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Recently, APOPO attended a GICHD wokshop in Harare, Zimbabwe. The Programme Manager of APOPO's Mine Action Programme in Mozambique, Ashley Fitzpatrick, attended the workshop and said "The workshop in general, and working group sessions in particular, proved productive and insightful, and as a newcomer to Mine Action in Zimbabwe, APOPO was pleased for the invitation to participate."

#gichd #demining #landmine detection #workshop #landmines #landmine awareness

This call for Expression of Interest in participating in Mine Action Technology Workshop will identify and select services and products that are currently in use or development. It is intended only for those participants (presenters and equipment exhibitors) who wish to present an existing or a developing product or service during the workshop. A separate invitation will be sent to participants who would like register to attend the Technology Workshop.

The Mine Action Technology Workshop gathers together mine action professionals, including national authorities, UN, international organisations, operators, manufacturers and other experts to discuss and share ideas and experiences that promote efficient use of innovation and technology in mine action.

The Eighth Mine Action Technology Workshop will take place in Switzerland in the fourth quarter of 2021, provisionally during the first week of November. The exact dates and location will be determined and communicated subsequently. If the epidemiological situation does not permit conducting a face to face event, consideration will be given to holding the workshop in an online format based on bilateral communication with potential participants.

The study ''The Sustainable Development Outcomes of Mine Action in Jordan'' maps the impact of land release, victim assistance, explosive ordnance risk education, gender mainstreaming, as well as partnerships and cooperation on sustainable development. It shows that mine action has clearly contributed to the five dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Jordan: partnership, peace, people, planet and prosperity.

Register for the April 1 webinar ...

By Marc Bonnet, Helen Gray and Giulia Matassa [ Issue 24.1 ]

Overview of reported SHAs from NTS tasks from 2011 to 2018. Figure courtesy of Descontamina and GICHD. _____________________________________

In January of 2014, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) conducted its first non-technical survey (NTS) training course in Colombia with the objective of enabling participants to plan and conduct NTS. At the time, however, Colombia had the second highest number of landmine accidents in the world, with non-state armed groups (NSAGs) producing explosive ordnance (EO) “mostly in the form of victim-activated improvised explosive devices.” Descontamina, the National Mine Action Authority (NMAA), planned for fulfilling its Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) commitments, and national dialogue was initiated on a Plan de Choque, “a plan of action” (i.e., 2014–2016 Humanitarian Demining Action Plan) that would highlight the role of NTS in assessing the contamination of high-priority areas, which at the time were determined through analysis conducted by the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA).

In its 2014–2016 Humanitarian Demining Action Plan, the Colombian government presented NTS as the initial step in Colombia’s humanitarian demining efforts. Descontamina, also backed by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) Colombia, argued that NTS as an initial “intervention” would not only inform technical survey (TS) and clearance but also bring clarity in determining the extent of the country’s mine contamination. The 2014–2016 Humanitarian Demining Action Plan also called for national ownership through increased national investment of humanitarian demining activities, as well as cooperation as part of a collective project to strengthen national capacities.

In line with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) Land Release 07.11, Colombia’s National Mine Action Standards (NMAS) had recently been updated. Moreover, a growing number of civilian organizations had been accredited and were beginning operations, while an increased number of requests for additional international support were being issued. With the increased need and demand for high quality land release, it became apparent that NTS required investment through training.

By Sandra Bialystok, Ph.D. [ Issue 23.3 ]

In January 2018, filmmakers from the studio NowHere Media traveled to Fallujah, Iraq, with the objective of creating a virtual reality (VR) experience to explain how improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are impacting people’s safe return home. In just a few days, they met dozens of people, all of whom had stories to tell. And then they met Ahmaied—an Iraqi father who had returned home with his family about a year earlier. Ahmaied told them about the tragic accident that had happened just a few months prior when his two older sons entered a neighbor’s home to collect wood and set off an IED. Both young men lost their lives in the explosion.

Working with a translator from the region and a local crew, and with Ahmaied’s permission, NowHere Media and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) created the immersive VR experience Home After War to tell his story. Using a technique called photogrammetry, NowHere scanned Ahmaied’s home by taking thousands of still pictures that were then reproduced to create a room-scale version of his home in the VR environment. This means that when the viewer puts on a VR headset, the impression is that one is actually in Ahmaied’s home in Fallujah: one step taken in real life translates into one step taken in Ahmaied’s home. More dramatically, in what resembles a hologram effect, Ahmaied appears within his virtual home and tells his story. He invites the viewer inside, and as users walk through the space, peeking around corners and even standing on his roof, they hear about what happened to Ahmaied’s family.

This experience came out of the Oculus VR for Good Creators Lab. The Oculus VR for Good initiative pairs not-for-profit organizations with VR filmmakers, providing them with the resources they need to make experiences that shed light on pressing social issues that are presented to a large, global audience. The GICHD was selected to participate in the program in 2017, and the GICHD, NowHere Media, and Oculus used the opportunity to focus on the growing challenges that IEDs pose to re-development and civilian safety in Iraq.

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