Guidelines for Mine Action Programmes from a development-oriented point of view

Revised version integrating proposals made at the International NGO-Symposium from Bad Honnef 23rd, 24th June 1997

Comments and proposals for improvement of these guidelines are most welcome!

Please contact medico international, Obermainanlage 7, D-60314 Frankfurt, Tel +49 69 944380, Fax +49 69 436002, medico_international@t-online.de or Misereor, Mozartstr. 9, D-52064 Aachen, Tel +49 241 4420, Fax +49 241 442188

Preliminary Remarks

Landmines are murderous instruments of war. Long after the termination of armed hostilities, they still have a devastating impact upon human lives and the process of development. Like no other weapon, mines demonstrate the fact that the cruel legacy of war extends beyond the signing of a peace agreement. Legalistic notions of the divide between war and peace tend to ignore the lasting effects wars have for both the societies involved and the individual. The reality is that the legacy of war has become an integral part of social life. Violence, fear, psychological trauma, and distrust are not easily eliminated once the fighting is over.

Thus, the continuing threat posed by millions of mines well after officially announced cease-fires metaphorically captures the overall societal destruction wrought by war. Attempts at rehabilitation therefore require a comprehensive concept of reconstruction and development. Pragmatically providing some technical "input", like clearing a mine or fitting a prosthesis, is not enough. Reconstruction and development must instead be achieved socially, in a sustained struggle for that which the catastrophic reality of war destroyed, i.e. the social fabric, traditional social agreements, the specific communication between human beings and their social environment, which is to say, their regionally unique culture.

Presently practiced efforts at rehabilitation rarely do justice to this goal. The allocation of funds and the guidelines applied are still largely determined by political interests and the aim of producing presentable results as quickly as possible. Instead of emphasis being put on the sustained rehabilitation of war-ravaged societies, it is put heavily on "quick impact" programmes which are usually evaluated in quantitative ("output") terms: the number of kilometres of demined road, the size of the repatriated refugee population or the number of prostheses distributed to the war-disabled. As a consequence, it is of secondary interest only, whether the demined roads can in fact contribute to resuscitating agriculture, whether the repatriated people succeed in rebuilding viable structures, or whether the prostheses do indeed accomplish the goal of reintegrating the war-disabled.

The guidelines presented here for aid programmes addressing the threat by mines are based on the experience gathered by Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) at project level. Until recently "mine action" has meant mine awareness and surveying, marking, demining of mine infested areas. Subsequently this term will be expanded by including mine victim assistance and long term development. "Mine Action Programmes", as they are called here, consist of the following components:

mine awareness, surveying, marking, and demining;

first aid and physical rehabilitation for the injured;

socio-economic and psychological rehabilitation of individuals and families;

reconstruction and development of mine-affected communities;

empowerment and training of local workers to carry out the programmes.

Any program begins with the wishes and aspirations of the people immediately affected by the mines, and not the particular interests of the so-called donor nations. The present paper is therefore also concerned with a critique of the international efforts at formulating guidelines at government level. In this sense, the paper offers "critical guidelines", which deliberately go beyond the widespread, but misleading efforts to present a catalogue of globally relevant, immediately actionable procedures and structures for agencies operating in the field. Such efforts, inviting as they may seem, are bound to ignore the social and cultural specifics of different locations and are, therefore, likely to fail.

The purpose of our efforts is to provide mine action programmes with a framework for action along three central axis:

decisive participation of the people immediately concerned while simultaneously taking into account and integrating the various fields of action (integration/synergy/co-operation),

integration into comprehensive reconstruction and development programmes (coherence/sustainability), as well as

implementation of the humanitarian action in a spirit of solidarity, designed to promote autonomy rather than creating new dependencies (solidarity).

Necessary definitions:

I. Mine

NGOs have gone beyond the technical/design oriented discussion about the components or properties of a mine in adopting a definition based on the impact of this weapon. Accordingly, a mine is any device which possesses one or more of the following characteristics:

A device which may be exploded through contact by, or presence or proximity of, a person or persons, and which is capable of killing, injuring or incapacitating one or more persons,

any device or munition which, although its primary purpose or design may be other than specified in a) above, can be deployed in a manner to achieve such effect without modification or through a specific design feature,

any device, including an anti-tank mine, which is fitted with an anti-handling, anti-disturbance or similar mechanism which will cause that device to be exploded through contact by, or presence or proximity of, a person or persons and which is capable of killing, injuring or incapacitating one or more persons.

