Chairman's Report

The Washington Conference on Global humanitarian Demining was convened by the U.S. Government to promote the objectives of the President's "Demining 2010 Initiative," which calls for eliminating the threat of landmines to civilians worldwide through a concerted international campaign. The Conference was designed to advance the consensus developed in previous international conferences, particularly those in Tokyo and Ottawa, that the task of eliminating the scourge of landmines is urgent, that it will require new levels of international cooperation and coordination than we have seen in the past, that the goal should be "zero victims," and that, with an effective international campaign, we can accomplish this goal in "years, not decades." Our purpose in Washington has been to translate this consensus into actions on the ground in the mine-affected countries.

I am pleased to report that the participants in the Washington Conference on Global Humanitarian Demining have made serious progress in identifying specific strategies for international cooperation to achieve these goals. Taken as a whole, the projects and proposals that were brought to the table in Washington build the foundation for concerted, coordinated action by the international community to accelerate humanitarian demining worldwide.

Karl F. Inderfurth

Special Representative for Global Humanitarian Demining

May 22, 1998

Our work in Washington owes a particular debt to the March 24-25 Ottawa Mine Action Workshop, hosted by the Government of Canada, where many of the proposals considered and endorsed in Washington were first developed. We expect those proposals from Washington that still need further refinement will be on the agenda of the international conferences to be hosted over the coming months by Germany, the European Union, Cambodia and Japan. Coordinated conferences are the first sign that international cooperation is taking root in practice.

The results of the Washington Conference divide into seven themes;

-- developing solid baseline data;

-- consolidating mechanisms for international coordination;

-- cooperating to develop priorities and match needs with resources;

-- coordinating technology Research and Development and application in mine-affected countries;

-- promoting victim assistance;

-- applying military expertise; and

-- encouraging public-private partnerships.

Baseline Data

The United States presented a draft of Hidden Killers 1998: The Global Landmine Crisis and the Global Response, compiling the most current data on anti-personnel landmines worldwide, the activities of donor countries, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and updating the status of mine action in twelve seriously mine-affected countries. Participants welcomed the report's main conclusions that the number of mines in the ground is probably significantly less than previously estimated and that, with a concerted international effort, the crisis can be brought under control in "years, not decades." They agreed that victim rates and acreage of contaminated land are a better measurement of the landmine crisis than the number of mines, and promised to provide further comments on the draft within three weeks.

The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) described its plans to conduct multi-sectoral assessments of an additional 10 mine-affected countries before the end of this year, in order to establish priorities for level 1 surveys. Participants urged that the UN assessments should not be conducted in countries already adequately assessed, such as the Latin American countries that have been covered by the OAS. They also recommended that the assessments should make maximum use of existing information and that their full completion should not be prerequisite for the near-term initiation of critical level 1 surveys.

The World Bank emphasized the need for surveys and assessments to look at the potential uses of mine polluted land (resettlement of refugees, agriculture, access to markets, etc.) so that decisions on mine clearance could be integrated at an early stage in a post-conflict country's overall reconstruction and development strategy.

The Survey Contact Group, formed at the Ottawa Workshop in March, presented a set of standards for preparing and certifying Level 1 surveys and announced that an NGO consortium and UN officials would meet in June to prepare recommendations for implementing the surveys, in order to provide specific proposals to donors in the framework of the donor Mine Action Support Group. A Geographic Information System (GIS) will be used to assemble, store, and analyze the data from the surveys, compatible with the Swiss data management system. The EC proposed establishment of a joint working group to assess existing satellite imagery for its application to the survey database.

During the conference, the World Bank offered to sponsor a meeting of experts in Brussels at the end of June. This meeting will be designed to refine the work of the Survey Contact Group meeting held in Brussels earlier this month, incorporating persons with a wide range of experience in development and survey issues outside the mine action community. The meeting will be a joint effort of the UN Mine Action Service, Handicap international, Landmine Survivors Network, Norwegian People's Aid, and the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. This is another excellent example of NGO, UN, and donor collaboration to further the common goal of producing high quality Level 1 General Surveys.

International Coordination

The United Nations has consolidated its plan for coordinating the landmine-related activities of various UN agencies, with the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) as the focal point. Since it was first announced at the Ottawa Mine Action Workshop in March, 1998, the UN coordination plan has been put into operation through the establishment of interagency committees at both the working and management levels.

Declaring, "It is now time for action," UN Under Secretary General Miyet outlined the elements for international coordination, centered in the UN:

1. Multi-disciplinary assessments and national level 1 surveys. UN assessment missions will be departing within the week for Ethiopia and Somalia, with the aim of completing 10 assessments before the end of the year. Among the 10 would be the Great Lakes countries, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. The Survey Contact Group has produced standards for level 1 surveys, which could now be implemented by a variety of entities according to common standards and procedures, The donor community has begun pledging resources for the assessment/survey program.

