Special Reports

U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program

Small Arms/Light Weapons Destruction

Physical Security and Stockpile Management

The Menace of MANPADS

The United States’ Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action and Conventional Weapons Destruction

8 t h E d i t i o n J u l y 2 0 0 9 U n i t e d S t a t es De p a r t m e n t o f S t a t e B u r e a u o f P o l i t i c a l - M i l i t a r y A f f a i r s

To Walk The

Earth In Safety
On the cover

Angola is one of the world’s most heavily mined 

countries. Although casualties have been reduced 

over the years, the number of people disabled 

by explosive remnants of war or landmines is 

estimated to be between 23,000 and 80,000 people, 

according to the Landmine Monitor.

 (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Table of Contents

To help save natural resources and protect our environment, this 

edition of To Walk The Earth In Safety was printed on 10 percent 

post-consumer-waste recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks.

A Message from Acting Assistant Secretary Greg T. Delawie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

SPECIAL REPORTS

U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Small Arms/Light Weapons Destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Physical Security and Stockpile Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The Menace of MANPADS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Maps courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

In 2007, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of 

Weapons Removal and Abatement marked the 

10th anniversary of its Public-Private Partnership 

program, which enlists civil society support for 

clearing persistent landmines and explosive 

remnants of war, teaching mine-risk education, 

and rendering assistance to survivors of landmine 

accidents around the world. Since its founding 

in October 1997, this Public-Private Partnership 

program has grown to include 63 nongovernmental 

organizations, civic associations, educational 

groups, and corporations.

 AFRICA 8

Angola 9

Burundi 10

Chad 11

The Democratic Republic of the Congo 11

Ethiopia 12

Guinea-Bissau 12

Kenya 13

Mozambique 14

Republic of Congo 15

Rwanda 15

Somalia 15

Sudan 16

Uganda 17

 ASIA 18

Afghanistan 19

Cambodia 20

Laos 21

Philippines 21

Sri Lanka 22

Tajikistan 23

Thailand 23

Vietnam 24

 EUROPE 26

Albania 27

Armenia 27

Azerbaijan 27

Bosnia and Herzegovina 28

Bulgaria 29

Croatia 30

Estonia 30

Georgia 31

Kosovo 31

Macedonia 32

Montenegro 32

Serbia 33

Ukraine 33

 LATIN AMERICA 34

Chile 35

Colombia 35

Ecuador 36

Nicaragua 37

Peru 37

 THE MIDDLE EAST 38

Iraq 39

Jordan 40

Lebanon 41

Yemen 41

 Reaching End states in the U.S. Humanitarian Mine action program 42

U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program Funding History Chart (FY 1993-2008) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

MINE ACTION PROGRAMS (SIDEBARS)

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

U.S. Agency for International Development’s Leahy War Victims Fund. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 

U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Research & Development Program. . . . . . . . . . . 14

U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Training Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Center for International Stabilization and Recovery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Mine Detection Dog Center for Southeast Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Organization of American States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Iraq Mine & UXO Clearance Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 

A Message from Acting Assistant Secretary Greg T. Delawie

Welcome to the 8th edition of To Walk The Earth In Safety. Although we have seen real progress in combating 

the threat of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), conflicts persist, and the destabilizing effects of other 

weapons threaten peace and stability around the world.

The United States works with other nations to clean up the debris of war, combat trafficking in small arms and 

light weapons, and improve the security and management of munitions stockpiles. Catastrophic explosions at 

munitions storage facilities in populated areas have become a growing problem and have the potential to create 

more casualties than landmines and ERW. The United States is leading an international effort to address this 

“dangerous depots” problem. 

Since 1993, the United States government has provided a total of more than $1.4 billion to clear landmines 

and unexploded ordnance. In 2008, the Department of State provided $123.1 million in assistance to 35 

countries and continues to work bilaterally and multilaterally to cooperate and enact stricter controls. Also 

during 2008, the Special Envoy for MANPADS Threat Reduction engaged foreign governments to reduce 

the threat from excess, loosely-secured, or otherwise at-risk man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), 

raising the profile of this important issue worldwide.

Recognizing that governments and international organizations cannot do it all, the Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs’ Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State continues to expand its 

partnership program with the private sector to help over 60 partner organizations raise awareness and resources 

for mine action. These organizations educate civilians and assist ERW and landmine-accident survivors with 

rehabilitation and reintegration into society, as well as actually removing and destroying landmines, unexploded 

ordnance and conventional weapons. 

I welcome your interest in the United States’ program and invite you to learn about our work with other donor 

nations, international and nongovernmental organizations, and concerned citizens, which underlines our 

commitment to implement destruction and mitigation programs and engage civil society in order to reduce the 

harmful worldwide effects generated by indiscriminately used, illicit and abandoned conventional weapons of war. 

Greg T. Delawie

Acting Assistant Secretary

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 

TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 
 | TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program

The United States remains the world’s 

top contributor to humanitarian mine 

action (HMA), contributing tens of 

millions of dollars annually to rid the 

world of landmines, the majority of 

which have been manufactured and 

employed by other countries and 

foreign combatants. In fiscal year 2008, 

the United States spent $123.1 million 

on these efforts. 

Agencies Involved

The HMA Program involves the Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement 

(PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department 

of State’s Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs, the U.S. Agency for International 

Development (USAID), the Department 

of Defense (DoD), and the Department 

of Health and Human Services through 

the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC).

The mission of PM/WRA is to develop 

policy options, implement arms 

destruction and mitigation programs, 

and engage civil society in a synergistic 

effort to reduce the negative effects 

generated by the indiscriminate use 

of persistent landmines and illicit/

abandoned conventional weapons of war. 

Among its responsibilities, PM/WRA

oversees day-to-day management of 

bilateral mine-action assistance programs 

and encourages the participation of civil 

society in mine action through its PublicPrivate Partnership program (www.state.

gov/t/pm/wra/partners). 

USAID promotes sustainable development 

by providing humanitarian services 

in post-conflict situations. Its Bureau 

of Humanitarian Response’s Office of 

Transition Initiatives connects emergency 

assistance and long-term development 

S p e ci a l R e p o rts : U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program

Formally established in 1993, the interagency U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action 

Program is the largest and one of the world’s oldest such programs. Consisting 

of various U.S. agencies, the program operates worldwide to clear landmines and 

explosive remnants of war (ERW), provide mine-risk education (MRE), provide 

survivor assistance, further develop mine-clearance technology, train deminers 

in affected countries, and support foreign health and rehabilitation/reintegration 

projects related to survivors assistance.

by supporting organizations and people 

in emergency transitional positions 

in conflict-prone countries. USAID’s 

Leahy War Victims Fund improves the 

mobility, health and social integration 

of the disabled, including landmine 

survivors. Typically, USAID works through 

nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to 

develop a country’s capacity for sustainable 

services for conflict survivors. 

DoD manages a Humanitarian 

Demining Research and Development 

Program that is improving the 

technologies and means to detect and 

clear landmines and explosive remnants 

of war. One of its recent projects has 

been the development and deployment 

of the Handheld Standoff Mine 

Detection System (HSTAMIDS), a 

combination ground-penetrating radar 

and metal-detecting machine. 
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 

DoD also manages the Humanitarian 

Demining Training Center, in which 

U.S. military forces train foreign 

deminers in humanitarian mine action 

to International Mine Action Standards. 

In some situations, DoD funds a mineaction program’s start-up costs, with 

PM/WRA providing subsequent funds 

to procure the necessary equipment, 

provide training, and supply continued 

support until the program reaches the 

U.S. government’s end state. 

The CDC provides technical and 

financial support to several NGOs and 

United Nations agencies for public-health 

projects related to survivor assistance. 

These projects include direct support 

to survivors, as well as science-based 

assistance in identifying new survivors and 

assessing their health needs.

Peace, Safety and Stability

Attempts to eradicate persistent 

landmines, ERW, aging munitions, 

abandoned ordnance, and surplus 

conventional weapons support the 

U.S. goals to improve regional stability, 

enable development and promote global 

peace. These efforts aim to reverse the 

socioeconomic effects of such weapons, 

promote stability through the use of 

HMA, and build confidence among 

affected regions, which benefits society 

by reducing civilian casualities, allowing 

refugees and displaced persons to 

return to their homes, and enhancing 

political and economic stability. A

typical U.S. humanitarian mine-action 

program consists of funding clearance 

operations, assisting an affected country 

in establishing a mine-action center 

or demining office, establishing a 

U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program : S p e ci a l R e p o rts

mine-risk education and deminingtraining program, and securing funding 

for mine and ERW clearance. As 

the country solidifies its demining 

capabilities, the U.S. relinquishes its 

role to the host nation.

Due to the impossibility of clearing 

every landmine in every affected 

country or region, the United States 

believes that humanitarian mine action 

should focus on making the world 

“mine-impact free,” or free from the 

humanitarian impact of landmines. 

It is more practical, feasible, and 

cost-effective to clear mines that have 

a humanitarian impact, and available 

funds are devoted to clearing areas 

where landmines and unexploded 

ordnance (UXO) pose a grave threat to 

the civilian population.

TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 

Pascal Bongard, Geneva Call

A woman and her son coming back from the market in Hudur 

town, the capital of the Bakol region in southern Somalia.
 | TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Pillars of Mine Action

The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action 

Program focuses on three major “pillars:” 

mine detection and clearance, minerisk education, and survivor assistance. 

Depending on the needs of a country, the 

United States may assist with financial 

support in one, two, or all three pillars. 

Mine detection and clearance. Before 

clearance can begin in an affected 

country, a Landmine Impact Survey 

(LIS) is conducted to determine the 

specific nature and extent of landmine 

contamination. The LIS identifies broad 

areas where mines exist and estimates 

the impact these mines have on local 

communities. Although mine clearance 

and mine-risk education must often begin 

before the survey is complete, the LIS 

provides mine-action authorities with an 

important tool for development planning. 

Following the LIS, a technical survey 

is conducted to document specific 

details of the landmine contamination. 

Mined areas are demarcated, and the 

number and types of mines and ERW 

are recorded. 

International law requires that those 

who lay mines identify the types of 

landmines emplaced, and map their 

locations for removal at the end of 

hostilities; however, insurgent groups 

and nations have ignored international 

law, emplacing mines without marking 

or recording their use or location. 

Natural events pose another obstacle, 

as mines tend to migrate from their 

original locations as a result of shifting 

desert sands or heavy rains in tropical 

areas that wash away topsoil. 

U.S. law states: “As a matter of policy, 

U.S. Forces shall not engage in physically 

detecting, lifting, or destroying 

landmines, unless it does so for the 

concurrent purpose of supporting a U.S. 

military operation; or provides such 

assistance as part of a military operation 

that does not involve the armed forces.” 

U.S. military personnel, therefore, use 

a “train-the-trainer” approach to assist 

affected countries. These U.S. forces, 

who have graduated from DoD’s 

Humanitarian Demining Training 

Center, educate an initial team of 

host-nation deminers in mine-clearance 

techniques and procedures; this team 

then trains others until enough of the 

country’s nationals are competent to mark 

and clear mines safely and effectively. 

Mine-risk education. The majority 

of mine casualties are young men who 

encounter mines during daily activities 

such as farming or shepherding 

animals. Adult males are generally 

hurt trying to disarm mines and UXO

to sell them as scrap metal; children 

are typically hurt by playing with 

mines and UXO or simply by running 

across an open space near their homes. 

S p e ci a l R e p o rts : U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program

Women become casualties while 

gathering firewood or water, or while 

working in their gardens. 

Various NGOs, often supported by 

the U.S. and other donors, provide 

MRE to at-risk populations. Teaching 

people how to recognize landmines 

and explosive remnants of war, and 

to inform demining authorities 

of the presence of such hazards, 

reduces casualties. U.S.-funded 

nongovernmental organizations and 

international organizations create 

MRE materials and tailor them to 

be sensitive to cultural mores. U.S. 

military personnel go through cultural 

training and learn native languages 

before MRE is deployed. 

Survivor assistance. Survivor assistance 

requires a long-term commitment 

not only to landmine survivors but 

also to their families. Treating initial 

injuries is not enough because as 

the wounds heal, new prostheses to 

fit the growing or wilting limb are 

needed. Physical and educational 

training, such as relearning personal 

care and income-producing skills as 

well as psychological care involving 

overcoming feelings of inadequacy and 

worthlessness, are needed to regain 

a productive life. This is why mineaction programs encourage a holistic 

approach to providing assistance to 

landmine survivors. 
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 

Conventional Weapons Destruction : S p e ci a l R e p o rts

Small Arms/Light Weapons Destruction

These stockpiles and weapons frequently 

pose a major public-safety hazard in 

populated areas as well as create an 

environmental threat. Since they are often 

poorly secured, these munitions and 

conventional weapons are easy targets for 

terrorists, criminals, and insurgent groups. 

The Office of Weapons Removal 

and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the 

U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of 

Political-Military Affairs helps develop 

and implement U.S. policies regarding 

conventional weapons and munitions. 

While acknowledging the legitimacy of the 

legal trade, manufacture, and ownership 

of arms, the U.S. works to improve global 

and national mechanisms for controlling 

conventional weapons by assisting 

states in improving their export control 

practices, providing physical security and 

stockpile management for at-risk arms and 

munitions depots, and destroying excess 

weapons around the world. 

These efforts include supporting 

initiatives of the United Nations and other 

international and regional organizations to 

address illicit transnational arms transfers 

through the marking and tracing of small 

arms and light weapons (SA/LW), and 

strengthening controls on arms brokers. 

PM/WRA also establishes U.S.-funded 

destruction operations within a host 

country, taking into account factors such 

as regional stability, counter-terrorism and 

force protection, and mitigation of the 

humanitarian impact of illicit SA/LW 

and abandoned ordnance. 

PM/WRA and the Defense Threat 

Reduction Agency (DTRA) work closely 

with the host nation to offer technical 

assistance on physical security and 

stockpile management issues, develop and 

execute cost-effective projects that meet 

the needs of the requesting government, 

and promote regional security. Destruction 

programs have taken place bilaterally or 

through regional organizations such as 

the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 

the Regional Centre on Small Arms 

The United States is a global leader in fighting the illicit trafficking of conventional 

weapons and munitions of all calibers. Many countries have stockpiles of 

conventional weapons and aging, often unstable, munitions dating back to the 

Cold War (or even earlier) that are no longer needed for their national security. 

PM/WRA SA/LW Program Funding

FY2007 

$16,167,000 

FY2008 

$44,359,000

(Nairobi, Kenya), and the Organization 

for Security and Co-operation in Europe. 

Since the program’s inception in 2001 

through the end of 2008, more than 

1.3 million weapons and approximately 

50,000 tons of munitions have been 

destroyed. PM/WRA has implemented 

SA/LW destruction programs in the 

following countries with their cooperation: 

Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, 

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, 

Burundi, Cambodia, Croatia, Cyprus, the 

Czech Republic, the Democratic Republic 

of the Congo, Guinea, Honduras, 

Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho, 

Liberia, Montenegro, Mozambique, 

Nicaragua, the Philippines, the Republic 

of the Congo, Romania, São Tomé and 

Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Somalia, Sudan, 

Suriname, Tajikistan, and Ukraine.

This edition of To Walk The Earth In 

Safety includes current conventional 

weapons destruction projects funded 

wholly or in part by the United States 

through PM/WRA in fiscal year 2008. 

For more recent updates on all PM/WRA

activities, visit www.state.gov/t/pm/wra.

TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 
 | TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

S p e ci a l R e p o rts : Physical Stockpile Security

Physical Security and Stockpile Management 

Physical security and stockpile 

management (PSSM) is quickly 

becoming one of the most pressing 

threat-reduction issues that the 

United States and other countries 

must address. Aging stockpiles 

of conventional weapons and 

increasingly unstable munitions from 

the Cold War or earlier pose a serious 

threat in many countries that no longer 

need them for national security. 

These stockpiles pose dual threats 

of illicit proliferation and accidental 

explosion. Poorly secured weapons and 

munitions stockpiles are often attractive 

targets for terrorists, criminals, and 

insurgent groups. The weapons may 

spread rapidly, destabilizing individual 

countries or the region as a whole. The 

munitions sometimes explode, causing 

humanitarian disasters that create a 

major public-safety hazard in populated 

areas as well as an environmental threat. 

The world has sadly watched stockpiles 

detonate, at times due to poor handling 

practices, causing large numbers of 

casualties and significant damage that 

displaces many civilians. In one recent 

example, 26 people were killed and 

many more injured and displaced when 

a stockpile exploded at an ammunition 

dismantling factory in Gërdec, Albania 

in March 2008.

To help prevent illicit proliferation and 

accidental explosion, governments must 

maintain high standards of security 

and management for state-controlled 

stockpiles of man-portable air-defense 

systems (MANPADS), other small arms 

and light weapons (SA/LW), and related 

ammunition. Governments must see 

PSSM as an on-going effort that requires 

frequent monitoring, regular training of 

qualified experts, and long-term planning 

for factors like infrastructure and 

resources. Implementing such standards 

helps ensure security, enhance stability 

and enable prosperity. 

The Office of Weapons Removal and 

Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. 

Department of State’s Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs assists countries with 

essential pieces of the PSSM 

puzzle: safely reducing 

excess stockpiles of 

weapons and munitions, 

and improving security 

and safety infrastructure 

for retained stocks. 

Coordinating with the 

U.S. Embassy in the host 

country and the Defense 

Threat Reduction 

Agency, PM/WRA

works with 

governments to 

assess needs and devise a comprehensive 

and efficient plan that addresses both 

destruction of excess stocks and projects 

to improve PSSM infrastructure. 

