Location: Sudan
Website: http://www.mineaction.org/unmas
Type: International
A UNMAS Programme was established in 2002 following a tri-partite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Government of Sudan (GoS), the SPLM (Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement) and UNMAS. The agreement provided the framework for mine action activities throughout Sudan. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 and the UN Security Council Resolution 1590 that established the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) further enhanced the role of the UN in the field of mine action.
In April 2015 UNMAS became the lead mine action actor following an assessment mission in March 2015. UNMAS now supports and assists the NMAC (Sudan National Mine Action Center) in building institutional capacity, meeting obligations under Article 5 of the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention (‘Ottawa Treaty’) and other relevant international treaties, in addition to mobilizing resources for land release, mine risk education (MRE) and victim assistance (VA).
Nine of 18 states of Sudan are reported to be affected by landmines and ERW, with South Kordofan, Kassala and Blue Nile States having the highest concentration of landmines and ERW. Over the last three years, the number of mine/ERW victims has been considerably rising. UNMAS priority is to support the NMAC, to release land through surveys and/or clearance operations, return land to local communities and grant access to the wider humanitarian community that delivers humanitarian emergency aid.
Since the separation of Sudan and South Sudan in July 2011, the ongoing conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states has limited mine action operations to these two most affected states. Another challenge is that access is limited as mine action activities and operations are normally affected by heavy rains during the period of July to September.
In 2016, US$ 12.4 million is required to complete release operations in the Eastern States, conduct emergency clearance in South Kordofan and Blue Nile States, conduct MRE, VA and strengthen national capacity. To date the programme has received in total US$ 2.4 million from the Government of Japan and Italy for land release, MRE, VA and capacity building activities. In addition, the government of Sudan is contributing US$ 2 million to support operations on the ground.
This profile is part of AOAV’s investigation into counter-IED (C-IED) actors around the globe. To see the list of all C-IED actors recorded by AOAV, see here. To see those engaged in the Middle East, the Sahel, North Africa or other highly impacted countries please see here, here, here, and here respectively. This research was made possible by funding from the NATO Counter Improvised Explosive Devices Centre of Excellence (C-IED COE). To read the full report, ‘Addressing the threat posed by IEDs: National, Regional and Global Initiatives’, see here.
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