2. Coordination of technology. It is time to translate theoretical work into practice, develop common standards for the development and application of technology to humanitarian demining, where it has only has a marginal impact so far.

3. Efficient information management. The development of survey standards will facilitate an information management system that can inform donors and promote better coordination.

Generous contributions from Japan, Canada, and Norway have now assured UNMAS operations until the end of the year, but long-term financing will be required. The UNMAS structure will not represent an extension of UN bureaucracy.

Participants urged that UNMAS serve as a focal point for data and information to assist communication among donors. They agreed that coordination should now focus at the country level and begin delivering services and action to the people on the ground, stressing the importance of building indigenous capacity and ownership of mine action programs.

Among other things, UNMAS will undertake to expand its Portfolio of Mine Action needs compiled for UN agencies to include bilateral donor programs and NGO activity as a contribution to international coordination in the mine-affected countries.

The community of donor nations will coordinate through the Mine Action support Group in New York, which will expand its activities to provide an instrument for informal ad hoc donor coordination among representatives from capitals, as necessary. The United States proposed that the MASG should consider meeting at the Ministerial level during the UNGA to provide impetus to mine action at a senior decision making level.

Switzerland has progressed with plans for a UN-based data management system to provide the platform for or performing a variety of data functions for strategic decision making, for action in the field, for financial management, and for incorporating survey information in GIS.

Developing Priorities, Matching Needs and Resources

Conference participants explored a range of humanitarian, socio-economic, and political considerations that must be taken into account in setting priorities for humanitarian demining in war-torn countries, emphasizing that political will in the mine-affected country should be a critical element in deciding where to launch mine action. Several participants recommended that, where several neighboring countries were affected, international demining strategies should be developed on a regional basis, because the problem in one country was usually linked to that in another.

Southern Africa was cited as a positive regional experience in demining, where the political will had been demonstrated and the region was attempting to develop a comprehensive strategy. Namibia was cited as a case study for successful demining activities. Participants agreed that better coordination should be sought in Angola and Mozambique to avoid duplication and competing donor interests and to build indigenous capacity. South Africa reported that efforts are underway in the region to develop better coordination within SADC. As a result of wide interest in the South African report, a special informal meeting was organized with a view to assisting this process.

Japan and Cambodia announced plans for holding a demining workshop on "lessons learned" in Cambodia in October.

A plea was made by NGO representatives for donor governments and organizations to take a hard look at the impact their cumbersome funding procedures have on NGO operations in the field. Multi-year funding, streamlined procedures, and bridging mechanisms should be considered to ensure that NGO programs did not have to shut down while waiting for donor funds to come through.

The discussion also reflected the central importance of the Ottawa Convention as a framework for mine action on the ground. Many donors now require adherence to the Convention as a condition for funding mine action and are proceeding with mine action programs on the basis of the prescriptions of the Convention. The Swiss data management system has been designed in part to monitor implementation of the Convention.

Technology R&D Cooperation

The Conference discussion developed a new level of international consensus on the need for cooperative approaches to creating and accelerating the use of effective, safe and affordable technology for humanitarian demining. Delegates from the United States and European Commission delivered three specific joint proposals to reach these goals. These proposals were warmly received at the conference, arid many delegations expressed interest in joining the process. These proposals and some delegate comments on them follow;

1. Creation of internationally accepted standards to describe the types of mine action technology needed to help solve this problem.

-- The Canadian delegation explained that they found this proposal very attractive and hoped to be part of its constructive development.

-- The Swedish delegation noted that this proposal would be very beneficial to answer the needs of private industry.

1. Identification of a worldwide network of test and evaluation facilities to assess promising mine action technology and aid in the creation of new or improved systems.

-- The Swiss delegation volunteered to use their information initiative to support this proposal.

-- The Canadian, South African, and Australian delegations expressed interest in cooperating with the proposal.

-- Refugees International explained their IDAC proposal and expressed willingness to cooperate with the EC-US proposal

1. The development of international technology demonstrator projects. These "demonstration projects" will apply advanced technologies to the demining of critical areas. They will create a visible product, establish a program for action, and provide a platform for cooperation and new investment.

-- The German delegation expressed support for this proposal.

-- The UK delegation offered constructive criticism about the area-specific nature of the project.

-- Norwegian Peoples Aid explained that there has recently been great progress made in delivering technology to the field, and hoped that any new processes would take stock of this progress.

