Mine Action Support to the Humanitarian Response in Northern Ethiopia (Afar, Amhara, and Tigray Regions) UNMAS Ethiopia EHF is a project implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Service (UNOPS) in accordance with the Financial Regulations and Rules of UNOPS, under overall oversight and strategic direction of UNMAS. This project spans for six months and focuses on an explosive ordnance threat assessment aiming to analyse the pattern of conflict, the nature of weapons used and where ERW may be located, and the delivery of explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) messages to humanitarian personnel and populations at risk.

This project is in line with the EHF 2nd Reserve Allocation Strategy, and centres on two pillars of Humanitarian Mine Action: With mobilisation and threat assessment as the first steps towards land release, and Risk Education. Proposed interventions in support of these components are outlined below.

1) Mobilization and Threat Assessment 

An international UNMAS Surge Operations Officer based in Addis Ababa will be supported by three national technical experts, deployed to Addis Ababa and Tigray, and further supported by Chief Mine Action Program, Information Management Officer and  Programme Officer based in the capital, Addis Ababa. The team will conduct analysis and determine the pattern of conflict in Afar, Amhara and Tigray, the nature of weapons used and where ERW may be located. The team will triangulate this information with the operational plans of humanitarian partners, to generate a list of priority areas that must urgently undergo Non-Technical Survey to identify and detail present risks and to plan how to minimize their impact on the effective delivery of aid programmes. An Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) platform will be developed to enable both UNMAS/UNOPS and mine action partners from the Mine Action Area of Responsibility (MA AoR) to plan, monitor and visualize critical variables, get an overview of the ERW contamination, produce customized reports and perform geospatial analysis to inform future clearance activities. The IMSMA database will receive inputs from all mine action partners and be able to analyze and display various types of data ranging from reported locations of explosive hazards, number of Explosive Ordnance Risk Education beneficiaries to humanitarian response plans and movements of internally displaced persons. The national IMSMA officer will be trained in the setup and use of the system, enabling the mine action office in Ethiopia to sustainably produce IMSMA outputs, such as maps, graphic presentations and data for planning and monitoring, which will be shared by the UN community, humanitarian aid organizations and other interested parties.

2) Explosive Ordnance Risk Reduction

The UNMAS team will work with local partners operating in Afar, Amhara, and Tigray to deliver explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) to communities, using training materials that are gender-responsive and contextually relevant. EORE equips its beneficiaries with the knowledge and information to recognize and avoid ERW and to report their concerns to the mine action team, thus informing the team’s assessment. ERW affects women, men, girls and boys differently each group will receive targeted messaging, and the imagery used during the training will be inclusive. While risk education training and activities are ongoing, information will be continuously shared with aid agencies operating in the area through the inter-cluster coordination group, humanitarian country team and other fora. The UNMAS CMAP, IMSMA Officer and Surge Operations Officer based in Addis Ababa will oversee the implementation of EORE grants, support the delivery of training and other types of support to humanitarian partners to mitigate explosive risk, including taking part in humanitarian assessments.

To amplify EORE messaging, UNMAS will identify focal points within humanitarian organizations to train as trainers, so that EORE can be incorporated and replicated into their communications