.org. 

Information Management & Mine Action Programs (iMMAP) is a not-forprofit nongovernmental organization that coordinates, supports and implements humanitarian information-management activities and landmine and 

unexploded-ordnance surveys during and after complex emergencies and 

in developing countries around the world. iMMAP aims to alleviate the 

suffering of victims of natural disasters and armed conflict by providing 

decision-support services to humanitarian agencies through the management of reliable, timely and appropriate strategic and geographic information. For more information: http://immap.org.

The Iraq Mine and UXO Clearance Organization (IMCO) is an Iraqi nongovernmental demining organization established in 2003. IMCO is fully 

trained and equipped to international humanitarian mine-action standards 

to perform manual and mine-detection dog-supported demining operations, battle-area clearance, reconnaissance of suspected hazardous areas, 

unexploded ordnance/landmine survey, and technical site survey missions. 

For more information: info@imcoiq.com.

ITF Enhancing Human Security (formerly the International Trust Fund 

for Demining and Mine Victim Assistance) is a humanitarian nonprofit 

devoted to the elimination of post-conflict threats, including landmines 

and explosive remnants of war. ITF also supports conventional weapons 

destruction, security sector reform, and disarmament, demobilization, and 

reintegration programs. Initially, the government of Slovenia established 

ITF in 1998 to help Bosnia and Herzegovina implement the peace agreement and provide rehabilitation assistance. With its expanded mission, 

ITF is currently active in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the 

Middle East. For more information, visit www.itf-fund.si.

The Landmine Relief Fund was founded in 2004 to support the work of an 

all-Cambodian demining nongovernmental organization, Cambodian Self 

Help Demining (CSHD). CSHD was founded by a former child soldier 

named Aki Ra, who has spent nearly 15 years clearing explosive remnants 

of war wherever he finds it. He works with other ex-child soldiers, primarily in “low priority” villages throughout Cambodia. For more information: 

http://landmine-relief-fund.com.

The Lebanese Demining Organization was established in 2006 as the first 

national nongovernmental organization in Lebanon. The organization was 

brought together through the interest of Lebanese nationals involved in 

humanitarian mine action since the first phases of clearance that started in 

2002. Working under the supervision of the Lebanon Mine Action Center 

(LMAC), the LDO became operational in 2010. The LDO is not politically affiliated and works toward a Lebanon free from mines and unexploded ordnance. For more information: info@ldo-lb.org. 

MAG (Mines Advisory Group), working in association with its U.S. partner 

MAG America, is a humanitarian organization working in conflict-affected 

countries to clear landmines and other unexploded ordnance (UXO), 

remove/destroy small arms/light weapons, provide mine-risk education, 

and offer capacity-building support to these countries. Since it began 

operations in Afghanistan in 1989 clearing landmines and UXO, MAG 

has worked on a variety of conflict-recovery projects in about 35 countries 

around the world. For more information: http://maginternational.org.

The Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI) is a nonprofit organization founded 

to help restore hope, alleviate suffering and nurture stability in war-torn 

countries. Major projects include the Mine Detection Dog Partnership 

Program, the Children Against Mines Program (CHAMPS), CHAMPS 

International, and Survivors’ Assistance Programs. For more information: 

http://marshall-legacy.org.

Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA), an Afghanistan-based nongovernmental organization, was founded in 1990. MCPA specializes in 

humanitarian mine action including general, impact, and post-clearance 

surveys, technical and battle-area surveys, mine-detection dogs, manual 

and mechanical mine clearance, explosive-ordnance disposal, mine-risk 

education, and mine-clearance training. In addition, MCPA focuses on 

the development and maintenance of information-management systems 

for mine action. For more information: mcpa@psh.pacnet.com.pk.

