Demining AfghanistanAn Innovative Public-Private Partnership: April 2011 - March 2012

In the framework of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety launched in 2011, the International Road Transport Union (IRU), true to its commitment to achieve sustainable development, teamed up with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS)to support demining activities in Afghanistan.

The objective of this innovative public-private partnership was to clear several square kilometres of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) from the 700km ring road that connects Kabul to Afghanistan’s Northern Provinces and Central Asian neighbours. Clearing these hazards would reduce the threat of injury and death to those who travel along and work around these routes. It would also help the country move from aid to trade by international road transport, thus contributing to the reconstruction, development and stabilisation of Afghanistan.

Aim

A. Short-term benefits:• Clearing of 86 hazardous zones, in the Central, Northern and North-Eastern regions of Afghanistan;• removal of 6,161 hazards including landmines, small arms ammunition and explosive remnants of war;• clearance zones were located within a 100 m corridor on either side of the 700 km ring road which connects Kabul to the provinces in the Northern provinces of Parwan, Baghlan, Kunduz, Samangan, Balkh and Jowzjan;• daily lives of 42 communities impacted;• beneficial to over 3,000 families;• employment opportunities for over 200 people from the affected communities;• security and road safety improved for the thousands of people travelling on these routes every week.

Quick facts and figures

International Road Transport Union (IRU) - The IRU is the global voice of the road transport industry and works to ensure road transport safety and security which facilitate economic growth and prosperity via the sustainable mobility of people and goods by road worldwide. Find out more about the IRU at http://www.iru.org

United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) - Eliminating. Educating. Enabling. Their mission is to reduce the impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) and enable people to resume their normal lives. Find out more about UNMAS at http://www.mineaction.org

Implementing Partners (IP)UN Mine Action Coordination Centre of Afghanistan (MACCA) - Jointly responsible for coordinating all mine action activities in Afghanistan, inlcuding the selecting of IPs, as well as supporting the development of national capacity for mine action management to the Government of Afghanistan.

Afghan Technical Consultants (ATC) - The oldest and largest non-profit NGO for humanitarian mine clearance in Afghanistan employing some 1,300 personnel.

The HALO Trust - A non-political, non-religious, NGO based in South West Scotland that specialises in the removal of hazardous debris of war. It is the world’s oldest and largest humanitarian landmine clearance organisation.

Partners

Factsheet

B. Expected long-term outcomes:• Positive impact on the living conditions of over 7 million people living in the 6 provinces through which

the ring road runs;• secured mobility of local communities, Internally Displaced Persons (lDPs) and refugees who are at daily risk of mine/ERW accidents and whose movements are restricted by landmines and ERW contamination;• citizens to use the road more safely for access to education, healthcare and economic opportunities;• reduced cost of food and non-food items;• some 4,000,000 sq m of land returned to their original agricultural use (mainly wheat and rice);• increased opportunities for trade and business;• implementation of safe maintenance and reconstruction of the existing road, which is currently being done by the Ministry of Public Work;• strengthened domestic and international trade among Afghanistan’s provinces and with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and ultimately Europe, all of which are connected through this road.

Hazards cleared

Learn more on the blog - http://demining-afghanistan.org/Read first-hand testimonials in the project brochure - http://www.iru.org/en_bookshop_item?id=314 Watch the project movie - http://vimeo.com/38215085See Demining Afghanistan: A picture tale - http://bit.ly/H2TCyK Download high resolution images from the project photo gallery - http://bit.ly/GZVfg6

More resources

Launched on 14 April 2011 in Kabul, the demining project was carried out over a ten-month period, from May 2011 to March 2012.

ActivitiesMonths

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 Meeting with local Shura

2 Staffing

3 Provision of equipment

4 Demining course

5 Pre-deployment course

6 Battle Area Cleareance Course

7 Operations

8 Demobilisation

Project timeline

Hazards cleared by ATCt Hazards cleared by HALO Trustt