II. Mine Victims

In accordance with the WHO«s definition of health, all human beings impaired in their physical, psychological, or social integrity are to be regarded as victims. Among these are:

human beings immediately maimed by a mine (physical and psychological trauma);

family members and/or dependants of the mine-disabled or mine fatalities;

all human beings affected by the existence of mines, i.e., all those who, due to the threat of mines, could not or cannot pursue their normal activities.

This understanding of what constitutes a victim follows the WHO in viewing disability not as an impairment specific to individual human beings, but as an interaction between human beings and society that has been impaired and damaged by a specific event. Mines and wars damage this very interaction between individual human beings and the social reality surrounding them. Therefore, rehabilitation must take into account both aspects, the suffering of the individual with all its psycho-social and economic ramifications and the collective suffering impairing the way of life, reproduction, and very existence of the broader social group.

Accordingly, mine action programmes cannot limit themselves to addressing individuals. By means of organizational development and support for collective self-help, they must contribute towards overcoming the injustice suffered by the group or society as a whole.

Mine action programmes must be environmentally specific, i.e. they must be compatible, in form and content with the conditions in individual countries.

Dimension 1 Participation and Co-operation / Synergy
Dimension 2 Coherence / Sustainability
Dimension 3 Solidarity

N.B. the definitions outlined in the preamble:

When speaking of "mines" please consider the effect-oriented definition.

When speaking of "victims" this includes dependants and mine affected communities as a whole.

ad 1: Towards integrated mine action programmes based on community participation

Overall principles:

The needs and aspirations of people affected by mines are the starting point for mine action programmes.

Mine action programmes support the reconstruction and development of the community and aim at rebuilding the socio-economic and cultural infrastructure. Empowerment and training of the community to carry out all aspects of mine action programmes is the ultimate goal.

As much as any human being, mine affected people have a right to participate in political and economic decision making, to shape their own lives, and to have their dignity restored.

Accordingly, mine action programmes imply the following subset of features which must be seen as integral parts of comprehensive reconstruction and development programmes.

Awareness building, Surveying, Marking and Demining:

It is essential that the clearing of the mines and of other explosive debris (UXOs) is accompanied by information, education, and training. Population sectors should be made aware of the dangers and consequences of mines in ways that are specific to age, gender and social group.

Identifying mine infested areas and marking the area most urgently to be cleared must be done in close co-operation with the population.

Surveying and marking of mine infested areas, as well as the actual demining process including the destruction of mines and UXOs, must take place in close co-operation with all authorities and organizations involved, and with the affected population. The completeness of the information, and transparency of the action for all participants, depends on this close co-operation.

The knowledge and expertise of ex-combatants are drawn upon to identify, chart and clear mine infested areas.

First aid, physical rehabilitation:

Access to prompt medical attention and the availability of surgical care is imperative (Communication and transport problems need special attention!). Surgeons need to be specifically trained in order to competently treat victims of mine explosions professionally.

Victims must be guaranteed prostheses and wheelchairs or other aids. Quality standards as high as possible but also locally adapted should be reached.

Physiotherapeutic and other rehabilitative measures must be carried out

for victims of ear and eye injuries as well. Emphasis has to be put on the training of local therapists.

The disabled must receive medical support and receive follow-up care.

Socio-economic, cultural and psychological rehabilitation:

Personal suffering and distortions of the social fabric must be countered by

offering appropriate vocational training and/or other income generating possibilities for economic reintegration,

providing psycho-social care for the disabled and their kin (with the care tailored to the cultural traditions),

supporting cultural activities (such as sports, cinema, theatre, dance, etc.),

helping the affected people organize themselves.

The efforts at psycho-social rehabilitation are accompanied by basic and further training of local monitors (social workers, health workers, teachers, other community monitors).

Mine action programmes must address developmental needs of mine affected communities, e.g. access to water, rural credit schemes, village roads, provision of primary health care, education, etc. in order to sustain the livelihood of the affected people.

Mine victims and landless people must be given priority in the allocation of demined land.

Institution building and synergy:

Planning and implementation of mine action programmes should take place in close co-operation, mobilizing different organizational competencies. A meaningful division of labour and responsibility in different aspects of the project will contribute to an optimal fulfilment of an integrated and participatory approach. Non-local workers need to be sensitized in local culture and language in recognition of the demandingly holistic approach.