While the U.S. is one of several countries 

that will provide assistance with stockpile 

reduction and security infrastructure, 

numerous multilateral organizations 

have established mechanisms to 

help governments implement these 

commitments. The United Nations, the 

North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 

and the Organization for Security and 

Co-operation in Europe are among 

the organizations that have established 

venues where states can collaborate to 

improve PSSM procedures.

Stockpiled weapons.
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 

The Menace of MANPADS : S p e ci a l R e p o rts

Man-portable air-defense systems, 

or MANPADS (also referred to as 

shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles), 

are small, light, and easy to transport 

and conceal. Estimates of total 

global MANPADS production to date 

exceed one million, with thousands 

believed to be outside government 

control. The U.S. Department of 

State estimates that since the 

1970s, MANPADS were employed 

against more than 40 civilian aircraft, 

resulting in at least 28 crashes and 

over 800 deaths worldwide.

The U.S. Department of Defense 

provides expertise to other countries 

on the proper management and 

control of MANPADS through the 

Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and 

enforces stringent physical security and 

accountability for MANPADS in U.S. 

possession. In 2001, the Department of 

Defense established the Golden Sentry 

program to monitor end-use sales of 

MANPADS through foreign military 

sales to ensure that they are not diverted 

for illicit use. The Defense Security and 

Cooperation Agency administers the 

Golden Sentry program, with support 

from U.S. military services and Security 

Cooperation Offices around the world.

After the November 2002 attempted 

shoot-down of a civilian airliner in 

Kenya with MANPADS, the United 

States redoubled its already considerable 

efforts to keep these weapons from 

falling into the wrong hands. Countering 

the proliferation of MANPADS is an 

overriding U.S. national security priority. 

At the direction of the White House, 

a MANPADS interagency task force 

was created in 2007 that coordinates 

the efforts of the U.S. Department of 

State, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. 

Department of Homeland Security, and 

other federal agencies and organizations. 

Within the Department of State, the 

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 

(PM) and the Bureau for International 

Security and Nonproliferation (ISN) 

have responsibility for the MANPADS 

security situation. 

The international Civil Aviation 

Organization, the United Nations, 

the G-8, the Wassenaar Arrangement, 

the Organization for Security and 

Co-operation in Europe, the Asia Pacific 

Economic Cooperation, the Organization 

of American States, and other international 

and regional organizations have recognized 

the MANPADS threat and have 

encouraged steps to reduce the number 

of these weapons available on the black 

market. ISN’s Office of Conventional 

Arms Threat Reduction works to 

prevent transfers of MANPADS—and 

the technology to produce them—to 

undesirable end-users through bilateral and 

multilateral engagement, with an emphasis 

on responsible export controls. PM’s Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement 

has helped fund the destruction of 

over 27,000 excess, loosely secured, or 

otherwise at-risk MANPADS missiles in 

27 countries since 2003.

The Menace of MANPADS 

Thermal Battery

Launch tube Grip Stock

Control section Flight motor

Warhead Internal eject motor Infared seeker

MissIle

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

An SA-7 MANPADS
Afr ica

Angola • Burundi • Chad • The Democratic Republic of the Congo • Ethiopia • Guinea-Bissau • Kenya • Mozambique • Republic of Congo • Rwanda • Somalia • Sudan • Uganda
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 

Beginning with a war of 

independence in the 1960s and 

followed by 30 years of civil war, 

Angola’s landmine and unexploded 

ordnance (UXO) problem is a 

product of four decades of continuous conflict, rendering the 

country extremely hazardous. Landmines and UXO prevent the 

normalization of daily life, creating an obstacle to humanitarian 

assistance and slowing the economic recovery of the country. 

Across all 18 provinces, the Landmine Impact Survey researched 

the socioeconomic impact on communities in Angola, confirming 

that mines and explosive remnants of war affect more than 

2.2 million people in 1,968 villages. Moreover, Angola has 

an estimated 2 million at-risk, military type small arms and 

light weapons in civilian hands and many more in unsecured 

government stockpiles. Between FY2002 and FY2007 the U.S. 

Department of State spent over $1.8 million to help Angola 

destroy surplus weapons and ammunition. 

In FY2008, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

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

of State continued humanitarian mine action financial support 

to The HALO Trust (HALO), Mines Advisory Group (MAG), 

and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) with $5,124,085, resulting 

in the clearance of 900 kilometers of road and more than 

1.2 million square meters of land. A grant for $1,640,068 

was provided to HALO for five Weapons and Ammunition 

Destruction (WAD) teams to destroy excess weapons and 

degraded ammunition. An additional $42,500 in matching 

funds enabled The Julia Burke Foundation to provide two 

purpose-built weapons-cutting shears for use by HALO mobile 

WAD teams. With the elimination of more than 220 tons of 

excess and unstable munitions during 2008, the PM/WRAfunded WAD had another successful year. 

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

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

with HALO, continued a technology evaluation of the Rotary 

Mine Comb in Angola. Intermeshing tines on two rotors gently 

extricate large buried objects, including anti-tank mines, from 

the soil and push them to the side of the host vehicle’s path. 

HALO reports positive risk-reduction results with the Comb in 

sandy soil, clearing 17 kilometers of road in FY2008. With total 

assistance valued at $600,000, HD R&D also provided HALO

with funding for evaluations of a heavy detonation trailer and 

JCB Loadall.

A f r ic a

Angola

The Rotary Mine Comb (RMC) is designed to gently extricate buried objects from 

the soil and pushes them to the side of the vehicle’s path. The machine is clearing 

the road between the Angolan towns of Mavinga and Cuito Cuanavale in the 

province of Cuando Cubango. The operation is being run by The HALO Trust. 

This 200 km road is part of the main route out of Cuando Cubango. The RMC 

is used to find and remove anti-tank mines still present in the road despite prior 

treatment with mine rollers.

Humanitarian Demining R&D

MAG operators prepare for demolition in Moxico province, Angola.

Deborah Netland, PM/WRA

Doreen Bailey (right) from the U.S. Embassy in Luanda, Angola gets 

a chance to blow up mines and UXO. With a MAG technical expert at 

hand, Bailey detonates the MAG-prepared demolition pit.

Deborah Netland, PM/WRA
10 | To Walk The Earth In Safety

A f r ic a

Crime has soared and the Burundian 

economy has suffered because of the 

insecurity caused by large numbers 

of arms circulating throughout the 

country. United States assistance 

to the government of Burundi has included the destruction of 

excess man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) and small 

arms and light weapons (SA/LW), and a project to improve 

security of military stockpiles. 

In FY2008, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of 

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

State provided $200,000 to the nongovernmental organization 

Mines Advisory Group (MAG) to destroy the remaining excess 

MANPADS and other surplus weapons, and to carry out physical 

security upgrades to the Central Logistics Base in Bujumbura. 

The weapons-destruction tools provided to the United Nations 

Development Programme in FY2007 continue to facilitate 

additional SA/LW destruction and build Burundi’s capacity for 

further weapons destruction. In addition, Burundi benefited 

from a grant awarded to the Regional Centre on Small Arms in 

Nairobi, Kenya, which provided a SA/LW-marking machine to 

the Burundi military. 

Office of Weapons

Removal and Abatement

The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) 

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

Affairs creates local, regional, and international conditions 

conducive to peace, stability, and prosperity by curbing 

the illicit proliferation of conventional weapons of war, and 

removing and destroying others that remain and pose 

hazards after the cessation of armed conflict.

Founded in October 2003, PM/WRA develops, 

implements, and monitors policy programs and publicengagement efforts that contribute to the prevention and 

mitigation of conflict, as well as post-conflict social and 

economic recovery. The office’s focus is three-fold: curb 

the illicit trafficking and indiscriminate use of conventional 

weapons of war that fuel regional and internal instability; 

pursue and help manage post-conflict cleanup of such 

weapons in areas needed for civilian use; and engage 

civil society to broaden support for U.S. efforts to enhance 

American influence abroad. In 2008, PM/WRA worked with 

a number of countries to improve the security of ammunition 

depots to prevent uncontrolled detonations and loss of life.

PM/WRA provides grants for many humanitarian and 

research projects. For instance, it recently provided a grant 

to the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery to 

research the effects of environment and age on landmines 

in Cambodia to better inform field clearance prioritization, 

mine-risk education techniques, and innovative R&D. 

Another grant helps Vietnamese farmers who have been 

injured by landmines to grow crops like mushrooms that will 

provide income while requiring much less physical labor. 

PM/WRA’s Public-Private Partnership program includes 

over 60 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and 

corporations, and enlists civil-society support for humanitarian 

mine action and related conflict-prevention and peacebuilding efforts. Other U.S. agencies, NGOs, international 

organizations, and private enterprises also work closely with 

PM/WRA to help demonstrate the strong commitment of the 

United States to a set of values that respects human life. 

U.S. Department of State

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs 

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) 

SA-3, Suite 6100 

2121 Virginia Avenue, NW 

Washington, D.C. 20522 

USA 

Telephone: +1 202 663 0100

Facsimile: +1 202 663 0090

E-mail: davissb@state.gov 

Web site: www.state.gov/t/pm/wra 

10 | TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Burundi

Sparks fly as Matthew Garrett from the U.S. Embassy in Bujumbura cuts up a 

weapon at the Military Central Logistics Base.

Deborah Netland, PM/WRA

104 SAM 7s being prepared for a controlled demolition in Burundi.

Steve Priestley, MAG
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 11

A f r ic a

As a result of 30 years of internal 

conflict and the 1973 Libyan 

invasion, Chad’s landmine and 

explosive remnants of war (ERW) 

problem is extensive. Funded in part 

by the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department 

of State, a Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) conducted from 

1999–2001 identified 249 mine-impacted communities spanning 

1,000 square kilometers of land; however, the number of mineimpacted communities is likely higher because the LIS did not 

include the Tibesti region due to security concerns. Unexploded 

ordnance (UXO) was also scattered around N’Djamena in April 

2006 during fighting between government and rebel forces as 

well as during similar attacks in February 2008. Ninety percent 

of identified mine- and ERW-affected areas are located in the 

Biltine, Borkou, Ennedi, Quaddai, and Tibesti regions. The 

Sudan–Darfur region along the Chad–Sudan border contains a 

number of mined areas as well as UXO contamination.

PM/WRA provided $65,000 for rehabilitation support 

of mine/UXO victims to the Chadian nongovernmental 

organization Centre d’Appareillage et de Rééducation de 

Kabalye (CARK). CARK provides physical therapy and acquires, 

fabricates, and furnishes orthopedic appliances and wheelchairs, 

canes, and braces for victims of war, mines, and other accidents. 

From October 2007 through September 2008, the PM/WRA

funds aided CARK in providing a variety of services to 1,659 

people, which included fitting 121 persons with prosthetics and 

116 persons with orthotic devices.

The ongoing landmine and 

explosive remnants of war problem 

in the Democratic Republic of the 

Congo (DRC) is in large part due 

to protracted conflict that began 

as a full-scale, nationwide war in 1996 and continues on a much 

smaller scale in particular areas of the country. Additionally, 

excessive quantities of military small arms and light weapons 

(SA/LW) have become abundant through illegal arms trafficking 

and this has increased crime throughout the country. 

In FY2007, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

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

of State contributed $1,375,000 to the humanitarian 

organization Mines Advisory Group (MAG). This grant for 

the removal and destruction of unsecured and abandoned SA/

LW by MAG continues through March 2009. By November 

2008, MAG had destroyed over 21,630 weapons and nearly 

245 tons of excess and unstable munitions.

Chad

The 

Democratic 

Republic of 

the Congo

U.S. Agency for

International

Development’s

Leahy War Victims Fund

Established by Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D–Vermont), 

USAID’s Leahy War Victims Fund (LWVF) has dedicated 20 

years to the advancement of civilian victims of conflict in waraffected developing countries around the world. Specifically, 

the LWVF aids those requiring assistance due to mobilityrelated injuries from unexploded ordnance (UXO) and antipersonnel landmines. The LWVF also provides aid for other 

direct and indirect causes of disability, such as preventable 

diseases that might result from interrupted immunization 

campaigns. The fund provides an average of $12 million 

annually and works to expand access to affordable, 

appropriate prosthetics and orthotic services.

Barrier-free access to school, work, and recreation is 

part of the LWVF’s mission to help civilian war victims and 

people with disabilities. For instance, through LWVF and 

Mercy Corps, Colombians with disabilities will have access 

to new rehabilitation centers in Narino and Caqueta, as well 

as new opportunities to attend school and enjoy meaningful 

employment. While LWVF funding is primarily used for 

prosthetics and orthotics, other activities including training, 

economic strengthening, policy and advocacy, and the 

provision of wheelchairs have been introduced. 

Since 1989, the LWVF has provided more than $140 

million to 26 countries in Central America, sub-Saharan 

Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and 

Southeast Asia. The Polus Center for Social and Economic 

Development, the international disability and development 

charity Motivation, Handicap International, and the 

International Committee of the Red Cross are among the 

many nongovernmental organizations receiving support 

from the fund. 

Point of Contact:

Lloyd Feinberg, Manager 

Leahy War Victims Fund 

U.S. Agency for International Development 

Washington, D.C. 20523 

USA

Telephone: +1 202 712 5725

E-mail: lfeinberg@usaid.gov

Web site: www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_

assistance/the_funds/ 

TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 11
12 | To Walk The Earth In Safety

A f r ic a

Internal conflict in 1998–99, 

the War of Liberation in 

1963–1974, and various 

periods of military activity 

along Guinea-Bissau’s 

borders have resulted in the country’s contamination by 

landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). 

With $1,787,000 provided from FY2000 through FY2007, 

the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department of 

State supported the return of over 240 acres of land for safe use, 

completed a Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) in Guinea-Bissau, 

and improved skills of demining and explosive ordnance disposal 

(EOD) personnel working for the indigenous nongovernmental 

organization HUMAID. The threat posed to local communities 

by unstable stockpiles has been reduced with the destruction of 

nearly 106 tons of excess military munitions.

In FY2008 PM/WRA provided $608,995 for 

continued destruction of surplus military munitions by the 

nongovernmental organization Cleared Ground and landmine/

unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance by HUMAID. 

Between 2006 and 2008, the U.S. Department of Defense’s 

Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program 

invested approximately $300,000 in operational field evaluations 

of the MAXX (a remote-controlled mini-excavator) with GuineaBissau’s National Mine Action Coordination Centre. After 

successful vegetation clearance, the MAXX cleared munitions 

contaminating populated areas around a destroyed army arsenal 

in the capital city, Bissau. 

The U.S. Agency 

for International 

Development’s Leahy War 

Victims Fund provided 

$1 million in support to the 

International Committee of the Red Cross’ Special Fund for 

the Disabled. The program supports prosthetics and orthotics 

services for people with disabilities in 28 localities throughout 

sub-Saharan Africa. 

In addition, Ethiopia benefited from a grant awarded to the 

Regional Centre on Small Arms (RESCA) in Nairobi, Kenya, 

which provided two SA/LW-marking machines to the Ethiopian 

military. RESCA has destroyed 12,600 firearms in Ethiopia 

since 2006.

The children of Buruntuma , Guinea-Bissau take a break from gathering firewood; 

the child on the left places her hand on a stake where a mine was removed.

U.S. AFRICOM HMA Manager Joseph Severino examines Russian RBK cluster 

bomb units waiting destruction in Guinea-Bissau.

PM/WRA Program Manager Deborah Netland pushes the detonator, 

destroying various munitions, including cluster bombs in Guinea-Bissau.

Ethiopia Guinea-Bissau Deborah Netland, PM/WRA Deborah Netland, PM/WRA

Deborah Netland, PM/WRA
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 13

A f r ic a

The boundless availability of illicit 

military small arms and light 

weapons (SA/LW) undermines 

security in Kenya and impedes 

efforts to address regional conflict. 

The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department of 

State has contributed $180,000 to the Regional Centre on Small 

Arms (RECSA) in Kenya since 2006. The funding has aided 

efforts to combat the illicit proliferation and trafficking of SA/LW 

in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions. PM/WRA further 

contributed $319,500 toward the purchase of 26 arms-marking 

machines for the 12 RECSA member states. This additional grant 

will establish more effective weapons-inventory practices and 

facilitate the tracing of weapons in support of the implementation 

of Kenya’s obligations under the United Nations International 

Tracing Instrument and the Nairobi Declaration. 

In teaming with RECSA, other U.S. agencies and the United 

Kingdom, PM/WRA also contributed $115,819 to host a 

regional man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) seminar 

in Nairobi in July 2008. The U.S. Special Envoy for MANPADS 

Threat Reduction, Lincoln P. Bloomfield, addressed participants, 

highlighting the threat of these weapons to civil aviation, and 

urged them to enact strict stockpile-security practices and destroy 

surplus and obsolete systems. RECSA member states committed 

to adopt MANPADS-control guidelines similar to those adopted 

by other regional organizations such as the Organization of 

American States and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 

Regional Centre on Small

Arms and Light Weapons

The Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons 

(RECSA) is an institutional framework arising from the 

Nairobi Declaration to coordinate the joint effort by national 

focal points in member states to prevent, combat, and 

eradicate stockpiling and illicit trafficking in small arms and 

light weapons in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of 

Africa, as well as bordering states. The Nairobi Declaration 

on the Problem of Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons was 

signed on March 15, 2000 by representatives from Burundi, 

Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, 

Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, and 

the United Republic of Tanzania. The declaration and the 

Nairobi Protocol (a legally binding instrument) address the 

growing international concern that the easy availability of 

illicit small arms and light weapons escalates conflicts and 

undermines political stability, creating devastating impacts 

on human and state security.