To help realize these three concrete steps for cooperation, the European Commission and the United States will make use of the infrastructure, facilities, and competencies available to them. To further discussion and development of these initiatives the European Commission will host an international conference in Ispra, Italy from September 29 to October 1, 1998.

For the sake of full transparency and international credibility, all results of these initiatives will be coordinated closely with the United Nations, which will also communicate results to the broader international community. UNMAS explained a potential framework for improved international cooperation and coordination, providing the platform for the more detailed discussions of the proposals above. The UN encouraged a degree of decentralization of coordination and the formation of partnerships between states, regional organizations, NGOs and other entities who share a common objective.

UNMAS also expressed the view that the proposals made at the Washington Conference were ready to move into action and should riot require further discussion of details.

The US presented a survey of R&D efforts by eight nations producing mine action technology. The German delegation hoped to continue this Process at the Karlsruhe conference in July, convened by Foreign Minister Kinkel.

The US also presented results from their efforts to create an international pledge to have nations work to:

1. Increase their political and fiscal support for mine action technology R&D.

2. Increase their involvement in international cooperation in the research and development of mine action technology, and

3. Coordinate their future conferences through the UN.

The US explained that the responses to the pledge were very positive. As there is a clear international interest to work towards these goals, the US volunteered to support a negotiation process on this issue, possibly leading to a negotiated text for the Karlsruhe conference.

Operation USA explained the need to solicit the input of other actors in the scientific world, The representative explained the organizations coordinating efforts among governments, industry, regional and international entities, and previously non-involved scientists.

Promoting Victim Assistance

The Conference also considered various proposals for ensuring that the needs of landmine victims and survivors are adequately addressed in international mechanisms for coordinating mine action. A separate victim assistance discussion produced a number of recommendations for the Conference:

-- A standardized system for basic record-keeping and reporting should be established at the national level in each mine-affected country. This information should be accessible for use by all interested parties.

-- A small sub-group was formed to follow up on the development of a basic simplified, standardized reporting form.

-- On-going victim assistance activities should continue without interruption, even as new surveys and assessments are being done.

-- Victim assistance projects should be funded for three-year periods at a minimum, and preferably, considerably longer periods.

-- Donor assistance should be directed at the establishment of appropriate national policies and disability plans in mine-affected countries.

-- National disability plans and policies should incorporate landmine victim assistance strategies.

-- Planning for mine action programs, especially victim assistance, should be incorporated in comprehensive national reconstruction strategies

-- The UN Resident Coordinator in mine-affected countries should convene periodic meetings of representatives of the local government, donor governments, UN and international agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the landmine survivor/disability community to provide timely exchange of information and to ensure that mine action priorities, including victim assistance, are incorporated in the country's development strategy.

Applying Military Expertise

The military delegates to the Washington Conference, meeting parallel to the third plenary session, reached general consensus that:

-- military forces have capabilities they can contribute to the global humanitarian demining effort and have a role that they can play in this effort;

-- they will continue to explore possible ways ministries of defense can contribute to humanitarian demining;

-- they will work jointly and with the United Nations to update and strengthen demining standards;

-- they agree to improve information sharing among their humanitarian demining and other interested training centers. As an initial step, the U.S. Humanitarian Demining Training Center will open its web site to serve as a hub for electronic information sharing and communications among these sites. Within two years, the military demining community will open renewed discussions on potential formalization of this information-sharing relationship into an association of demining training centers;

-- they should encourage counterpart visits among demining training centers to share lessons and experiences.

In support of international information sharing, the U.S. Army Humanitarian Demining Training Center will publish a catalog of available training aids for use by the international community. It will also examine preparation of a "generic" demining basic course program of instruction in accordance with UN standards for dissemination to the international community.

Encouraging Public-Private Partnerships

The Conference focused also on the potential of the private sector to provide substantial expertise and financial resources for humanitarian demining. Representatives of non-governmental organizations and private foundations presented a number of innovative ideas for public-private partnerships to expand the involvement of the private sector in mine action. The United Nations Association demonstrated its recent success in raising private funds for specific mine action projects through visits to mine-affected countries in Africa. DC Comics announced plans to create a mine-awareness training comic book for Angola and Mozambique, similar to its earlier comics for Bosnia and Latin America. James Madison University demonstrated its data management system on humanitarian demining, developed in partnership with the Department of Defense. And V.R. Mehta traveled to the Conference from India to demonstrate how simple, inexpensive technology can contribute to victim assistance.

Representatives of donor governments acknowledged that the world now looks increasingly to the private sector as a source of sustaining investment in humanitarian and development work and should do this also for mine action.