Local institutions implementing the individual aspects of the mine action programmes should be supported both in establishing themselves as well as in their work (capacity building).

The creation of local campaigns for the banning of landmines should be supported, for instance in helping to bring about an awareness of a collectively suffered injustice, or in averting the possible renewed use of mines.

Co-operation on location between local, national, and international institutions should be supported within the framework of mine action programmes (synergy).

ad 2: Mine action programmes are part of reconstruction and development programmes - coherence, sustainability

Mine action programmes are part of both efforts to secure peace and national reconstruction and development programmes in the countries concerned. Mine action programmes take into consideration the need for fully reintegrating refugees, displaced persons, and demobilized soldiers.

The complex situation of societal destruction after war requires a coherent and simultaneous approach for all of the following elements of mine action programmes:

first aid,

mine awareness, surveying, marking, and mine clearance

physical and psychological rehabilitation of mine victims,

political, social, and economic reintegration of mine victims.

The participation of diverse social groups in mine action programmes promotes national reconciliation and the sustainability of the measures.

Efforts on the part of the victims (and dependants) to establish a reparation fund, financial aid, pensions, etc., should be supported.

Mine action programmes require the creation of national data management systems including archives, mine related records, Geographical Information Systems, and nationwide databanks. Data should not only cover mines but also victims, internally displaced, demobilized soldiers. Comprehensive data collection and transparency with free access for all participants needs to be assured.

The role of NGOs in the implementation and monitoring:

The banning of landmines and similar weapons, the prohibition of use, research, production, stockpiling, sale, transfer or export of mines should be put on the political agenda in every country. Relevant work by local, regional and national campaigns towards an overall ban should be supported.

Formulating international and national standards for the main elements of mine action programmes, such as demining and victims' rehabilitation, should be demanded by NGOs.

National control mechanisms, with NGO participation, including relevant legislation should verify the compliance to these standards and sanction any violation.

NGOs should monitor the overall impact of mine action programmes put into practice, in order to ensure compliance with the holistic approach.

ad 3: Solidarity - standards for the allocation of funds

General demands:

The NGOs demand governments or warring parties, who developed, produced, exported and/or used landmines to accept that the eradication of mines and addressing the impact of mines is their responsibility.

Comprehensive, integrated, participatory mine action programmes should become the norm for the development policy in mine-affected societies. Plain demining cannot be the only goal of developmental or humanitarian considerations in the face of the all pervasive destruction wrought on these societies.

The NGOs welcome the steps taken so far by some countries on the path towards prohibiting mines. However, they regard the results achieved to date as insufficient and demand

an extension of the prohibition to include all mines covered by the effect-oriented definition;

to make data on research on mines and weapons similar to mines and on sale, transfer or export of mines transparent;

to verify the destruction of all mines;

to rededicate funds allocated to the research and development of new mine technologies instead to mine action programmes.

The allocation of additional funds could be done as well by

making use of the principle that the polluter pays: companies who have profited from the development, production and sale of mines, will pay into a reparation fund

governments of mine-affected countries, through creating a separate budget line to support mine action programmes.

Standards for the allocation of funds:

Means for mine action programmes should be allocated according to humanitarian considerations and according to the criteria of these guidelines.

The comprehensive, integrated approach of mine action programmes demands a long term planning perspective, which needs to be considered when providing funds.

The decision for the allocation of funds must be based on the needs and aspirations of mine victims. Therefore, vested interests of the donor or recipient countries should not play a decisive role. While NGOs accept appropriate research into new mine clearance technologies, they demand the present ratio of funding to be balanced in favour of mine action programmes.

For all mine clearance activities the humanitarian principles laid down in this document must form the basis: this counts for NGOs and commercial firms alike. If commissions are given to commercial enterprises, profits must not go into weapon production or into activities contradictory to these guidelines.

NGOs demand a say in the allocation of funds to mine action programmes. When changes to these guidelines are produced use has to be made of experts representing the diverse elements of integrated mine action programmes.

Comments and proposals for improvement of these guidelines are most welcome!
Please contact medico international, Obermainanlage 7, D-60314 Frankfurt, Tel +49 69 944380, Fax +49 69 436002, medico_international@t-online.de or Misereor, Mozartstr. 9, D-52064 Aachen, Tel +49 241 4420, Fax +49 241 442188