RECSA aims at enhancing regional cooperation and 

coordination in the region. The overall goal for RECSA and 

member states is to make the region safe for its citizenry. This 

will create an environment that is conducive to development, 

which in turn will improve the welfare of the people. To 

fulfill its objectives, RECSA focuses on seven key areas for 

action: institutional framework; regional cooperation and 

coordination; legislative measures; operational and capacity 

building; control, seizures, forfeiture, distribution, collection 

and destruction; information exchange and record keeping; 

and public awareness.

RECSA nations have signed a Memorandum of 

Understanding with the International Conference on 

the Great Lakes Region to implement programs in four 

additional countries—Angola, Central African Republic, 

Zambia, and Republic of Congo. The Regional Centre on 

Small Arms enjoys the goodwill of various development 

partners that continue to provide financial resources for the 

implementation of the Nairobi Declaration. 

Point of Contact:

Dr. Francis K. Sang

Executive Secretary

RESCA

PO Box 7039-00200 

Nairobi

Kenya

Telephone: + 254 020 3877456 / 3876203 / 3876023

Facsimile: + 254 020 3877397 

E-mail: info@recsasec.org

Web site: www.recsasec.org

To Walk The Earth In Safety | 13

Arms destruction in Kenya.

Kenya

RESCA
14 | To Walk The Earth In Safety

A f r ic a

A HALO Trust female deminer working in Maputo province, Mozambique.

14 | TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Mozambique is littered with 

landmines and explosive remnants 

of war (ERW) due to nearly 30 years 

of conflict that came to a close in 

the early 1990s. Landmines and 

ERW are found throughout the entire country. The Inhambane 

province harbors the largest number of mined areas, and a 

total of 12,164,041 square meters of land in Mozambique are 

covered by suspected landmines according to the Landmine 

Monitor Report (2008).

The United States has invested over $16 million to 

develop a sustainable national demining capability within the 

Mozambican Army Humanitarian Demining Unit (HDU) since 

the mid-1990s. Although no FY2008 funds were committed 

to Mozambique, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. 

Department of State allocated $438,967 to help Mozambique 

complete the development of its national demining capacity, and 

assess the remaining landmine/ERW threat in Mozambique in 

FY2007. Through PM/WRA’s closing contribution of $259,849, 

the final phase of this effort was funded through its ArmorGroup 

contractor to complete the training and skills transfer necessary 

for the HDU staff to continue managing and executing mineaction activities in a safe and effective manner without further 

foreign technical oversight. 

With half of the country now mine-impact free, PM/WRA

contributed $179,118 as part of a multi-donor funded project for 

The HALO Trust to conduct a technical review in the central and 

southern regions of the country. The report, released in October 

2007, provided a more accurate picture of the remaining mine/

ERW threat in the central and southern half of Mozambique. 

The findings confirmed 450 minefields remaining with large 

minefields in the Cahora Bassa Dam area. 

Mozambique

U.S. Department of

Defense Humanitarian

Demining Research and

Development Program

The Humanitarian Demining Research and Development 

Program (HD R&D), located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, develops 

technology to meet the challenges faced by deminers in mine 

detection, area reduction, vegetation clearance, mechanical 

mine clearance, and mine neutralization.

Executed by the U.S. Army’s Night Vision and Electronic 

Sensors Directorate (NVESD), the HD R&D Program holds 

an annual requirements workshop for representatives from 

worldwide mine-action centers and nongovernmental 

demining organizations. This meeting highlights technology 

needs and reviews subsequent in-country site assessments 

to decide on the following year’s development strategies. 

Demonstrations of NVESD technologies are also conducted 

throughout the workshop which leads to the HD R&D 

Program’s most important project, Field Evaluations. 

These evaluations allow potential technologies to undergo 

operational testing in actual minefields in a host nation. On 

average, the program fields 25 technologies for operational 

field evaluations in 10 countries worldwide. 

One of these technologies, the Mine Stalker, is a remotecontrolled vehicle-mounted ground-penetrating radar (GPR) 

designed to detect low metallic anti-tank mines on roads. 

The GPR uses sophisticated algorithms to detect mines 

and distinguish these mines from clutter. It is mounted on a 

commercial, off-the-shelf Landtamer 6x6 all-terrain vehicle, 

and incorporates an automatic stop capability and a physical 

marking system. In 2008, the Mine Stalker system completed 

a successful evaluation on anti-tank mines in Cambodia. A 

modified version of the Mine Stalker system will undergo an 

operational field evaluation with The HALO Trust in Angola 

in 2009.

Point of Contact: 

Sean Burke, Program Manager 

Department of the Army 

RDECOM NVESD 

ATTN: AMSRD-CER-NV-CM-HD 

10221 Burbeck Road 

Fort Belvoir, Virginia 22060 

USA 

Telephone: +1 703 704 1047 

Facsimile: +1 703 704 3001 

E-mail: sean.burke@nvl.army.mil 

Web site: www.humanitarian-demining.org 

Deborah Netland, PM/WRA
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 15

In FY2008, Rwanda benefited 

from a grant awarded by the 

Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs’ Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement 

in the U.S. Department of State to the Regional Centre on 

Small Arms (RESCA) in Nairobi, Kenya, which provided a 

SA/LW-marking machine to the Rwanda military. RESCA

also used the U.S. funds to publicize arms destruction events 

in Rwanda in FY2007 and FY2008.

In FY2008 the Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs’ Office of 

Weapons Removal and Abatement 

in the U.S. Department of 

State launched a $1.4 million 

conventional weapons destruction program in Somalia, 

which will also include the clearance of landmines and 

explosive remnants of war throughout heavily affected areas 

of northern Somalia.

This initiative is being carried out through grants to Mines 

Advisory Group (MAG) and The HALO Trust (HALO). 

MAG will destroy stockpiles of conventional weapons 

collected from three military camps in Puntland, a region with 

2.4 million people located in northern Somalia. The grant 

will also fund the continued deployment of a MAG explosive 

ordnance disposal (EOD) team tasked with identifying and 

destroying new stockpiles of munitions. Additionally, MAG 

will provide training to develop local EOD capacity.

The grant to HALO will reinforce landmine clearance 

operations in Somaliland. With over 440 local Somali staff, 

HALO is already the largest humanitarian-demining organization 

in that region. Specifically, the grant will support HALO

manual-demining teams, which are equipped with state-of-theart Handheld Standoff Mine Detection System (HSTAMIDS) 

mine detectors, developed by the U.S. Department of Defense’s 

Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program.

Decades of conflict in Somalia continue to threaten political 

and economic stability in the Horn of Africa region. Weapons 

caches, landmines, and explosive remnants of war endanger the 

populace and provide a steady supply of arms to terrorists and 

insurgents. These grants will improve the situation by decreasing 

the impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war while 

enabling enhanced development and humanitarian-relief 

programs throughout the countryside.

Three major episodes of conflict 

between 1993 and 1999 displaced 

approximately 810,000 people 

and caused widespread killing and 

looting in the Republic of the 

Congo (RoC). Arms obtained by the main militia groups 

were reportedly looted from police and military depots. It was 

estimated that 34,000 weapons remained in circulation in the 

RoC, despite strenuous efforts to recover these weapons through 

ad hoc disarmament and reintegration programs. Successfully 

recovered weapons and munitions were stored in unsecured 

government depots in populated areas, posing a significant 

security threat. If these ammunition stores were to catch on fire 

or spontaneously detonate, they would create a serious public 

safety and health hazard. 

In FY2007, with $445,000 in funding from the Bureau 

of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons Removal and 

Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department of State, the 

nongovernmental organization Mines Advisory Group (MAG) 

completed technical surveys at two contaminated ammunition 

depots in Brazzaville and Dolisie-Kimongo. Findings revealed 

that over a decade after the explosion of ammunition stores, 

accidents continue to occur, with the last one reported in October 

2007. Between September 2007 and April 2008, nearly 59 tons 

of munitions and 1,077 small arms and light weapons (SA/LW), 

including man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) 

components, were destroyed.

In FY2008, PM/WRA provided MAG with an additional 

$675,000 to continue destruction of excess/obsolete weapons 

and ammunition. During 2008, two military stockpiles of 

weapons and ammunition were reorganized and inventoried, and 

registration of items authorized for destruction was completed. 

This project has not only facilitated the destruction of excess 

and hazardous military stockpiles but has also contributed to 

developing the national armed forces’ capacity to carry out 

conventional weapons destruction and stockpile management.

Republic 

of the 

Congo

Rwanda

Somalia

A f r ic a

Some of the 500 kg aircraft bombs lying haphazardly on the grounds of Brazzaville 

Central Armament Depot.

MAG
16 | To Walk The Earth In Safety

An unexploded mortar discovered on the outskirts 

of Yei, South Sudan.

Mine-risk education session in Yei, South Sudan.

The Sudan People’s 

Liberation Movement/

Army (SPLM/A) and the 

Sudanese government 

signed the Comprehensive 

Peace Agreement in January 2005, which prohibits the use of 

landmines; however, landmines and explosive remnants of war 

(ERW) are estimated to affect 19 of Sudan’s 25 states to this day. 

Contamination is primarily concentrated in the southern and 

central areas of the country where fighting between the SPLM/A

and Sudanese government occurred. Unfortunately, the extent of 

the affected areas is still unknown because in-depth surveys have 

not been conducted. All of the country’s borders, including those 

with Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya and 

Uganda, are reportedly mine-affected.

In FY2007, the United Nations Development Programme 

(UNDP) received a grant of $1 million to establish and maintain 

two national mine-clearance and two national explosive-ordnance 

disposal (EOD) teams. The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ 

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in 

the U.S. Department of State contributed $2,725,000 to mine 

action in Sudan and an additional $600,000 to small arms/light 

weapons (SA/LW) destruction. PM/WRA granted Cranfield 

University $400,000 to provide managerial training to Sudanese 

mine-action supervisors and $1,539,000 to Mines Advisory 

Group (MAG) to sustain a mobile EOD capability in central and 

western Equatoria, support mine-risk education (MRE) in way 

stations and high-risk villages, and support a SA/LW destruction 

team in South Sudan. PM/WRA also provided Norwegian 

People’s Aid (NPA) $100,000 to help support the operations 

of two EOD teams and one battle-area clearance (BAC) team 

along primary roads in South Sudan to ensure the safe return and 

settlement of refugees and internally displaced persons. Finally, 

Sudan DanChurchAid (DCA) received a PM/WRA grant of $286,000 

to fund an EOD team and MRE team in the Nuba Mountains. 

In FY2008, Cranfield University received an additional 

$400,000 grant to conduct upper- and middle-management 

training of indigenous Sudanese mine-action supervisors. 

PM/WRA provided UNDP with $3,600,200 for mine action 

and $1 million for SA/LW destruction, and also granted UNDP 

$750,000 to provide comprehensive management, technical, and 

advisory support to Sudan’s National Mine Action Authority, 

the National Mine Action Center, and the Southern Sudan 

Demining Commission. With two grants, PM/WRA further 

provided DCA with $790,000 to continue the support of 

operations of one EOD/BAC team and the deployment of a 

Wide Area Detection System for area verification and release 

in the Nuba Mountains. MAG received a total of $1,810,000: 

a $375,000 grant to distribute MRE to people in way stations 

and villages of return, a $435,000 grant for the deployment of a 

mobile EOD team for the destruction of UXO and other ERW, 

and a $1 million grant for SA/LW stockpile destruction. To 

provide funding for EOD and BAC team operations in support 

of the Southern Sudan Demining Commission, NPA received a 

grant of $650,000. FY2008 also marked the first time PM/WRA

funded an indigenous Sudanese organization by approving a 

grant to the Sudanese Integrated Mine Action Service. The grant 

of $200,200 was used to support mine/battle-area clearance 

operations and technical EOD skills training.

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s 

Leahy War Victims Fund provided a total of $589,000 in 

rehabilitation assistance to survivors of conflict-related injuries 

and illnesses in southern Sudan in 2008. To learn more about 

the Leahy War Victims Fund, visit 

www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/the_funds/lwvf. 

A f r ic a

BAC lane in South Sudan.

All Sudan photos by Anthony Morin, PM/WRA
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 17

A f r ic a

TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 17

Large parts of Uganda are 

contaminated with landmines and 

explosive remnants of war (ERW) 

due to various wars, rebellions, 

and insurgencies such as those 

by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Military-type small arms and 

light weapons (SA/LW) and man-portable air-defense systems 

(MANPADS) are also readily accessible to armed groups. The 

country’s most affected areas include border regions with the 

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and the region 

referred to as the Luwero Triangle. Landmines and ERW also 

exist in the Western Rwenzori Mountains due to insurgencies 

in the late 1980s by the National Army of the Liberation of 

Uganda, and the late 1990s until 2001 by the Allied Democratic 

Forces. Units of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces reportedly 

used mines and submunitions during cross-border fights with 

insurgents from the Congo and Sudan. 

In 2008, as part of a grant to the Regional Centre on Small 

Arms in Nairobi, Kenya, Uganda received one marking machine 

and training for the military in order to better enable the recordkeeping and tracing of military weapons. 

Uganda U.S. Department of

Defense Humanitarian

Demining Training Center

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

Training Center (HDTC) has operated since 1996 as a training 

and information center and as a fundamental element of the 

U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) Program. Located at 

Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, the HDTC trains U.S. military 

personnel in all levels of mine action. The goal of the training 

is to help mine-affected countries develop an effective 

national HMA capacity.

Training conducted at the Center is groundbreaking 

and practical, and encompasses mine clearance, minerisk education, mine-action management, and the 

Information Management System for Mine Action. The 

HDTC is equipped with extensive, realistic training areas, 

a comprehensive assortment of inert landmines and 

explosive remnants of war, metal detectors, personal 

protection equipment, educational tools, and a computer 

classroom for software instruction.

A typical training session includes simulated hazard 

areas, real-time application, and surveying. The Center has 

taught practical demining skills to more than 1,600 U.S. 

military service people. It has also trained members of U.S. 

civilian and nongovernmental organizations in mine-risk 

education and mine-action awareness; these participants in 

turn provide comprehensive HMA training to foreign military 

deminers using a “train the trainer” approach. 

The HDTC operates around four key priorities: relieve 

the plight of civilian populations, enhance regional stability, 

promote U.S. policy interests, and improve economic 

developments. These priorities are all tied to upholding the 

organization’s motto, “So that Others May Walk the Earth 

in Safety.” 

Point of Contact:

Angel L. Belen, Deputy Director

U.S. Department of Defense

Defense Security Cooperation Agency 

Humanitarian Demining Training Center

ATTN: DSCA-PGM-HD

Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri 65473

USA

Telephone: +1 573 563 6199

Facsimile: +1 573 563 5051

E-mail: leon.dscapgmhd@conus.army.mil

Web site: www.wood.army.mil/hdtc/

RECSA-trained officer demonstrates to a Uganda army officer the use of a 

marking machine.

RESCA

Landmines have been removed from most areas of Uganda and citizens are 

returning to previous livelihoods, including farming. A boy from Uganda displays 

recently harvested beans.

Shawn Zimmerman
As ia

A f g h a n is t a n • Ca m bodia • Laos • P h i l i p p i n e s • S r i La n ka • Ta j ikis t a n • T h ai l a n d • Vi e t n a m
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 19

Survivors 

Network, the 

Afghan Disabled 

and Vulnerable 

Society, and 

several other 

organizations 

engaged in 

victim-assistance 

projects in 

Afghanistan. 

PM/WRA granted more than $10.5 million to Afghan 

humanitarian mine-action NGOs that made advances in 

manual and mechanical clearance operations, victim assistance, 

community-based demining operations and mine-risk education. 

These Afghan NGO partners included Afghan Technical 

Consultants, Demining Agency for Afghanistan, Mine Clearance 

Planning Agency, Mine Detection Center, the Organization for 

Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation, and The HALO Trust 

(HALO). Contributing to the safe physical security and stockpile 

management (PSSM) of Afghanistan’s ammunition stockpiles, 

PM/WRA provided $250,000 to the ongoing PSSM project led by 

the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Maintenance and Supply 

Agency. Also in FY2008, PM/WRA continued SA/LW and manportable air-defense system mitigation and destruction activities. 

In late FY2008, the U.S. Department of Defense’s 

Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program 

(HD R&D) provided HALO with the Mantis, an armored tractor 

area-preparation and mine-clearance system worth $367,000. The 

Mantis includes a suite of tools for breaking up soil, reducing metal 

clutter, sifting soil, and rolling suspect areas. In FY2008, HALO

continued operations with an HD R&D-provided Orbit Screen 

and excavator-sifting attachments, a value of $150,000.

Clear Path International partnered with Accessibility Organization for Afghan 

Disabled to build one of its first PM/WRA-funded ramps at Ariana, a school for 

girls in Kabul, Afghanistan. More than 80 girls with disabilities use wheelchairs 

and now have barrier-free access to the buildings thanks to the AOAD project. 

AOAD is an Afghan charity that builds wheelchair ramps and provides other 

advocacy services for persons with disabilities in Afghanistan.

The widespread and 

indiscriminate use of mines, 

small arms/light weapons 

(SA/LW), ordnance and 

munitions since the Soviet 

invasion of 1979 has left Afghanistan heavily contaminated 

with explosive remnants of war (ERW) and other hazards. 

The Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA) estimates 

that 720 square kilometers of hazardous areas exist, with more 

than four million Afghans living in 2,229 ERW-contaminated 

communities. Mines and ERW killed or injured more than 445 

Afghans in 2008, an average of 37 victims per month. Additional 

conventional weapons and munitions hazards are reported daily. 

Although MAPA has cleared almost two-thirds of all hazards 

discovered to date, vast areas remain contaminated due to ongoing conflict and inaccessibility because of difficult terrain and 

deteriorating infrastructure. 