The Mine Detection Center (MDC) was established in 1989 with the goal 

to make Afghanistan mine and explosive-remnants-of-war impact-free so 

individuals and communities can have a safe environment conducive to 

national development. From 1994 to 2006, MDC cleared more than 169 

million square meters (65 square miles) of minefields. MDC, which now 

has about 1,500 qualified technical field personnel and support staff, 270 

dogs, and six demining machines, also helped establish mine-detection dog 

capacities in Yemen and Tajikistan. For more information: mdcafghan@

hotmail.com or info@mdc-afghan.org.

An articulated tractor used at the Gerdec UXO remediation site.

Photo courtesy of John Stevens, U.S. Dept. of State, PM/WRA.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY 61

The NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA), founded in 1958, 

is a logistics-support agency that assists NATO nations in maintaining 

their weapons systems through supply, maintenance, procurement, contract management, engineering, and technical support. NAMSA has been 

involved in a number of demilitarization projects focused on the destruction of landmines, conventional weapons, and small arms/light weapons. 

For more information: http://www.namsa.nato.int. 

The NATO Support Agency (NSPA) is NATO’s integrated logistics and 

services provider agency. The NSPA is a fully customer-funded agency, 

operating on a “no profit - no loss” basis. It brings together NATO’s logistics and procurement-support activities in a single organization, providing integrated multinational support solutions for its stakeholders. 

At the Lisbon Summit in November 2010, NATO Heads of State and 

Government agreed to reform the 14 existing NATO agencies, agreeing 

to streamline them into three major programmatic themes: procurement, 

support, and communications and information. As part of the reform process, NSPA was established 1 July 2012 as a result of the merger of the former in-service support agencies: the NATO Maintenance Supply Agency 

(NAMSA), the NATO Airlift Management Agency (NAMA), and the 

Central Europe Pipeline Management Agency (CEPMA). For more information: http://nspa.nato.int/en/index.htm. 

The National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation (NCDR) is 

Jordan’s national authority on all landmine and explosive remants of war 

(ERW)-related projects. Founded in 2000, NCDR conducts ERW removal, mine-risk education, survivor and victim assistance, and international 

relations to create safe, strong, and prosperous communities for the people 

of Jordan. For more information: http://ncdr.org.jo.

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), founded in 1939 on the principles of 

solidarity, dignity, peace, and freedom, is one of Norway’s biggest nongovernmental organizations. NPA works in the field of mine action in 18 

mine- and unexploded ordnance-affected countries, performing clearance 

operations, engaging in political advocacy, and developing and implementing treaties against landmines and cluster munitions. For more information: http://npaid.org.

The Organization of American States (OAS) was established in 1948 with the 

goal of encouraging sustainable peace, justice, solidarity, collaboration, integrity, and independence among the nations of the Americas. OAS achieves 

this goal through activities revolving around democracy, human rights, security, and development. For more information: www.mineclearance.org.

The Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR) 

was established in 1990 to teach Afghan refugees and internally displaced 

Afghans about the dangers of landmines and unexploded ordnance left behind by the Soviet and Afghan Communist Armies, and by Afghan insurgents. In 1992, OMAR started a demining program, hiring and training 

more than 1,500 deminers in manual and mechanical demining, battlearea clearance, and explosive-ordnance disposal, as well as teaching them 

to work with mine-detection dogs. OMAR has also developed demining 

Emergency Response Teams. For more information: http://omar.org.af.

PeaceTrees Vietnam was founded in 1995 as a grassroots effort to bring 

peace, friendship, and renewal to the people of Quang Tri province, one of 

the most war-torn provinces of Vietnam. PeaceTrees’ vision of establishing 

a safe and healthy future for the children of Quang Tri includes: landmine 

and unexploded-ordnance clearance, landmine-awareness programs, citizen 

diplomacy, community service, tree-planting programs, survivor/victim assistance, economic support, scholarships to landmine survivors and their 

families, social development projects, and community restoration and relocation projects. For more information: http://peacetreesvietnam.org.