The majority of ERW-contaminated areas are agricultural 

fields, irrigation canals and grazing areas, as well as roads and 

residential and commercial areas. Security belts of landmines 

also exist around major cities, airports, government installations, 

and power stations. An equally significant problem is the 

existence of large amounts of unexploded ordnance. Mines, 

ERW, and loosely secured or illicit conventional weapons and 

munitions continue to restrict access to valuable resources and 

important infrastructure, effectively making social and economic 

reconstruction in Afghanistan extremely difficult.

The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department 

of State provided more than $18 million in FY2008 for the 

Conventional Weapons Destruction Program in Afghanistan. 

These funds enabled Afghan nongovernmental organizations 

(NGOs), international NGOs, international organizations, and 

private-sector partners to clear ERW-contaminated areas, care for 

victims of conflict, and destroy or secure abandoned or otherwise 

at-risk munitions and explosive ordnance that might be used by 

insurgents to construct roadside bombs and other improvised 

explosive devices. 

The PM/WRA Afghanistan Program, through a contract with 

DynCorp International, trains, equips, and funds seven Afghan 

explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams throughout Afghanistan. 

Since 2006, these PM/WRA-funded EOD teams have destroyed or 

secured more than 9,000 metric tons of unexploded, abandoned, 

or otherwise at-risk munitions and SA/LW, and provided explosive 

ordnance safety training to more than 65,000 Afghan nationals. 

Also under this DynCorp contract—in a unique partnership with 

the NGO Clear Path International—PM/WRA provided quick 

impact funds totaling more than $500,000 to Afghan partners 

including the Kabul Orthopedic Organization, Afghan Landmine 

Afghanistan 

Asi aClear Path International

Humanitarian Demining R&D

Abandoned and unexploded ordnance collected from 

villages near Jalalabad, stacked and awaiting disposal. 
20 | To Walk The Earth In Safety

A female deminer from MAG uses HSTAMIDS in Cambodia to scan the 

ground for possible mines. The system allows deminers to discriminate 

between mines and clutter, which reduces the time spent manually 

excavating the ground.

As a result of nearly three decades of 

conflict, Cambodia continues to be 

one of the most severely landmineand explosive-remnants-of-waraffected countries in the world. Heavy 

mine contamination started during the 1960s when civil war 

broke out between the government and the Communist Khmer 

Rouge, which ended with the latter’s victory in 1975. In 1978, 

Vietnam invaded Cambodia and drove Khmer Rouge forces 

back to the Thai-Cambodian border; however, the pollution of 

the land did not stop there. Following the invasion by Vietnam, 

the Cambodian government created the K-5 mine belt, a densely 

mined barrier along the Thai border, to prevent the Khmer Rouge’s 

return. Despite these efforts, Khmer Rouge guerrilla groups 

continued to pervade Cambodia until their surrender in 1997, and 

in 1988, scattered unmapped minefields for short-term defensive 

purposes. Assistance from the United States and other donors has 

significantly reduced the annual casualty rate; however, the death 

toll remains high: 875 casualties were reported in 2005, while in 

2007 there were 352 known victims. 

In FY2008, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

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

of State allotted a total of $4,053,526 for humanitarian 

mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) action in Cambodia. 

DynCorp International acquired $2,290,000 under a 

continuing contract to manage, disburse, and monitor U.S. 

financial support for the operations of Demining Unit No. 3 

of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), as well as 

to administer training, equipment, and advice to the unit’s 

multiple teams. The contract also provides for developmental 

support and advisory services to the Cambodian demining and 

UXO authorities. The HALO Trust (HALO) received a grant 

of $850,000 for support and provision of advanced Handheld 

Standoff Mine Detection System (HSTAMIDS) detectors 

to 13 manual demining teams, and support to additional 

explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), survey, mine-risk 

education (MRE), and mechanical teams for continued work 

along the K-5 mine belt. Additionally, HALO received a grant 

of $45,000 to be used to match contributions from Rotary 

International for the fielding and equipping of an additional 

demining team. Mines Advisory Group (MAG) acquired a 

grant of $515,000 to deploy manual deminers, mechanical 

vegetation cutters, Bozena and Tempest flails, communityliaison teams, and mobile EOD teams in six provinces. 

Also in FY2008, the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation 

received $160,000 for continuation of its Explosive Harvesting 

Program, in which explosives are removed from locally-obtained 

munitions and packaged into charges for use by demining and 

UXO operators. Norwegian People’s Aid was given $99,976 

to provide support for development of the central database 

of CMAC. Spirit of Soccer received a grant of $75,000 for 

its youth MRE program that links awareness education with 

soccer skills and sports role models. Finally, Freedom Fields was 

granted $18,550 to produce a documentary film on landmine 

clearance in Cambodia. 

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

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

for many years in Cambodia, providing technologies valued at 

more than $2 million for operational field evaluations with the 

CMAC, HALO, MAG, and the Golden West Humanitarian 

Foundation. Beginning in June 2006, HALO integrated 

the multi-sensor HSTAMIDS in its manual, anti-personnel 

mine-clearance operations of densely cluttered minefields. The 

HSTAMIDS evaluation was expanded in FY2008 to include 

operations with MAG. 

During FY2008, HD R&D continued operational field 

evaluations of the Tempest vegetation cutting flail, excavator 

soil sifting attachments, the MAXX+ remote-controlled miniexcavator, and the innovative Explosive Harvesting System, 

which recasts stockpiled explosives into demolition charges 

for mines and unexploded ordnance. In addition, HD R&D 

provided funds to develop a regional test and training site 

for HSTAMIDS mine-detection technologies at the CMAC 

training center in Siem Reap. 

Cambodia

Asi a Humanitarian Demining R&D
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 21

The majority of Laos’ extensive 

explosive remnants of war (ERW) 

contamination and its smaller 

landmine presence stems from the 

Second Indochina War, also known 

as the American-Vietnam War, between 1964 and 1973. 

Some contamination resulted from the country’s own period 

of civil war (1962–1975). During its prolonged air campaign 

against the North Vietnamese forces operating in Laos, 

the U.S. military dropped over two million tons of bombs, 

and estimates indicate that up to 30 percent of these aerial 

munitions failed to detonate on impact. Large land battles 

were also fought inside Laos. 

Post-war population growth and other socioeconomic 

factors have subsequently continued to increase the human 

presence in ERW-contaminated areas. Besides posing a threat 

to the Laotian people in the impacted areas, ERW also limits 

their access to agricultural land, disturbs traditional landuse patterns, and impedes other economic development. In 

1996 the government established UXO Lao as the national 

organization to systematically address the ERW problem, and 

in 2006 created the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) 

as the policy-level body for all aspects of the effort. Since 

clearance operations began, at least 186 types of munitions 

from all former combatants have been located, highlighting 

the complexity of the operational challenges. 

In FY2008, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ 

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in 

the U.S. Department of State allotted a total of $2,953,000 

for humanitarian ERW clearance and related work in Laos. 

This money was split between ArmorGroup North America, 

Fondation Suisse de Deminage (FSD), Mines Advisory Group 

(MAG), and World Education, Inc.

ArmorGroup North America received $1,932,000 under 

a continuing contract to develop the capacity of the NRA

through management and financial training, and to provide 

for the operating costs of UXO Lao in conducting clearance, 

technical survey, and community-awareness programs in 

several provinces. 

MAG received a grant of $500,000 in support of operations 

in Khammoune province, which includes training and managing 

a team to conduct UXO clearance, technical survey, and 

community liaison.

FSD was granted $304,630 for continuation of unexploded 

ordnance (UXO) clearance in support of the United Nations 

World Food Programme’s Food-For-Work project in three 

districts of Savannakhet province, as well as support for limited 

clearance work in other provinces.

World Education, Inc. was granted a total of $216,370 for 

ERW-risk education, and for survivors’ medical, economic, 

and technical assistance. The latter program is designed to 

improve the living situation of ERW survivors and their 

families, and to provide training to health, agricultural, and 

vocational training officials to enable them to better serve 

the needs of ERW survivors. PM/WRA also granted World 

Education $500,000 to strengthen district hospital capacity 

to address trauma of UXO and other injuries. 

In addition, the U.S. Agency for International Development 

gave Handicap International $300,000 to support vocational 

rehabilitation for people with disabilities in Laos. 

Laos

In FY2008, the Bureau of 

Political-Military Affairs’ 

Office of Weapons Removal 

and Abatement in the U.S. 

Department of State spent 

$270,000 with local contractor Alloy Engineering to destroy 

36,930 firearms in the Philippines that were no longer needed by 

the military, or that had been seized by authorities from criminals 

and terrorists. 

Philippines

Asi a

An unexploded bomb mere meters from a school 

house in Laos.

The Humpty Dumpty Institute
22 | To Walk The Earth In Safety

Asi a

Landmines and explosive 

remnants of war (ERW) 

affecting parts of Sri 

Lanka are a result of two 

decades of armed conflict 

between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the 

Sri Lankan government. Along with the mined areas in the high 

security zones that are maintained by the Sri Lankan Army, the 

Sri Lankan government estimates there are 98 to 150 square 

kilometers affected by landmines and ERW. Roughly half of the 

landmines emplaced in Sri Lanka are scattered in the northern 

Jaffna Peninsula, the most severely affected region in the country. 

In 2002, the government and LTTE made a cease-fire agreement, 

providing an opportunity for humanitarian mine action to begin. 

With support from the United States, the United Nations, and 

other donor nations and organizations, significant progress in 

clearing land was made so that internally displaced persons (IDPs) 

could return to their land and safely farm. Unfortunately, the ceasefire agreement collapsed in mid-2006 and the conflict intensified, 

resulting in additional and unsurveyed mine/ERW contamination. 

Mines and unexploded remnants of war pose an immediate threat 

to IDPs, as well as an obstacle for resettlement and a serious longterm challenge to economic reconstruction.

In FY2008, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. 

Department of State provided $1,479,322 for emergency clearance 

operations by international nongovernmental organizations 

to support the safe return of thousands of IDPs in the eastern 

areas between Batticaloa and Trincomalee, where the Army had 

recovered control from the LTTE. Danish Demining Group was 

granted $534,000 to clear high-priority areas in Trincomalee that 

were critically needed for resettlement and agriculture. PM/WRA

granted an additional $449,268 to the Swiss Foundation for Mine 

Action to conduct emergency clearance for the resettlement of 693 

families. Another $496,054 grant went to Mines Advisory Group 

to conduct a technical survey, manual demining, and battle-area 

clearance, and by December 2008 more than 2 million square 

meters of land had been released in Batticaloa for safe use to an 

estimated 8,452 civilians. 

Sri 

Lanka

22 | TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Center for International

Stabilization and Recovery

Located on the campus of James Madison University 

in Harrisonburg, Virginia, the Center for International 

Stabilization and Recovery (CISR), which includes the Mine 

Action Information Center (MAIC), is a public-policy center 

that serves organizations and individuals on the front lines 

of humanitarian crises and post-conflict environments by 

providing objective, reliable, and cost-effective research, 

training, communication, and outreach services. 

The Center for International Stabilization and Recovery 

expands on the 13-year commitment of the MAIC, focusing 

on activities to help victims of conflict and disasters return to 

stable and productive lives.

Clients hire CISR to develop and execute projects 

concerning mine-action and stabilization efforts around the 

world. One of the Center’s products is the Journal of ERW 

and Mine Action, the premiere information resource for the 

mine-action community. CISR also maintains several Web 

sites, conducts workshops and conferences, develops and 

leads training courses, provides Web services, and engages 

in research on specific post-conflict topics. 

Funded by a grant from the Bureau of Political-Military 

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

Department of State, one of the Center’s most recent projects, 

the Landmine Casualty Data: Best Practices Guidebook,

is designed to assist people trying to create a mine/ERW 

victim information system or enhance an existing system. 

Working with Jordan’s National Committee for Demining and 

Rehabilitation and a local nongovernmental organization, 

CISR has also helped develop a mine-risk education play 

that is being presented in northern Jordan.

Thus far, the Center has conducted five sessions of the 

United Nations Development Programme’s Senior Managers 

Course for mine-action professionals (2004–07), training 106 

senior managers from 33 mine-affected countries around 

the world in an easily adaptable five-week, cross-cultural, 

and skills-based management training course.

Point of Contact: 

Dennis Barlow, Director 

Center for International Stabilization and Recovery 

James Madison University 

MSC 4902 

1401 Technology Drive

Suite 120, Room 1153 

Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807 

USA

Telephone: +1 540 568 2756 

Facsimile: +1 540 568 8176 

E-mail: barlowdc@jmu.edu

Web site: http://cisr.jmu.edu or http://maic.jmu.edu

Schoolchildren running on a road recently cleared of mines in Toppur village, 

Trincomalee district, Sri Lanka.

Steen Wetlesen, DDG
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 23

Tajikistan is affected by 

landmines emplaced along 

the country’s borders by 

Russian and Uzbek forces, 

as well those laid during the 

1992–97 civil war. The population is most affected by landmines 

that were laid by Uzbekistan’s security services in 1999–2001 with 

the intent to prevent infiltration by the militant Islamic Movement 

of Uzbekistan. Tajikistan’s landmine contamination is a threat to 

its people, causes losses to livestock, and prohibits access to already 

scarce pastures and agricultural land. Additionally, it is believed that 

the country possesses stockpiles of aging and inadequately stored 

conventional weapons.

In FY2008, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

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

of State awarded a grant of $180,000 to the Organization for 

Security and Co-operation in Europe. The grant will be used to 

destroy several thousand small arms and light weapons. 

In FY2008, the U.S. Department of 

Defense’s Humanitarian Demining 

Research and Development Program 

(HD R&D) continued operational 

field evaluations of several mechanical 

technologies in Thailand. Valued at $1.4 million, these 

technologies are used for vegetation clearance and area preparation, 

including the remote-controlled Beaver and Tempest, and the 

large-class SDTT (Severe Duty Tractor and Tools) and Uni-Disk 

excavators. In FY2008, the Thailand Mine Action Center was 

provided Peco, a small remote-controlled vegetation clearance 

system, by HD R&D. To learn more about the U.S. Department 

of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining program, visit www.

humanitariandemining.org and www.wood.army.mil/hdtc.

Asi a

Beaver is a small, remote-controlled vegetation cutter that is undergoing 

operational field evaluations in Thailand by the Thailand Mine Action Center.

Tajikistan

Thailand

TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 23

International Trust Fund

for Demining and Mine

Victims Assistance

The International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine 

Victims Assistance is a humanitarian, nonprofit organization 

committed to eradicating landmines located in SouthEastern Europe (SEE). Also known as ITF, the organization 

was originally established by the Slovenian government in 

1998 to aid Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) with its landmine 

problem, and to assist in the physical and socioeconomic 

rehabilitation of landmine survivors. After considerable 

success in BiH, the ITF expanded operations to numerous 

other countries.

The ITF raises funds and administers the donations of 

public and private donors for different mine-action activities, 

including mine-clearance, survivor-assistance, mine-risk 

education, and training and capacity building. It is unique 

in that it doubles donors’ grants through a dollar-for-dollar 

matching-fund mechanism, supported by the Bureau of 

Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons Removal and 

Abatement in the U.S. Department of State.

Working with mine-action centers and national 

governments to ensure the successful application and 

implementation of activities in local communities, the ITF has 

cleared over 92 million square meters of land and provided 

the means for rehabilitation of almost 1,000 individuals. 

Promoting regional cooperation is vital to the operations 

of ITF, allowing the countries of SEE to address concerns 

more efficiently and cost-effectively by helping each other 

succeed in their overall objective of mine-impact free land. In 

2007, the ITF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with 

United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) which defined 

the areas of mine-action activities in which UNMAS and ITF 

will be cooperating. The ITF envisions freeing SEE from the 

landmine and unexploded ordnance threat by 2015.

Point of Contact: 

Goran Gacnik, Director

Zabrv 12 / 1292

Slovenia 

Telephone: +386 1 479 6585 

Facsimile: +386 1 479 6590

E-mail: ljubljana@itf-fund.si 

Web site: www.itf-fund.si

Humanitarian Demining R&D
24 | To Walk The Earth In Safety

A series of conflicts involving 

Japan, France, and the United 

States from World War II through 

the early 1970s caused Vietnam

to be heavily contaminated by 

explosive remnants of war (ERW). Landmines are also 

problematic due to periods of military struggle during the 

1970s with neighboring Cambodia and China. The areas 

of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, and Quang Tri are the most 

ERW-affected provinces. ERW also affects Vietnam’s border 

region with Laos, an area that was intensively bombed by 

the United States in an effort to interdict North Vietnamese 

troops and supplies. 

The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department 

of State encourages mine-action organizations to use the 

findings of the PM/WRA-funded Landmine Impact Survey 

(LIS) in Vietnam by mandating that its grantees in Vietnam 

seek interim survey results. It now funds projects only in 

provinces that have completed the LIS. In 2008 PM/WRA

continued this approach and intends to uphold LIS use in 

Vietnam henceforth. 

On April 29, 2008, the government of Vietnam passed 

legislation to formally establish the Vietnam Bomb and 

Mine Action Centre (VBMAC). Under direct responsibility 

of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, the 

VBMAC is assuming the role of national coordinator for 

clearance operations, victim-assistance projects, and mine-risk 

education (MRE). Work is underway to get its organizational 

and staffing structure functioning; however, some of its first 

priorities are to develop a strategic plan and set national 

standard operating procedures (SOPs) in alignment with 

international mine-action standards. Both the strategic plan 

and SOPs will help in the prioritization of clearance activities 

and coordination of funding streams to address Vietnam’s 

contamination problem effectively. The government of 

Vietnam and the international nongovernmental organizations 

working in Vietnam’s mine-action sector will assume direct 

responsibility for managing the VBMAC.

In FY2008, PM/WRA contributed over $2.5 million 

for humanitarian mine action in Vietnam. Directly, 

Vietnam’s Technology Centre for Bomb and Mine Disposal 

(BOMICEN) received over $133,000 in demining 

equipment from PM/WRA to continue helping BOMICEN

develop national capacity to clear ERW and persistent 

landmines. Indirectly to BOMICEN, PM/WRA granted 

$100,000 to the Veterans for America (still identified in 

Vietnam as the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation) 

to provide technical assistance to five explosive-ordnance 

disposal (EOD) teams and $150,000 to Golden West 

Humanitarian Foundation to provide technical detection 

assistance and ordnance-salvage training. 

PM/WRA granted $1,300,813 to Mines Advisory Group 

to conduct EOD rapid-response and static-site clearance in 

the Quang Binh province. Moreover, PM/WRA provided 

$222,318 to PeaceTrees Vietnam to field two EOD response 

teams in the Quang Tri province.

PM/WRA also provided funding to three organizations 

for MRE and victim-assistance programs. Vietnam Veterans 

Memorial Fund’s Project RENEW received $289,478 to provide 

integrated humanitarian mine-action assistance (clearance, 

risk education, survivors assistance) to several districts of 

the Quang Tri province. In conjunction with this, the office 

granted $35,000 to Norwegian People’s Aid for the purchase of 

an ambulance for use by its EOD team working with Project 

RENEW. Survivor Corps received $64,018 to build the capacity 

and improve the quality of care given by local health entities in 

the Quang Binh province. Finally, PM/WRA granted $107,766 

to PeaceTrees Vietnam to conduct mobile MRE activities in the 

Quang Tri province. 

In FY2008, the USAID Leahy War Victims Fund granted 

$500,000 to support Catholic Relief Services’ job creation and 

job placement programs for people with disabilities. Activities 

included mentoring through local enterprises and businesses as 

well as the establishment of an information-technology training 

institute in collaboration with Hanoi Technical College. It also 

provided $1 million in support of Vietnam Assistance for the 

Handicapped for work with the Vietnamese government to 

create a comprehensive disability law as well as a public-private 

initiative with U.S. and Vietnamese companies to promote the 

hiring of people with disabilities. 

Presented by 

the United States of America

www.state.gov/t/pm/wra

The U.S. Department of State has donated millions of dollars worth 

of demining equipment to BOMICEN over the years. Decals like this 

one were affixed to the most recent batch of equipment that was 

donated by PM/WRA.

Vietnam

Asi a
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 25

PM/WRA Program Manager Marcus Carpenter poses with ordnance cleared 

by MAG in Quan Binh province.

U.S. Department of State

Asi a

TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 25

U.S. Defense Threat

Reduction Agency

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Small 

Arms and Light Weapons (SA/LW) Program aims to 

reduce proliferation by assisting foreign governments 

with improving security, safety, and management of statecontrolled stockpiles of man-portable air-defense systems 

(MANPADS), other SA/LW, and conventional ammunition. 

Teams of DTRA experts provide foreign governments with 

assessments and technical advice as well as orientations 

to international best practices for the physical security and 

stockpile management of SA/LW. 

By securing and managing these assets, DTRA’s efforts 

decrease the availability of weapons and ammunition to 

terrorists and insurgents, reduce regional exposure to 

destabilizing cross-border weapons transfers, and reduce 

the risk of catastrophic ammunition accidents. 

DTRA first became involved in SA/LW elimination in 2001, 

providing technical expertise to the Department of State at 

the request of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense 

for Policy. Since then, DTRA has conducted MANPADS 

and SA/LW physical security and stockpile management 

assistance operations in over 40 countries in South and 

Central America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. DTRA has also 

facilitated the execution of U.S. bilateral and multilateral 

commitments by providing expert teams on international 

assessments and seminars of government-owned stockpiles 

of MANPADS and other weapons of concern.

DTRA safeguards America and its allies from weapons of 

mass destruction (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, 

and high explosives) by providing capabilities to reduce, 

eliminate, and counter the threat, and mitigate their effects. 

Point of Contact:

Defense Threat Reduction Agency

DTRA Public Affairs

8725 John J. Kingman Road, Stop 6201

Fort Belvoir, Virginia 22060-6201

USA

Telephone: +1 800 701 5096

E-mail: dtra.publicaffairs@dtra.mil

Web site: www.dtra.mil 

Sign at a PeaceTrees Vietnam bomb clearance site on the former Ho 

Chi Minh Trail in Quang Tri province. This clearance project was funded 

by PM/WRA.

John Stevens, PM/WRA

Deminers from PeaceTrees Vietnam working in Quang Tri province pose with 

members of PM/WRA.

U.S. Department of State
Europe

Albania • Armenia (shown on page 38) • Azerbaijan (shown on page 38) • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Bulgaria • Croatia • Estonia • Georgia (shown on page 38) • Kosovo • Macedonia • Montenegro • Serbia • Ukraine
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 27

Eu r o p e

Over a span of three years, Albania’s 

landmine and explosive remnants of 

war (ERW) contamination increased 

due to internal and external strife. In 

1997 the central regions of Albania 

were emplaced with mines, ERW, and abandoned ordnance, 

and military depots were looted during a period of civil disorder. 

Landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) were also emplaced 

by Yugoslavia in the northeast during a conflict with neighboring 

Kosovo between 1998 and 1999.

In FY2008 the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the 

U.S. Department of State provided $2,021,775 to fund 

continued clearance work by DanChurchAid. During these 

clearance and survey operations, one anti-tank mine and 264 

anti-personnel mines were destroyed while 812,771 square 

meters of land were released for use. Similarly, $529,000 

was provided to the national nongovernmental organization 

Victims of Mines and Weapons Association–Kukes for minerisk education and victim-assistance projects in the northeast 

districts bordering Kosovo. 

In addition to its humanitarian mine-action activities, 

PM/WRA also responded quickly to the explosion that occurred 

in the ammunition facility in Gërdec village in March 2008. 

This catastrophic event destroyed over 400 homes, killed 26 

people, wounded another 300, and simultaneously littered 

a large area of the surrounding countryside with dangerous 

munitions. In response to a request from the government of 

Albania, PM/WRA, acting through the International Trust 

Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance, provided an 

additional $2 million for the Gërdec munitions clean-up, and 

another $137,800 for Gërdec-related ERW risk-education and 

victim assistance. 

In spite of the extremely disruptive nature of the Gërdec 

explosion, the leadership of the Albania Mine Action Executive was 

able to keep the 2009–10 mine-action plan on track while at the 

same time providing valuable 

assistance to the Albanian 

Ministry of Defense. They 

also supported international 

explosive-ordnance disposal 

teams conducting the 

Gërdec clean-up operations, 

which continue to be funded 

by PM/WRA. It is expected 

that Albania will achieve 

mine impact-free status 

during the 2009 or early 

2010 demining season.

Albania The conflict between 

Azerbaijan and Armenia

(1988–94) created the 

landmine and explosive 

remnants of war (ERW) 

problem in the country. A Landmine Impact Survey in 2005 

identified 60 communities affected by a total of 102 suspected 

hazardous areas in five regions, all bordering Azerbaijan. It was 

estimated that 322 square kilometers were contaminated by 

mines and ERW.

In FY2008 the United States Department of Defense’s 

Humanitarian Demining Training Center deployed one instructor, 

a value of $6,893, in direct support of the United States European 

Command Humanitarian Mine Action train-the-trainer program; 

35 Armenian deminers were trained.

Azerbaijan’s landmine 

problem is largely a result of 

the conflict with Armenia 

between 1988 and 1994, 

but abandoned Soviet-era 

munitions dumps and unexploded ordnance (UXO) also pose a 

significant threat. A Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) completed 

in 2003 by the Survey Action Center and International Eurasia 

Press Fund indicated that landmines and UXO contaminated 

18 of 65 districts in Azerbaijan. More than half of the affected 

communities were in the Fizuli region, located in the western 

part of Azerbaijan near Nagorno-Karabakh, and in the region of 

Agstafa, in the northwest, where a Soviet Army base was located. 

The LIS did not cover Nagorno-Karabakh, the Nakhchivan 

region, or small locations to which access was denied by the 

military. The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action 

(ANAMA) reports that 2,338 landmine and UXO casualties 

occurred between 1991 and 2008. 

In FY2008, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. 

Department of State issued $1,279,587 to Azerbaijan in support of 

mine action and victim assistance. A grant for $848,000 enabled 

ANAMA to replace aging vehicles and field equipment, and assist 

with monthly costs of on-going clearance activities. An additional 

$382,000 was provided to expand the ANAMA explosive-ordnance 

disposal (EOD) capacity. The 20 additional EOD operators were 

trained, equipped, and deployed to clear surface and subsurface 

contamination resulting from the explosion of the former Soviet 

ammunition warehouse located in Saloglu village. Also in 2008, 

PM/WRA provided the Marshall Legacy Institute with $49,587 

in matching funds to integrate landmine survivors into society 

by providing them with vocational training and employment 

opportunities through the Ganja City Regional Resource Centre.

Armenia 

Azerbaijan 

Weapons cutting in Albania.

Armor Group North America
28 | To Walk The Earth In Safety

Eu r o p e

Bosnia and Herzegovina

is contaminated with 

landmines and explosive 

remnants of war (ERW), 

primarily stemming from 

the 1992–95 conflict related to the break-up of Yugoslavia. A

2002–03 Landmine Impact Survey recorded that minefields and 

ERW affected 1,366 of 2,935 municipalities to some degree.

In FY2008 the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the 

U.S. Department of State continued its strong support of the 

Bosnian humanitarian mine-action program by designating 

$4,650,000 of its matching funds contributions to the 

International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims 

Assistance for Bosnian mine action. 

Over the last two years PM/WRA increased its emphasis on 

funding competitive tenders for Community Integrated Mine Action 

Plans and other large scale contracts for clearance and technical 

survey. This was done in order to achieve economies of scale by 

“batching” numbers of small- to medium-sized projects located in 

close proximity to each other into larger projects for competitive 

bidding by demining NGOs and commercial organizations. As a 

result, explosive threats were eliminated in dozens of small, isolated 

rural communities that had been struggling for years to exist on 

reduced access to farmlands and pastures, thereby improving the 

agricultural productivity and quality of life of the local farmers as well 

as enhancing opportunities for the return of refugees and internally 

displaced persons. 

The results on the ground were impressive. A combined total 

of nearly 120 Bosnia-Herzegovina Mine Action Center technical 

survey and clearance projects were executed, resulting in the return 

to safe use of nearly 2.7 million square meters of land and the 

marking of over 320,000 square meters of untreated threat areas. 

The mine-victim assistance (MVA) and mine-risk education 

(MRE) programs were equally strong. MVA activities were oriented 

toward improving the quality of health care available to victims 

from both the governmental and private health care systems. 

Survivor Corps provided financial support to approximately 100 

survivors to help them launch new businesses or careers; Hope ’87 

established Pain Management Therapy Departments at four major 

Clinical Centers; and the Center for International Rehabilitation 

provided distance learning training for prosthetic technicians. Two 

Bosnian NGOs, Fantomi and ECO Sport, provided significant 

recreational and reintegration opportunities for victims through 

sports competitions, as well as publicly highlighting their potential 

and capabilities. MRE activities were centered on a program 

established by the NGO Positive Play. This program was targeted at 

youth athletic clubs with a potential outreach of over 20,000 people 

in 65 municipalities. 

Bosnia 

and 

Herzegovina

28 | TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Mine Detection Dog Center

for South East Europe 

Funded by the United States Department of State 

and endorsed by the South-Eastern Europe Mine Action 

Coordination Council (SEEMACC), the Mine Detection Dog 

Center for South East Europe (MDDC) is located in Bosnia 

and Herzegovina (BiH), at the former Territorial Defense 

Center in Borci village. Opening in October 2003, MDDC 

relied entirely on funding from the U.S. government for the 

first three years and is now fully self-sustaining.

The MDDC develops local capacity to train mine-detection 

dogs (MDDs) while also providing mine-risk education for 

children and supporting regional demining operations. 

Since the Center’s founding, more than 100 MDDs and their 

handlers have been trained for a variety of organizations, 

including the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action, 

Lebanon Mine Action Center and the BiH nongovernmental 

organizations Stop Mines, Pro Vita, Eko Dem and BH 

Demining, as well as the governmental agencies for Civil 

Protection and BiH Armed Forces.

In addition to mine- and explosive-detection training, dogs 

and handlers have also been trained for narcotic searches, 

bomb/explosives detection, security, and search-and-rescue 

operations for local BiH police forces and the Bosnian Border 

Service. In 2006, MDDC supported demining operations 

with six MDD teams in Albania, BiH, Croatia, Kosovo, and 

Serbia. In 2007 and 2008, the MDDC continued its demining 

operations in the regions of southeast Europe and Iraq.

The MDDC has also developed a mine-risk education 

program for rural children ages nine to 13. The project’s 

immediate goal is to prevent new youth mine and unexploded 

ordinance (UXO) victims, create a safe environment for 

children attending schools near minefields, and motivate 

the children to become aware of mine dangers through 

MDD demonstrations.

In 2008, MDDC engaged in activities primarily aimed 

at training mine-detection dogs for demining programs in 

Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Lebanon, and 

supported demining efforts throughout the region and 

beyond. It is recognized as a Regional Center of Excellence by 

the South-Eastern Europe Mine Action Coordination Council.

Point of Contact: 

Marija Trlin, Public and Donor Relations Officer 

Mine Detection Dog Center for South East Europe 

Borci b.b., 88400 Konjic 

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Telephone: +387 36 739 860 

E-mail: marija.mddc@cob.net.ba

Web site: www.mddc.ba
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 29

In FY2008, the Bureau of 

Political-Military Affairs’ 

Office of Weapons Removal 

and Abatement (PM/WRA) in 

the U.S. Department of State 

provided $300,000 for the destruction of excess small 

arms/light weapons, aged conventional ordnance, and 

operational support after the July ammunition depot 

explosion at Chelopechene near Sofia. In November, 

shortly after PM/WRA awarded a contract to DynCorp 

International for the formation of a humanitarian Quick 

Bulgaria 

Eu r o p e

UXO and debris field at the Chelopechene blast site in Bulgaria.

Mark Tobias, DynCorp International

Mark Tobias, DynCorp International

Mark Tobias, DynCorp International

Removing UXO and debris from a crater at the blast site.

QRF team members prepare UXO for demolition.

Reaction Force (QRF) to respond globally to urgent 

and emergent humanitarian operations that require the 

removal or mitigation of explosive hazards to protect 

civilian populations, the first QRF Assessment Team 

deployed to Bulgaria. The QRF responded to the Bulgarian 

government’s request for technical assistance with the 

clearance and disposal of unexploded ordnance (UXO) 

from the Chelopechene blast site. Between December and 

March of 2009, under adverse weather conditions, the QRF

team safely cleared 38,539 square meters and recovered 

110,416 pieces of UXO without accident or injury. 
30 | To Walk The Earth In Safety

Estonia has undergone a longstanding battle against explosive 

remnants of war (ERW) stemming 

from World War II, including 

a 100-kg aviation bomb that 

was unearthed in the capital of Tallinn in October 2007. 

In response, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. 

Department of Defense have provided various forms of ERWand landmine-clearance assistance. 

The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department 

of State provided the Estonian Rescue Board (ERB) with 

new explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) equipment worth 

$157,000 to assist in clearing underwater ERW in FY2007. 

The Estonian EOD/demining specialists received three heavybomb-disposal suits, diving equipment, a motor boat, and 

remote-detonation devices.

In FY2008, PM/WRA provided the ERB with replacement 

EOD equipment worth $250,000, which allowed for 

continued clearance of underwater ERW and surface and subsurface ordnance.

Stockpiled ordnance in Estonia.

Due to the war over the 

dissolution of Yugoslavia in 

the early 1990s, landmines 

and explosive remnants of 

war remain in Croatia.

In FY2008, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

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

of State contributed $2 million through the International 

Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance 

for humanitarian mine action. Thirteen demining projects 

were funded at a total cost of $1.57 million, resulting in the 

return of almost 727,000 square meters of land to safe usage. 

Another $48,100 was expended on providing recreational 

rehabilitation for 40 victims of mines and other explosive 

remnants of war in collaboration with Bembo, a national 

nongovernmental organization.

Croatia Estonia

Eu r o p e

A mine warning sign is posted along a local road in Bastica, Croatia.

Roots of Peace

Dennis Hadrick, PM/WRA
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 31

Kosovo was a province of Serbia 

before declaring independence on 

February 17, 2008. The region had 

been significantly affected in the 

1990s by explosive remnants of war 

(ERW), including unexploded cluster bomblets from NATO

air strikes, and by landmines, booby traps, and ERW from 

the conflict between Kosovo Liberation Army Forces and the 

former Yugoslavia. After federal forces withdrew from Kosovo, 

generous donor nations and groups, including the United States 

and the United Nations, contributed humanitarian mine-action 

assistance to Kosovo, and it was effectively rendered free from 

the humanitarian impact of mines and ERW (“impact free”) in 

2001. Thanks in part to the United States, Kosovo developed 

the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), which has been able to 

deal with the few mines and ERW that remain mostly in remote 

locations. In January 2009, the responsibility for training and 

recruiting was transferred from the KPC to the Kosovo Security 

Force (KSF). The KSF is a multi-ethnic institution focusing on 

civil-military affairs missions, including demining.