The Polus Center for Social & Economic Development, established in 

1979, is a Massachusetts-based, nonprofit human-services organization 

that supports a number of community-based rehabilitative initiatives in 

Central America and Africa. Its work benefits a wide range of persons with 

mobility disabilities, including those who have experienced limb loss as a 

result of landmines. For more information: http://poluscenter.org.

Arising from the 2000 Nairobi Declaration, the Regional Centre on Small 

Arms (RECSA) provides a comprehensive institutional disarmament framework to combat the availability of small arms/light weapons (SA/LW) in 

the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions of Africa. RECSA cooperates 

with national focal points in its member states by developing governmental, civil, and donor partnerships; raising public awareness; building police 

and law-enforcement capacities; and coordinating interagency action to 

combat SA/LW proliferation, and enhance the prospects of sustainable 

regional development. For more information: http://recsasec.org. 

Refugees International was created in 1979 as a citizen-propelled movement 

to protect Indochinese refugees. Since then, Refugees International has 

become an influential international advocacy organization, conducting 

20-plus field missions each year to provide services that meet the basic 

needs of refugees around the globe. For more information: http://

refugeesinternational.org.

The Small Arms Survey (SAS) is an independent research project of 

the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in 

Geneva, Switzerland. Since its inception in 1999, the SAS has worked 

internationally to produce detailed, annual, country/region-specific reviews 

that include figures on the production, stockpiling, and transfer of small 

arms/light weapons, among other information. For more information: 

http://smallarmssurvey.org.

The Sudan Integrated Mine Action Service (SIMAS) is a South-Sudanese 

mine-action organization founded in 1999 to protect returning internally 

displaced people and refugees from the threat of landmines. SIMAS continues to work in South Sudan through mine-risk education, mine clearance, project management, technical survey, battle-area clearance, and explosive-ordnance disposal. For more information: http://simas-sudan.org.

Spirit of Soccer uses soccer/football skills clinics to educate children about 

the dangers posed by landmines and explosive remnants of war in postconflict regions of the world. Since 1996, more than 75,000 children have 

received mine-risk education through soccer-based activities. For more 

information: http://spiritofsoccer.net.

The Survey Action Center (SAC) seeks to improve the planning and resource-allocation processes within the international mine-action community by providing timely, accurate, and complete mine-impact survey information to key decision- makers. SAC’s vision is best advanced through 

creative partnerships with national authorities, nongovernmental organiControlling small arms and light weapons is a priority in Latin America.

Photo courtesy of UN/Steen Johansen.
62 TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

FY2011 grantees

Commonly Used Acronyms

AP Anti-personnel

BAC Battle-area Clearance

CWD Conventional Weapons Destruction

DOD Department of Defense

DOS Department of State

HD R&D Humanitarian Demining Research & 

Development Program

HMA Humanitarian Mine Action

IDPs Internally Displaced Persons 

IED Improvised Explosive Device 

MANPADS Man-portable Air-Defense Systems

MDD Mine-detection Dog

MRE Mine-risk Education

OHDACA Overseas Humanitarian Test & Evaluation Fund

PM/WRA

The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in 

the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs

PSSM Physical Security and Stockpile Management

SA/LW Small Arms and Light Weapons

SHA Suspected Hazardous Areas

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

USAID United States Agency for International

Development

USAfricom U.S. Africa Command

USCENTCOM U.S. Central Command

USEUCOM U.S. European Command

USSOUTHCOM U.S. Southern Command

UXO Unexploded Ordnance

VA Victim Assistance

Association of Volunteers in International Service Center for 

International Rehabilitation Center for International Stabilization and 

Recovery (CISR/JMU) Center for Teaching International Relations 

Centro Integral de Rehabilitación de Colombia (CIREC) Children of 

Armenia Fund Children’s Surgical Centre C King Associates, Ltd.

Clear Path International Coalition Against Landmines (CALM) 

Cranfield Mine Action DanChurchAid Danish Demining Group 

Demining Agency for Afghanistan (DAFA) Fenix Insight Ltd.

Freedom Fields USA Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian 

Demining (GICHD) Global Care Unlimited Golden West 

Humanitarian Foundation Grapes for Humanity Global Foundation 

The HALO Trust Handicap International Health Volunteers Overseas 

 Help Handicapped International Humpty Dumpty Institute 

Information Management and Mine Action Programs (iMMAP) 

International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF) ITF Enhancing Human 

Security Iraqi Mine & UXO Clearance Organization (IMCO) The Julia 

Burke Foundation Landmine Relief Fund Landmines Blow! 

Legacies of War Lipscomb University MAG (Mines Advisory Group) 

 Mine Clearance Planning Agency – Afghanistan Mine Detection 

Center – Afghanistan Marshall Legacy Institute Medical Care 

Development International Messiah College Landmine Action Project 

 M.I.N.D. Labs (Michigan State University) One Sri Lanka 

Foundation Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan 

Rehabilitation (OMAR) PeaceTrees Vietnam People to People 

International The Polus Center for Social Economic Development 

Positive Play Prestige Health Care Technologies Project RENEW 

Prosthetics Outreach Foundation Roots of Peace Rotarians for Mine 

Action Save the Children Schonstedt Instrument Company 

Southpac Consulting Ltd. Spirit of Soccer Survey Action Center 

Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) Torrens Resilience Group 

United for Colombia 

World Education World Rehabilitation Fund 

International Organization Partners

Organization of American States (OAS) United Nations Children’s 

Fund (UNICEF) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 

United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) 

The Public-Private Partnership Program of the Office of Weapons Removal and 

Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 

(PM/WRA) was launched in October 1997 to enlist civil society support for clearing 

persistent landmines and explosive remnants of war, teaching mine-risk education, 

and rendering assistance to survivors of landmine- and unexploded-ordnance 

accidents around the world. The Public-Private Partnership logo, created by CISR, was 

originally used to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Public-Private Partnership 

Program, which continues to this day to encourage private-sector involvement.

zations, commercial firms, U.N. agencies, and donors. For more information: http://sac-na.org.

The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (Fondation Suisse de Déminage, 

or FSD), an international nongovernmental organization based in Geneva, 

Switzerland that was created in 1997, has implemented mine-clearance 

projects in 18 countries since its inception. FSD’s focus is on locating and 

destroying landmines and unexploded ordnance on the ground and under 

water, but it also engages in projects related to the reduction of physical 

and chemical pollution and the collection and destruction of many types 

of arms and ammunition. For more information: http://fsd.ch.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), founded in 1965, 

is the global development network of the United Nations. Following the 

U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals, UNDP gives international assistance to 166 countries in areas including democratic governance, poverty 

reduction, crisis prevention and recovery, HIV/AIDS, and environment 

and energy issues. For more information: http://undp.org.

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) was 

established in 1982 following the United Nations’ second special 

assembly on disarmament, but it did not become known as UNODA 

until 2007. It works internationally to foster disarmament measures, 

and support nonproliferation in the areas of conventional, nuclear, 

biological, and chemical weapons. For more information: http://un.org/

disarmament/index.shtml. 
U.S. Department of State

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

Director: James F. Lawrence

LawrenceJF@state.gov

Deputy Director, Policy: Steve R. Costner

CostnerSR@state.gov

Acting Deputy Director, Programs: Dennis Hadrick

HadrickDF@state.gov

Resource Management: Susan Douglas

DouglasSD@state.gov

Public Affairs and Public Engagement: Kristin Dowley

DowleyKA@state.gov

SA-3, Suite 6100 | 2121 Virginia Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20522 | United States of America

telephone: +1 202 663 0100 | fax: +1 202 663 0090

http://state.gov/t/pm/wra
11 th Edition | July 2012

United States Department of State

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

To Walk The Earth

In Safety The United States’ Commitment to Conventional Weapons Destruction

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

U.S. Department of State