In FY2008 the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

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

of State granted $150,000 for mine-detection dog team 

support for demining and battle-area clearance work by 

the KPC’s mine-action teams. An additional $111,524 was 

contributed for risk education for over 8,000 primary school 

children in 20 schools within the four most mine- and ERWaffected districts of the country. This was a combined effort 

between QPEA and Future, Kosovar Albanian and Serb NGOs 

respectively, with all major ethnic groups represented on the 

teaching staffs as well as the student bodies and communities 

served by the program. 

Georgia is affected by landmines 

and explosive remnants of war 

(ERW) as a result of inter-ethnic 

and intranational conflicts in the 

separatist regions of South Ossetia 

(1988–92) and Abkhazia (1992–93). The vast majority of 

landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left over from the 

civil conflicts are in Abkhazia. Substantial minefields also exist 

in the Pankisi and Kodori Gorges, as well as around former 

Soviet military installations.

Months of Russian provocations beginning in spring 

2008, followed by intense artillery barrages in and around 

South Ossetia at the beginning of August, led to a Georgian 

decision to launch an attack on the South Ossetian capital 

of Tskhinvali on August 7. Russia invaded Georgia from 

several directions and quickly overwhelmed the Georgian 

military. A ceasefire was signed on August 12. The brief 

nature of this conflict has confined the majority of new ERW 

contamination to a 20 km-by-20 km high-intensity conflict 

zone between the cities of Gori in Georgia and Tskhinvali in 

South Ossetia. As of October 31, 2008, there are a total of 16 

villages contaminated with cluster munitions and nine villages 

with a UXO problem in this area. Similar to other former 

Soviet states, Georgia possesses a large stockpile of aging and 

obsolete weapons and munitions. Conventional munitions 

destruction both bilaterally and through the North Atlantic 

Treaty Organization (NATO) began in 2008 and is scheduled 

to continue through 2012.

In early FY2008, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ 

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in 

the U.S. Department of State provided $700,000 to The 

HALO Trust (HALO) to continue clearance in Abkhazia. 

After hostilities ended in August 2008, PM/WRA provided 

HALO with an Emergency Survey and Response Capacity 

grant worth an estimated $3.7 million. PM/WRA also 

granted the nongovernmental organization Information 

Management and Mine Action Programs $1.5 million to 

establish a conventional weapons destruction coordination 

capacity in Georgia. Finally, PM/WRA granted $500,000 

to the Georgian organization Delta to destroy excess and 

obsolete weapons and ammunition, as well as $250,000 

to the NATO Partnership for Peace Trust Fund, led by the 

Baltic states (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia), to destroy 

excess conventional missiles. 

Georgia

Kosovo

Eu r o p e

An ammunition store exploded in the Upper Kodori, Georgia, and spread 

unexploded ordnance across the grounds of the local school.

Yori Escalante, PM/WRA
32 | To Walk The Earth In Safety

Mines and explosive 

remnants of war (ERW) 

mainly affect the northwest 

and southern regions of 

Macedonia. The border 

with Greece in the south, spanning from Gevgelija to Ohrid, 

is scattered with ERW left from World Wars I and II. Conflict 

between government forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in 

2001 led to mine and ERW contamination at the northwestern 

borders with Kosovo and Albania in the regions of Tetovo, 

Kumanovo, and Skopje. 

Although Macedonia is for all intents and purposes mineimpact free, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of 

Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department 

of State provided $50,000 in FY2008 for use in conducting 

a survey for underwater explosive threats in Lake Ohrid, and 

providing additional training and equipment for Macedonia’s 

Explosive Ordnance Demolition teams responsible for the 

removal and destruction of residual explosives threats on 

Macedonian territory.

Montenegro, which 

became independent in 

June 2006, suffered from 

considerable landmine and 

explosive remnants of war 

(ERW) contamination due to periods of conflict throughout 

the 1990s. In addition to underwater mines along the Albanian 

land and maritime border dating from Yugoslav times, mines 

were planted in Kotor Bay and in the border areas with Croatia 

and Bosnia in 1991, as well as in Plav municipality (between 

Bogicevic and Lipovica mountains) and along the Kosovo 

border in 1998–99. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization 

airstrikes in 1999 also left unexploded cluster bomblets in 

several areas. Thanks in part to assistance from the Bureau 

of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons Removal and 

Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department of State, over 

the past several years Montenegro has cleared almost all known 

mines from Montenegrin territory (Montenegrin authorities 

believe that mines and unexploded ordnance remain in two 

limited areas; there are also occasional findings of unexploded 

ordnance from WWII in the Podgorica area). 

In FY2008, PM/WRA contributed $20,000 through the 

International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims 

Assistance to replace worn out diving and other underwater 

demining-related equipment for Montenegro’s Regional Center 

for Underwater Demining. This center, located in Bijela, 

Montenegro, was established in 2002 with funding assistance 

provided by PM/WRA. It is the only non-military center in the 

world specializing in the humanitarian clearance of underwater 

explosive hazards.

Macedonia

Montenegro

Eu r o p e

An old orthodox church stands next to Ohrid lake, the site of 

a 2008 survey for underwater explosive threats.

Ljupco Smokovski

Yugoslav-made SA-7b man-portable air-defense systems, which were 

destroyed by Sterling International & EOD Solutions under a PM/WRAfunded stockpile-reduction contract in Montenegro.

Kenn Underwood, EOD Solutions
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 33

Events during the 1990s are the 

main cause of the presence of 

persistent landmines and explosive 

remnants of war (ERW) in Serbia. 

Conflict during the break up of 

Yugoslavia in the 1990s led to some of the contamination. 

Additionally, air strikes by the North Atlantic Treaty 

Organization Air Forces during the campaign to halt ethnic 

cleansing in Kosovo caused contamination. Parts of Serbia are 

also affected by mines and ERW remaining from previous wars. 

In FY2008, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the 

U.S. Department of State provided $800,000 through the 

International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims 

Assistance (ITF) to continue funding demining and battlearea clearance (BAC) projects in Serbia. Most of these projects 

concentrated on clearance along Serbia’s border with Croatia. 

During FY2008, over $1.2 million was also provided through 

PM/WRA’s contributions to the ITF to fund additional BAC 

projects in Samaila and Blata townships and mine clearance 

in Neprecava, and to provide 44 Serbian deminers with 

humanitarian demining refresher training through a course 

sponsored by the ITF.

The United States is the lead 

nation for Phase 1 of a North 

Atlantic Treaty Organization 

(NATO) Partnership for Peace 

Trust Fund project, with goals of 

helping Ukraine destroy its small arms and light weapons 

(SA/LW), man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), 

and stockpiles of excess munitions. Austria, Bulgaria, 

Canada, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the 

Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, 

the United Kingdom, and the European Union are other 

donors supporting the project.

This is one of the largest weapons and munitions 

destruction projects in history, and represents the largest 

Partnership Trust Fund 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. Mainly dating from the Soviet era, these stockpiles 

are a threat to public safety and the environment, and pose a 

potential proliferation risk. The proposed four-phase project 

will last a projected 12 years and will cost approximately $27 

million in donor contributions, with Ukraine providing most 

of the operational and in-kind demilitarization costs. Phase 

1 will cost donors $8.5 million, and includes plans for the 

destruction of 15,000 tons of munitions, 400,000 SA/LW, 

and 1,000 MANPADS.

In FY2008 the United States contributed $1 million, and has 

contributed $6,442,000 to date from the SA/LW destruction 

fund managed by the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

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

of State.

In FY2008, SA/LW destruction slowed to a stop with only 

23,993 weapons destroyed, compared to 108,000 destroyed in 

2007, for a total of 131,993. As of late 2008, planning continued 

for munitions destruction, which is scheduled to begin when 

a new explosive waste incinerator is installed. The originally 

envisioned three-year first phase is being extended to address the 

outstanding targets.

Serbia

Ukraine

Eu r o p e

Decanting of melted SA/LW into a mold to form an ingot, which can be sold 

as non-weapons scrap, by employees of Ukroboronleasing at the SA/LW 

demilitarization facility in Kamyanets-Podilskyy, Ukraine.

O Shkondin, NAMSA Ukraine

Using a barcode scanner, an employee of Ukroboronleasing at the 

SA/LW demilitarization facility in Kamyanets-Podilskyy, Ukraine, records 

the disassembly of AK 47s in a database.

O Shkondin, NAMSA Ukraine
Latin 

America

C h i l e • Co l o m bia • E c u ado r • Ni c a r a g u a • P e r u
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 35

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 evaluation of one 

Multi-Tooled Excavator and five Air-Spade® demining 

digging tools in FY2008. The technologies represent a 

$300,000 investment to augment Chilean mine-clearance 

activities. To learn more about the U.S. Department of 

Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Program, visit www.

humanitariandemining.org and www.wood.army.mil/hdtc.

The Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs’ Office of Weapons Removal 

and Abatement (PM/WRA) in 

the U.S. Department of State 

initiated a new partnership with 

the Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines for minerisk education in FY2008 focusing on youth awareness in 

13 municipalities of Antioquia. PM/WRA continued its 

support of two Emergency Response Teams (ERT) through 

the Organization of American States. A third ERT team 

is planned for FY2009. PM/WRA continues to support 

Centro Integro de Rehabilitación de Colombia’s (CIREC) 

Seeds of Hope program, which provides prosthetics, physical 

therapy, psychosocial support, educational and employment 

opportunities, plus human-rights training.

Also in FY2008, the U.S. Agency for International 

Development’s Leahy War Victims Fund (LWVF) 

implemented a $3.8 million multi-year program to expand 

Chile

Colombia

the scope and breadth of rehabilitation services available to 

survivors of landmines in Colombia. In partnership with the 

Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines, the program will 

strengthen services in 22 departments, with special emphasis 

in six priority departments: Antioquia, Caqueta, Cauca, Meta, 

Nariño, and Norte de Santander. In addition, the LWVF

supported the government of Colombia’s efforts to establish 

an internationally accredited school for prosthetic technicians. 

Working with CHF International and in partnership with 

a network of disabled people’s organizations and service 

providers, LWVF contributed $300,000 toward establishing 

a program to improve the socioeconomic situation and 

promote active participation of internally displaced people 

with disabilities and their families. To learn more about the 

Leahy War Victims Fund, visit www.usaid.gov/our_work/

humanitarian_assistance/the_funds/lwvf. 

Moreover, in FY2008 the United States Department of 

Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Training Center deployed 

two instructors to Bogotá in direct support of the U.S. Southern 

Command humanitarian mine clearance train-the-trainer 

program, training 44 Colombian military and civilian personnel, 

a value of $13,110. To learn more about the U.S. Department 

of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Program, visit www.

humanitariandemining.org and www.wood.army.mil/hdtc.

L ati n Am e r ic a

HD R&D’s excavator works in a minefield laid along the bed of the Cancosa 

River in the mountains of Chile near the Bolivian border outside the town of 

Cancosa. The excavator was used to excavate and sift the entire mined site to a 

depth of 1 meter to recover anti-personnel landmines lost through erosion. The 

excavator is on loan to the Ministry of National Defense of Chile.

Humanitarian Demining R&D

CIREC Medical Brigade visit with Su ́cre department governor and victims. 

Prosthetic devices and wheelchairs were filled and dispensed to victims in 

Su ́cre during the visit.

Edmund Trimakas, PM/WRA
36 | To Walk The Earth In Safety

L ati n Am e r ic a

The Tempest is a small, remote-controlled vegetation cutting system that 

has been in operation with the Ecuadorian Army since July 2007 and is 

being used in the dense Amazon jungle.

In FY2008, the United 

States Southern Command’s 

Humanitarian Mine 

Action (HMA) program 

sponsored a Leaders Seminar, 

in cooperation with the Organization of American States’ 

Comprehensive Action Against Anti-personnel Mines program, 

or AICMA. The seminar capitalized on the improving PeruEcuador relationship to encourage additional cooperation on 

HMA themes. The seminar also capitalized on the participation 

of other regional partners, like Nicaragua, academia, and 

international organizations that have knowledge and experience 

in humanitarian demining to help countries identify strengths 

and weaknesses leading to better development of National 

Demining Plans and operations.

In FY2008, the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Humanitarian 

Demining Training Center deployed two instructors, valued 

at $12,040, to Quito, Ecuador, in direct support of the U.S. 

Southern Command humanitarian mine-clearance train-thetrainer program for 25 Ecuadorian military personnel.

In FY2008, the DoD’s Humanitarian Demining Research and 

Development Program (HD R&D) continued its evaluation of 

the $250,000 Tempest remote-controlled vegetation-clearance 

system in cooperation with the National Demining Center of 

Ecuador and the Organization of American States. The machine 

was originally on loan for one year, and was extended in June 

2008 for a second year. The Tempest is assisting manual deminers 

by opening breach lanes in dense jungle. To learn more about 

the DoD’s HD R&D, visit www.humanitariandemining.org and 

www.wood.army.mil/hdtc.

Ecuador

36 | TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Organization of

American States

The Organization of American States (OAS) brings 

together the nations of the Western Hemisphere to 

strengthen cooperation on democratic values, defend 

common interests and debate the major issues facing the 

region and the world. As the region’s principal multilateral 

forum for strengthening democracy, promoting human 

rights, and confronting shared problems such as poverty, 

terrorism, illegal drugs, and corruption, the OAS also 

plays a leading role in carrying out mandates established 

during the Summits of the Americas. 

Since 1991, the OAS has coordinated a comprehensive 

mine-action program that has cleared over 60,000 antipersonnel landmines from areas affected by conflict, 

assisted the physical and psychological rehabilitation of 

more than 1,200 landmine survivors, provided mine-risk 

education to nearly 500,000 people living in mine-affected 

communities, and destroyed more than a million stockpiled 

mines. Program activities emphasize development of 

national demining capacity through multilateral and civilmilitary cooperation, as well as the provision of logistical 

support, equipment, and training to affected countries. 

The Inter-American Defense Board provides technical 

support to the OAS and ensures national compliance with 

international standards for demining. The OAS program is 

made possible by both financial and in-kind contributions 

from the international community. 

With support from the United States, four member 

states—Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Suriname—

have completed their demining programs and are 

considered landmine-safe. Humanitarian demining 

operations continue with OAS support in Colombia, 

Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Peru.

Point of Contact: 

Carl E. Case, Director 

Office of Humanitarian Mine Action 

OAS 

1889 F Street NW 

Washington, D.C. 20006 

USA

Telephone: +1 202 458 3631 

E-mail: ccase@oas.org 

Web site: www.aicma.oas.org

Humanitarian Demining R&D
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 37

Nicaragua is affected by 

landmines and explosive remnants 

of war (ERW) due to internal 

conflict from 1979–90. In 

FY2008, the Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs’ Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement 

in the U.S. Department of State released two victim-assistance 

grants for Nicaragua. The first, for $140,000, was provided to 

the Organization of American States; the second was granted 

to The Polus Center for Social and Economic Development for 

$259,000. These grants assist victims in rehabilitation and are 

used to develop training and small-business opportunities for 

those affected by landmines.

Nicaragua has received the bulk of U.S. government Central 

America humanitarian mine-action funds (more than $30.5 

million over the last 14 years) for operational support and victimassistance projects. 

Francisco Mayorga lost a leg from a landmine that exploded when he was 

working as a deminer near Jinotega in 1996. He is shown working on a 

wheelchair frame at the Polus Center workshop in León, Nicaragua.

Nicaragua Mines were emplanted in the 1980s 

to protect high-tension electricity 

pylons against attacks from 

Sendero Luminoso (SL) and the 

Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac 

Amaru. During 1993–96, mines were also planted around three 

maximum security prisons to prevent prisoners from escaping, 

and around police anti-narcotics bases as a defensive measure. 

Parts of Peru’s shared border with Ecuador and the Condor 

Mountain Range in the sparsely populated Amazon basin are 

affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war, mainly 

unexploded ordnance as a result of armed conflict with Ecuador 

in 1995. More recently, remnants of the SL are resorting to 

homemade improvised explosive devices and booby traps in the 

drug-producing Valley of the Apurimac and Ene rivers and in the 

Upper Huallaga Valley. 

U.S. support for humanitarian mine action (HMA) in 

Peru was $3.2 million through 2006. In FY2008, the Bureau 

of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons Removal and 

Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department of State restarted 

the Peru HMA program after conducting a policy assessment visit 

in January 2008. PM/WRA contributed $200,000 for equipment 

and a preliminary contractor management review in 2008. The 

goal in 2009 and beyond is to concentrate on expanding the 

capability of the Peruvian Mine Action Coordination Center 

through contractor support. 

Peru

L ati n Am e r ic a

Stephen Petegorsky/The Polus Center

Freddy Duarte, who lost his leg to a landmine in 1987, runs a bicycle 

repair business at his home in León, Nicaragua, with the assistance of 

a micro-loan.

Stephen Petegorsky/The Polus Center

Peruvian deminers preparing for demining training at Bagua training site in 

northern Peru (conducted by HDTC and SOUTHCOM).

Ed Trimakas, PM/WRA
The

Middle 

East

I r a q • Jo r da n • L e ba n o n • Y e m e n

EUROPE
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 39

A MAG deminer uncovers a mine in northern Iraq.

Iraq is one of the most severely 

mine/unexploded ordnance (UXO) 

afflicted nations in the world. Iraq’s 

landmine and UXO problem is a 

consequence of over three decades of 

conflict: the 1980–88 Iraq-Iran War, the 1991 Persian Gulf War, 

and the current Operation Iraqi Freedom campaign. The Iraq 

Landmine Impact Survey estimates that landmines cover an area 

of 727 square kilometers and UXO-contaminated areas cover 

an estimated 851 square kilometers. In addition, it is suspected 

that hundreds of cached and abandoned ordnance sites exist 

throughout the country, sites that not only pose an immediate 

humanitarian risk but also serve as a ready source of explosives for 

terrorists and insurgents.

In FY2008, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. 

Department of State invested over $21 million in humanitarian 

mine action and conventional weapons-destruction projects 

in Iraq. These funds were awarded to RONCO Consulting 

Corporation to provide technical assistance to the Iraq Mine 

& UXO Clearance Organization (IMCO) and Mines Advisory 

Group (MAG) to fund a combination of minefield and battlearea clearance operations and explosive ordnance disposal/small 

arms and light weapons destruction missions. In addition, PM/

WRA supported the Information Management and Mine Action 

Program in ERW/mine survey and data management operations 

as well as a pilot victim-assistance project in northern Iraq. 

Furthermore, funds were provided to the Montgomery 

Village (Maryland) chapter of Rotary International for the 

Basra, Iraq Prosthetics Project and to the United Nations 

Development Programme–Iraq for its institutional development 

support. Similarly, donations were provided to the Marshall 

Legacy Institute to re-establish an indigenous mine-detection 

dog program in northern Iraq and to Spirit of Soccer for a 

mine-risk education project in Baghdad. These programs 

contribute to post-battle operations, improve the humanitarian 

environment for returning populations (especially children), 

and increase prospects for donor and Iraqi budget-funded 

economic development by clearing land for agricultural and 

other economic use.

In FY 2008, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian 

Demining Research and Development Program provided MAG 

with excavator attachments and a front-loader attachment for 

operational field evaluations. The assistance, valued at $120,000, 

included support to repair and improve a vehicle-mounted 

portable sifting system.

Iraq

T h e M idd l e E a st MAG

A MAG deminer attaches a charger to a Valmara 69 mine, found commonly 

in northern Iraq.

MAG
40 | To Walk The Earth In Safety

T h e M idd l e E a st

To provide mine-risk 

education (MRE) in 

Jordan, in FY2008 the 

Bureau of Political-Military 

Affairs’ Office of Weapons 

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

granted $250,430 to the National Committee for Demining 

and Rehabilitation (NCDR) to continue its MRE project, which 

began in 2006. The key output of this project is a theatrical play 

that provides intensive MRE to a total of 100,000 at-risk people 

in northern Jordan.

Jordan

Performance of “We Love Life” in Al Baej, Al-Mafraq governorate, Jordan.

LLCR

Local boys paint murals in Al Baej, Al-Mafraq governorate, Jordan.

LLCR

MRE-themed murals on walls of the Jaber Center for Social Development in Al Baej.

LLCR

40 | TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Iraq Mine & UXO 

Clearance Organization

The Iraq Mine & UXO Clearance Organization (IMCO), 

based in the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq, was established 

in September 2003 with funding and assistance from the 

the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department 

of State. IMCO is entirely staffed with native Iraqis and is 

the first indigenous nongovernmental (NGO) humanitariandemining organization. Its staff is comprised of people from 

all ethnic, religious, and sectarian groups, and it works with 

local leaders and communities to educate and eliminate the 

landmine/unexploded ordnance (UXO) problem. 

IMCO was funded as a subcontractor to RONCO 

Consulting Corporation under a grant from PM/WRA until 

August 2008. Through 2009, RONCO will continue to 

provide technical assistance to the relatively young NGO. 

IMCO continues with a full schedule of weapons-destruction 

projects along with development/reconstruction projects 

like the reparation of the al-Rumaila oilfields and the 

al-Zubair area. IMCO’s Small Arms/Light Weapons 

(SA/LW) Destruction Team destroyed its 10,000th weapon 

in November 2008. The SA/LW team, established in 

September 2008, works to ensure that weapons no longer 

needed are destroyed. Destruction techniques include 

using a mechanical shear machine, plasma cutting, and 

rotary metal cutting.

In FY2008, PM/WRA granted $117,865 to IMCO to 

destroy stockpiles of small arms and light weapons, which 

are predominately stored in Baghdad. It is also working on 

three humanitarian projects in the governorates of al-Kut, alMuthanna, and Babylon while continuing demining activities 

around the country.

Point of Contact: 

Zahim J. Mutar, Director

Iraq Mine & UXO Clearance Organization

Baghdad

Iraq

Telephone: +964 7901 919 836 

E-mail: zahimmutar@yahoo.com or info@imcoiraq.org 

Web site: http://imcoiraq.org/
To Walk The Earth In Safety | 41

Much of Lebanon has been 

contaminated with landmines and 

explosive remnants of war (ERW) 

since the beginning of its civil war 

in 1975 through the 2006 Israeli–

Hezbollah conflict. South Lebanon is the most ERW-affected 

region in the country due to the 2006 conflict. In 2003, a 

Landmine Impact Survey estimated that 22 of 24 districts in 

Lebanon were affected by unexploded ordnance and landmines, 

spanning 150 square kilometers. A National Level II Technical 

Survey was scheduled to resume in 2008, with the goal of 

acquiring the most up-to-date picture of the landmine and 

ERW threat in Lebanon, and to provide essential data needed 

to remove the threat, but the survey was delayed due to poor 

weather conditions. 

In FY2008, the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office 

of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. 

Department of State granted $3,137,262 to Mines Advisory 

Group (MAG) to improve the livelihoods and physical security 

of 10 communities in South Lebanon affected by ERW. This 

was achieved through the continued deployment of nine fully 

equipped and accredited battle-area clearance (BAC) teams for 

the first seven months, with 11 teams working on 30 BAC tasks 

for the final three months.

DynCorp International was awarded $1,615,106 to continue 

to develop the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) to 

integrate all aspects of humanitarian mine action effectively, 

complete a Level II Technical Survey of all suspected minefields, 

mark all minefields found by the Level II Survey, and establish a 

quality assurance/quality control cell and a conventional weapons 

destruction team within the LMAC.

In addition, PM/WRA granted $59,049 to the Marshall 

Legacy Institute (MLI) to provide six trained mine-detection dogs 

by spring 2009 to replace retiring mine-detection dogs working 

for the LMAC. MLI was granted an additional $52,762 for 

its Children Against Mines Program (CHAMPS) in Lebanon. 

The primary goal of the CHAMPS grant is to connect students 

in America with like-minded students in Lebanon to promote 

awareness of the landmine/UXO issue and to generate funding.

In FY2008, the U.S. Agency for International Development 

(USAID) granted $299,556 to Mercy Corps, in partnership with 

the Youth Association for the Blind in Lebanon and the Lebanese 

Physically Handicapped Union, to increase inclusion of persons 

with disabilities, including landmine survivors, in Lebanon’s 

social and economic development. Also in FY2008, USAID 

continued its support of Lebanon with an ongoing grant of 

$1,500,000 to the World Rehabilitation Fund.

Inhabitants of the former border areas 

between North and South Yemen

still face some degree of danger from 

landmines and explosive remnants 

of war (ERW) stemming from 

several conflicts between 1962 and 1994. Landmines and ERW 

also hinder access to land for agriculture, which is the primary 

source of income for more than 50 percent of the population. A

Landmine Impact Study, completed in 2000 and funded in part 

by the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons 

Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department 

of State, reported 592 villages in 19 of the 20 governorates in 

Yemen affected by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). The 

Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre (YEMAC) plans to achieve 

its vision to become self-sufficient and make Yemen free from the 

humanitarian impact of mines and UXO by 2010. 

In FY2008, PM/WRA provided $500,000 to YEMAC 

to purchase numerous pieces of demining equipment and 

vehicles to replace old or worn-out equipment for Yemen’s 

mine-action program. 

In FY2008, the Department of Defense’s Humanitarian 

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

in cooperation with YEMAC, continued an operational field 

evaluation of the Improved Backhoe, a value of $157,000. The 

Improved Backhoe is a modified commercial backhoe with the 

capability of reducing vegetation and sifting through the soil of 

areas suspected of mine contamination. 

Lebanon Yemen

T h e M idd l e E a st

Yemeni girl in the southern city of Aden selling homemade bracelets. 

Most of U.S. government demining efforts are concentrated in the 

Aden area.

Stephanie Pico, PM/WRA
42 | TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

R e a c h i n g E n d stat e s i n t h e U . S . Hum a n ita r i a n M i n e a cti o n P r o g r a m

Reaching End States in the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program

The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program has provided a wide array of mineaction assistance—mine clearance; mine-risk education; mine survivors assistance; 

training of national program managers and deminers; training of medical personnel 

to render aid to injured deminers; personal protective equipment; robust 4x4 

vehicles, specialized tractors and mine-resistant demining machines; mine-detecting 

dogs; metal detectors; ambulances for injured deminers and others harmed in a 

mine incident; aerial medevac capability; and much more—to a greater number 

of mine-affected countries around the world than those profiled in this edition of 

To Walk The Earth In Safety.

The United States has provided humanitarian mine-action assistance to nearly 

50 countries since the inter-agency program’s formal inception in 1993. When 

a country reaches the U.S. government’s (USG) “end state,” it has sufficient 

indigenous mine-action capacity to handle any remaining landmine issues that 

arise or it has been rendered free from the humanitarian impact of landmines and 

unexploded ordnance (“mine-impact free”). It is accepted that limited external 

funds and occasional technical assistance may still be required. The chart below 

shows the countries that have met the USG’s end state.

Albania (FY07)

Armenia (FY03)

Azerbaijan (FY08)

Djibouti (FY03)

Ecuador (FY05)

Eritrea (FY07)* 

Estonia (FY03)

Guatemala (FY01)

Guinea-Bissau (FY03)

Honduras (FY04)

Jordan (FY04)

Macedonia (FY03)

Montenegro (FY07)

Namibia (FY03)

Oman (FY02)

Rwanda (FY03)

Swaziland (FY00)

Thailand (FY02)

Yemen (FY05)

Zambia (FY03)

Conven t ion a l We a pons Destruc t ion End stat e Coun tries

* Suspended
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 43

U . S . Hum a n ita r i a n M i n e Acti o n P r o g r a m Fu n di n g Hist o r y

Afghanistan DOS NADR 1,000 2,200 2,615 3,000 2,800 4,000 5,300 12,519 13,700 14,317 13,500 17,119 20,000 112,070

DoD OHDACA 1,800 1,800

 USAID Leahy 1,000 1,000 700 397 350 3,447

DOS ERF 3,000 3,000 6,000

DOS FMF 2,000 1,000 500 3,500

DOS IO 1,000 1,000 2,000

DOS PRM 4,000 1,000 2,000 1,500 8,500

DoD ARCENT 2,464 2,464

 USAID 5,200 13,925 28,875 48,000

 CDC 600 700 400 50 50 1,800

Country Total 	 12,200	 2,000	 3,000	 2,200	 2,615	 3,000	 2,800	 12,864	 25,925	 42,794	 14,400	 14,714	 13,900	 17,169	 20,000	 189,581

Albania DOS NADR 18 18

DoD OHDACA 438 438

DOS NADR-ITF 684 326 1,417 1,750 1,000 1,000 480 1,933 8,590

 USAID Leahy 340 340

 USAID SEED 1,049 1,049

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 1,049	 684	 326	 1,417	 2,090	 1,000	 1,000	 480	 1,951	 438	 10,435

Angola DOS NADR 1,000 2,400 3,096 2,844 2,800 3,500 5,300 6,172 5,673 4,500 5,880 5,800 48,965

DoD OHDACA 3,900 100 14 200 4,214

 USAID Leahy 2,500 768 732 1,000 900 800 651 1,000 8,351

DOS FMF 1,170 2,000 3,170

 CDC 75 75 150

Country Total 	 5,070	 4,500	 1,868	 3,132	 	 3,096	 3,844	 3,700	 3,500	 6,100	 6,823	 6,673	 4,589	 5,955	 6,000	 64,850

Argentina DoD OHDACA 550 29 579

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 550	 	 	 	 29	 	 	 	 579

Armenia DOS NADR 300 850 1,200 250 2,600

DoD OHDACA 1,110 1,441 67 200 316 3,134

 USAID Leahy 1,148 1,148

DOS FSA 1,800 1,200 3,000

Country Total 	 1,148	 	 	 	 	 1,410	 850	 4,441	 250	 1,267	 	 	 	 200	 316	 9,882

Azerbaijan DOS NADR 500 1,100 1,380 1,600 2,468 3,500 3,064 2,300 1,280 17,192

DoD OHDACA 140 1,110 1,690 1,600 304 483 425 723 200 285 6,960

DOS FSA 1,100 1,100

Country Total 	 	 	 	 140	 1,610	 1,100	 4,170	 3,200	 2,772	 3,983	 3,489	 3,023	 1,480	 285	 25,252

Benin DoD OHDACA 14 14

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 14	 	 	 14

Bosnia DOS NADR 300 2,305 2,605

DOS NADR-ITF 6,175 5,500 5,161 5,150 2,960 3,000 3,373 3,300 3,000 4,650 42,269

DoD OHDACA 1,238 375 2,100 188 3,901

DOS PKO 1,000 1,000

DoD HAP/EP 550 550

 USAID SEED 8,500 5,000 7,000 20,500

 CDC 300 500 500 500 500 500 205 205 3,210

Country Total 	 11,288	 5,375	 9,400	 8,480	 5,500	 5,461	 5,650	 3,460	 3,500	 3,873	 3,800	 3,205	 4,855	 188	 74,035

Burundi DOS NADR 100 300 400

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 100	 	 300	 400

Cambodia DOS NADR 1,000 2,000 1,500 2,580 2,468 2,290 2,765 3,466 3,920 4,900 3,937 4,067 4,000 38,893

DoD OHDACA 1,985 420 1,584 90 207 319 158 86 180 94 7 5,130

 USAID Leahy 777 750 1,300 390 1,904 1,600 1,187 865 2,825 950 12,548

DOS FMF 2,050 1,000 3,050

DOS PKO 250 250

DOS PRM 1,643 1,643

 CDC 50 50 100

Country Total 	 6,455	 1,670	 2,584	 2,750	 2,800	 3,060	 4,579	 4,209	 4,110	 4,417	 6,925	 5,944	 3,994	 4,117	 4,000	 61,614

Central Africa DoD OHDACA 300 300

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 300	 300

 COUNTRY SOURCES 1993-95 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 est Total

Fiscal Years 1993–2009

(Dollars in Thousands)

Republic
44 | TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Chad DOS NADR 400 732 622 300 350 500 950 1,000 1,780 200 6,834

DoD OHDACA 1,500 1,000 17 161 244 169 596 100 3,787

Country Total 	 	 	 1,900	 1,732	 639	 300	 350	 661	 1,194	 1,169	 2,376	 200	 	 100	 10,621

Chile DoD OHDACA 735 973 1,708

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 735	 973	 	 	 	 1,708

Croatia DOS NADR 600 600

DoD OHDACA 242 242

DOS NADR-ITF 2,975 2,658 4,570 1,779 1,500 2,300 2,300 2,009 2,101 22,192

Country Total 	 	 	 	 600	 2,975	 2,658	 4,570	 1,779	 1,500	 2,300	 2,300	 2,009	 2,101	 242	 23,034

Colombia DOS NADR 300 691 770 400 2,161

DoD OHDACA 940 400 1,340

 USAID Leahy 500 2,000 2,500

 CDC 50 50 50 200 50 50 450

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 50	 50	 50	 	 500	 500	 3,681	 820	 800	 6,451

Djibouti DOS NADR 746 400 404 350 1,900

DoD OHDACA 227 723 150 67 1,167

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 973	 1,123	 404	 500	 67	 	 	 	 	 	 3,067

Democratic USAID Leahy 800 500 1,300

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 800	 	 	 	 500	 	 	 	 1,300

Ecuador DOS NADR 1,000 1,000 963 360 3,323

DoD OHDACA 412 700 650 507 313 2,582

Country Total 	 	 	 	 1,000	 1,412	 1,663	 1,010	 	 	 507	 313	 	 	 	 5,905

Egypt DoD OHDACA 10 708 718

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 10	 708	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 718

El Salvador USAID Leahy 1,000 500 1,500

 CDC 150 300 300 450 450 400 400 195 195 2,840

Country Total 	 1,000	 500	 	 	 	 150	 300	 300	 450	 450	 400	 400	 195	 195	 	 4,340

Eritrea DOS NADR 500 919 500 1,050 1,602 2,400 1,452 2,800 400 11,623

DoD OHDACA 3,190 537 218 525 10 5 4,485

DOS FMF 660 613 1,273

DOS PKO 287 287

 CDC 150 150 150 450

Country Total 	 3,850	 1,437	 718	 1,444	 10	 650	 1,205	 1,752	 2,400	 1,452	 2,800	 400	 	 	 	 18,118

Estonia DOS NADR 335 300 200 235 157 247 1,474

DoD OHDACA 698 853 55 100 1,706

Country Total 	 	 	 	 335	 998	 853	 200	 235	 	 	 55	 157	 347	 	 3,180

Ethiopia DOS NADR 500 1,220 250 1,275 300 3,545

DoD OHDACA 2,532 537 290 610 10 5 3,984

 USAID Leahy 730 500 25 1,255

DOS FMF 600 400 1,000

DOS PKO 500 500

 CDC 200 350 350 400 400 400 400 173 173 2,846

Country Total 	 3,862	 1,437	 790	 1,830	 10	 450	 355	 2,125	 700	 400	 400	 425	 173	 173	 	 13,130

Georgia DOS NADR 39 27 1,000 1,100 1,050 1,500 3,000 2,123 1,750 5,515 2,644 19,748

DoD OHDACA 1,110 4 212 1,326

Country Total 	 	 	 39	 	 1,137	 1,000	 1,100	 1,050	 1,504	 3,000	 2,123	 1,750	 5,515	 2,856	 21,074

Guinea-Bissau DOS NADR 99 489 225 400 577 1,790

DoD OHDACA 162 1,212 70 400 1,844

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 99	 489	 	 225	 	 	 562	 1,789	 70	 400	 3,634

Iraq DOS NADR 2,950 2,840 12,000 15,973 20,500 54,263

DOS IRRF 12,268 61,000 9,000 13,200 95,468

 CDC 350 50 50 450

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 15,568	 61,000	 11,840	 13,200	 12,050	 16,023	 20,500	 150,181

U . S . Hum a n ita r i a n M i n e Acti o n P r o g r a m Fu n di n g Hist o r y

(Dollars in Thousands)

Fiscal Years 1993–2009

 COUNTRY SOURCES 1993-95 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 est Total

Republic of 

the Congo
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 45

Jordan DOS NADR 400 500 1,900 1,511 947 850 893 950 464 8,415

DoD OHDACA 859 1,555 4 2,418

DOS FMF 300 300

 CDC 200 300 300 400 400 400 400 284 284 2,968

Country Total 	 300	 400	 500	 2,759	 3,266	 1,251	 1,150	 1,293	 1,350	 400	 400	 284	 748	 	 14,101

Kenya USAID Leahy 400 400

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 400	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 400

Kosovo DOS NADR 500 500

DOS NADR-ITF 899 1,945 1,681 110 205 150 4,990

DoD OHDACA 500 3,800 192 4,492

 USAID 2,307 1,816 2,378 2,537 1,062 1,108 11,207

 USAID SEED 1,636 4,628 6,264

Country Total 	 2,307	 1,816	 2,378	 5,173	 10,388	 3,053	 1,681	 	 	 	 110	 205	 150	 192	 27,453

Laos DOS NADR 1,000 1,700 1,800 1,486 993 1,328 1,200 1,412 2,500 3,300 2,550 3,050 1,900 24,219

DoD OHDACA 59 1,800 3,737 864 396 5 6,861

 USAID Leahy 750 800 1,000 1,800 500 500 500 1,500 350 7,700

DOS FMF 500 500

DOS PKO 250 250

Country Total 	 809	 2,550	 5,537	 3,564	 3,996	 1,486	 993	 1,828	 1,700	 1,912	 2,500	 4,800	 2,905	 3,050	 1,900	 39,530

Latvia DoD OHDACA 113 113

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 113	 113

Lebanon DOS NADR 291 530 1,282 1,000 1,200 1,475 900 2,300 1,420 1,500 3,559 500 15,957

DoD OHDACA 15 489 1,155 1,470 5,007 8,136

 USAID Leahy 300 500 600 600 700 700 1,400 1,500 6,300

DOS IO 2,000 2,000

 USAID 1,200 1,200

Country Total 	 	 	 591	 1,030	 1,297	 1,600	 1,200	 2,564	 2,755	 4,470	 9,627	 2,900	 5,059	 500	 33,593

Liberia USAID Leahy 1,115 225 500 1,000 416 173 500 500 4,429

 CDC 75 75 150

Country Total 	 1,115	 225	 	 500	 1,000	 	 	 	 416	 173	 500	 	 75	 575	 	 4,579

Macedonia DOS NADR-ITF 1,000 505 97 50 50 50 1,752

DoD OHDACA 212 212

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 1,000	 505	 97	 	 	 50	 50	 50	 212	 1,964

Mauritania DOS NADR 534 461 400 1,395

DoD OHDACA 450 1,123 1,123 661 595 458 4,410

Country Total 	 	 	 	 984	 1,584	 1,523	 661	 595	 	 	 	 458	 	 	 5,805

Moldova DoD OHDACA 71 71

Country Total 	 	 	 	 71	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 71

Montenegro DOS NADR-ITF 20 20

DoD OHDACA 88 88

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 20	 88	 108

Mozambique DOS NADR 200 1,000 1,900 3,840 2,180 2,110 2,632 1,492 2,336 2,344 440 20,474

DoD OHDACA 6,165 100 2,484 1,600 1,100 300 11,749

 USAID Leahy 2,900 633 1,000 4,533

DOS FMF 400 200 600

DOS PRM 1,000 1,000

 CDC 200 300 300 400 50 400 400 25 25 2,100

Country Total 	 10,465	 300	 3,317	 3,600	 3,000	 4,040	 2,480	 2,410	 3,032	 1,542	 2,736	 2,744	 465	 25	 300	 40,456

Namibia DOS NADR 400 708 1,053 485 40 65 600 3,351

DoD OHDACA 1,165 100 1,485 1,650 100 4,500

DOS FMF 270 400 670

Country Total 	 1,435	 500	 1,885	 2,358	 1,053	 485	 40	 65	 600	 	 	 	 	 	 100	 8,521

Nigeria DOS NADR 1,449 1,449

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 1,449	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 1,449

Fiscal Years 1993–2009

(Dollars in Thousands)

U . S . Hum a n ita r i a n M i n e Acti o n P r o g r a m Fu n di n g Hist o r y

 COUNTRY SOURCES 1993-95 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 est Total
46 | TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY

Oman DOS NADR 1,017 273 495 1,785

DoD OHDACA 4 179 870 1,500 2,553

Country Total 	 	 	 	 4	 1,196	 1,143	 495	 	 1,500	 	 	 	 	 	 4,338

Peru DOS NADR 1,000 1,000 861 225 200 3,286

DoD OHDACA 411 750 650 422 9,669 11,902

Country Total 	 	 	 	 1,000	 1,411	 1,611	 875	 422	 9,669	 	 	 	 200	 	 15,188

Philippines USAID Leahy 750 800 1,550

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 750	 	 	 	 800	 	 1,550

Rwanda DOS NADR 500 625 750 285 400 350 375 476 3,761

DoD OHDACA 4,580 100 1,610 1,500 7,790

DOS FMF 300 400 700

Country Total 	 4,880	 500	 2,110	 2,125	 750	 285	 400	 350	 375	 	 	 476	 	 	 	 12,251

Senegal DOS NADR 112 450 562

DoD OHDACA 252 252

 USAID Leahy 500 500

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 500	 112	 	 	 702	 	 	 1,314

Serbia & DOS NADR-ITF 833 1,021 1,000 1,000 3,854

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 833	 1,021	 1,000	 1,000	 	 	 	 3,854

Serbia DOS NADR-ITF 750 800 1,550

DoD OHDACA 242 242

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 750	 800	 242	 1,792

Slovakia DoD OHDACA 38 38

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 38	 38

Slovenia DoD OHDACA 38 38

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 38	 38

Sierra Leone USAID Leahy 61 32 1,000 500 1,593

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 61	 32	 1,000	 	 	 500	 	 	 	 	 1,593

Somalia DOS NADR 343 1,150 1,400 1,400 1,200 450 655 6,598

Country Total	 	 	 	 343	 1,150	 1,400	 1,400	 1,200	 450	 	 	 	 	 655	 	 6,598

Sri Lanka DOS NADR 2,400 1,775 2,700 1,108 400 1,479 9,862

DoD OHDACA 183 40 24 247

 USAID Leahy 100 200 200 200 300 400 400 400 400 900 350 500 4,350

DOS ESF 122 122

 CDC 50 50 25 25 25 175

Country Total 	 100	 200	 200	 383	 300	 400	 450	 612	 2,824	 2,700	 2,700	 1,458	 425	 2,004	 	 14,756

Sudan DOS NADR 896 2,858 2,500 2,420 2,625 3,643 3,400 18,342

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 896	 2,858	 2,500	 2,420	 2,625	 3,643	 3,400	 18,342

Swaziland DOS NADR 210 210

DoD OHDACA 828 8 836

Country Total 	 	 	 210	 828	 8	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 1,046

Tajikistan DoD OHDACA 7 7

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 7	 	 	 	 	 	 7

Tanzania USAID Leahy 300 300 600 500 1,700

Country Total 	 	 300	 	 	 	 300	 600	 	 	 500	 	 	 	 	 1,700

Thailand DOS NADR 1,050 1,220 1,270 650 4,190

DoD OHDACA 77 1,773 932 229 68 8 8 8 86 3,189

Country Total 	 	 	 77	 2,823	 2,152	 1,499	 718	 	 8	 8	 8	 86	 	 	 7,379

Tunisia DoD OHDACA 3 214 100 317

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 3	 214	 	 100	 317

Uganda USAID Leahy 1,000 1,000

Country Total 	 1,000	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 1,000

Ukraine DoD OHDACA 212 212

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 212	 212

Montenegro

(FY 93 - 06)

(Dollars in Thousands)

U . S . Hum a n ita r i a n M i n e Acti o n P r o g r a m Fu n di n g Hist o r y

Fiscal Years 1993–2009

 COUNTRY SOURCES 1993-95 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 est Total
TO WALK THE EARTH IN SAFETY | 47

Vietnam DOS NADR 139 1,096 1,000 1,650 1,500 2,427 2,714 2,850 3,300 2,575 2,575 1,320 23,146

DoD OHDACA 454 96 118 93 2 763

 USAID Leahy 4,730 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,300 1,000 500 3,264 1,500 22,794

 CDC 100 400 400 400 400 74 74 1,848

Country Total 	 4,730	 1,500	 1,500	 1,639	 2,596	 2,954	 3,246	 3,218	 4,220	 4,114	 3,750	 6,964	 2,651	 4,149	 1,320	 48,551

Western DOS NADR 500 1,400 2,242 1,903 1,350 1,695 1,511 2,611 1,776 1,740 1,700 1,130 350 19,908

DoD OHDACA 310 200 1,480 1,720 600 460 1,170 550 200 6,690

 USAID Leahy 500 100 478 1,000 2,078

DOS FMF 1,050 400 1,450

 USAID “MITCH” 2,000 2,000

Country Total 	 1,360	 600	 1,980	 3,120	 3,342	 4,363	 2,520	 2,345	 2,189	 3,611	 1,776	 1,740	 1,700	 1,130	 350	 32,126

Yemen DOS NADR 270 1,462 1,236 1,023 750 750 773 750 700 375 500 400 8,989

DoD OHDACA 78 3,622 216 710 5 54 4 4,689

Country Total 	 	 78	 3,892	 1,678	 1,946	 1,028	 750	 750	 827	 754	 700	 375	 500	 400	 13,678

Zambia DOS NADR 12 772 816 450 2,050

DoD OHDACA 424 424

Country Total 	 	 	 	 	 12	 772	 1,240	 450	 	 	 	 	 	 	 2,474

Zimbabwe DOS NADR 680 743 1,140 523 3,086

DoD OHDACA 1,500 1,000 765 3,265

Country Total 	 	 	 2,180	 1,743	 1,905	 523	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 6,351

Global or DOS NADR 865 7,524 7,202 10,061 7,678 7,841 4,735 3,690 5,446 3,156 5,710 16,130 80,038

DOS NADR-ITF 768 1,236 1,768 2,914 2,670 2,247 2,140 2,153 3,177 12,500 31,573

DoD OHDACA 1,200 1,200 6,172 6,108 1,377 7,424 3,441 7,839 2 841 1,720 197 1,441 570 4,648 44,180

 USAID Leahy 985 115 925 1,200 3,100 7,649 4,264 700 6,519 3,902 7,524 3,614 5,900 9,050 55,447

 CDC 2,500 2,400 1,250 1,500 1,625 1,200 2,569 2,569 15,613

Total 2,185	 1,315	 7,097	 8,173	 12,001	 23,043	 21,502	 20,385	 18,526	 13,648	 16,806	 12,597	 15,219	 21,076	 33,278	 226,851

Sub-Total (Bilateral and Global) 61,664 33,129 40,555 58,328 65,002 91,899 78,387 93,709 108,212 179,064 101,555 104,873 83,398 105,605 99,508 1,304,888

By Account 

DOS NADR* 7,000 18,210 34,320 39,499 39,407 39,322 45,325 47,987 58,334 55,211 55,483 73,834 77,644 591,576

DOS NADR-ITF 6,175 10,141 12,684 14,000 10,000 9,941 9,920 9,900 8,647 12,881 12,500 116,789

DOD OHDACA 25,086 6,232 19,613 23,559 10,334 22,620 10,889 16,800 3,894 14,006 5,276 7,862 5,368 1,140 9,364 182,043

 USAID Leahy 15,235 5,040 5,126 7,182 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 11,900 11,930 14,900 11,600 10,000 13,850 146,763

All Other DOS 16,143 10,500 2,000 6,022 18,268 62,200 9,000 15,200 139,333

All Other DoD 550 2,464 3,014

DoD RDT & E** 10,000 3,000 14,746 16,663 17,234 18,847 12,728 13,220 12,893 12,812 13,154 1,379 1,379 1,379 149,434

All Other USAID 5,200 10,807 6,816 9,378 4,173 8,739 1,108 13,925 28,875 1,200 90,220

 CDC 900 4,300 5,100 4,900 4,125 4,125 3,900 3,900 3,900 35,150

Sub-Total (No RDT & E) 	 61,664	 33,129	 40,555	 58,328	 65,002	 91,899	 78,387	 93,709	 108,212	 179,064	 101,555	 104,873	 83,398	 105,605	 99,508	 1,304,888

Grand Total (all accounts) 71,664 36,129 55,301 74,991 82,236 110,746 91,115 106,929 121,105 191,876 114,709 106,252 84,777 106,984 99,508 1,454,322

(Dollars in Thousands)

* Does not include NADR Admin Funds.

** DoD RD &E is not reflected in specific bilateral or global numbers above. 

Multilateral

U . S . Hum a n ita r i a n M i n e Acti o n P r o g r a m Fu n di n g Hist o r y

Legend ofAcronyms

CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

DoD ARCENT: U.S. Army Forces, U.S. Central Command

DoD IRRF: Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund

DoD OHDACA: Overseas Humanitarian Disaster Assistance and Civic Aid

DoS ESF: Economic Support Fund

DOS FMF: Foreign Military Financing

DOS FSA: FREEDOM Support Act

DOSIO: Bureau of International Organization Affairs

DOS NADR: Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs

DOS PKO: Peacekeeping Operations

DOS PRM: Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration

ITF: International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance 

RDT&E: Research and Development Training and Equipment 

SEED: Assistance for Eastern Europe and the Baltic States 

USAID/LWVF: USAID Leahy War Victims Fund

USAID “MITCH”: USAID’s Hurricane Mitch Reconstruction Program

FY 93 - FY 09

Hemisphere 

(OAS, Costa 

Rica, Guatemala, 

Honduras, & 

Nicaragua)*

Fiscal Years 1993–2009

 COUNTRY SOURCES 1993-95 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 est Total
Anthony Morin, PM/WRA

A piece of unexploded ordnance (UXO) is marked 

and awaiting destruction just outside Yei, South 

Sudan. UXO in South Sudan hampers the safe 

return and resettlement of refugees and internally 

displaced persons. The Bureau of PoliticalMilitary Affairs’ Office of Weapons Removal 

and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State 

provided grants in 2008 for DanChurchAid, Mines 

Advisory Group, and Norwegian People’s Aid to 

clear the explosive ordnance.

Anthony Morin, PM/WRA
Adopt-A-Minefield Association of Volunteers in International Service AustCare C. King 

Associates Ltd. Center for International Rehabilitation Center for Teaching International 

Relations Children of Armenia Fund Children’s Surgical Centre CIREC Clear Path 

International Coalition Against Landmines Cranfield University DanChurchAid Danish 

Demining Group DC Comics Demining Agency for Afghanistan Freedom Fields USA 

 Global Care Unlimited Golden West Humanitarian Foundation Grapes for Humanity The HALO Trust Handicap 

International–France Health Volunteers Overseas Help Handicapped International The Humpty Dumpty Institute 

Information Management and Mine Action Programs Inc. International Eurasia Press Fund Iraqi Mine & UXO Clearance 

Organization The Julia Burke Foundation Kids First Vietnam Landmines Blow! Lipscomb University MAG (Mines 

Advisory Group) Marshall Legacy Institute MCPA–Afghanistan MDC–Afghanistan Medical Care Development 

International Messiah College Landmine Action Project Mine Action Information Center One Sri Lanka Foundation 

Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghanistan Rehabilitation PeaceTrees Vietnam People to People International 

The Polus Center for Social & Economic Development Positive Play Prestige Health Care Technologies Prosthetics 

Outreach Foundation Roots of Peace Dr. Ken Rutherford/Missouri State University Save the Children Schonstedt 

Instrument Company South Florida Landmine Awareness Group Spirit of Soccer Students Partnership Worldwide 

 Survey Action Center Survivor Corps Swiss Foundation for Mine Action United for Colombia United Nations 

Foundation Veterans for America Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund World Education World Rehabilitation Fund 

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement Points of Contact

James F. Lawrence

Acting Director

LawrenceJF@state.gov

Colonel Yori R. Escalante, USMC

Deputy Director, Programs

EscalanteYR@state.gov

Steve R. Costner

Deputy Director, Policy

CostnerSR@state.gov

Tim R. Groen

Resource Management

GroenTR@state.gov

Stacy Bernard Davis

Public Affairs and Public Engagement 

DavisSB@state.gov
B u r e a u o f P o l i t i c a l - M i l i t a r y A f f a i r s U . s . De p a r t m e n t o f S t a t e

Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA)

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

U.S. Department of State

SA-3, Suite 6100

2121 Virginia Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20522

United States of America

telephone: +1 202 663 0100 | facsimile: +1 202 663 0090

www.state.gov/t/pm/wra

To Walk The Earth In Safety

The United States’ Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action and Conventional Weapons Destruction