Sudan

Emergency Mine Clearance in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan 2003

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PROJECT: Emergency Mine Clearance in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan 2003
REQUESTING AGENCY: UNMAS

IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), NGOs

OBJECTIVES: To isolate the threat from landmines/UXO in the Nuba Mountains, in part by clearing all contaminated affected roads/routes.

BUDGET YEAR 1: US$ 2,950,000

TIME FRAME YEAR 1: October 2002 - May 2004

SHORTFALL YEAR 1: US$ 2,950,000

SUMMARY : The UN Emergency Mine Action Programme (MAP) is designed to eliminate the landmine/UXO threat in Sudan. In order to facilitate an integrated and effective clearance plan, a Mine Action Coordination Office has been established in the Nuba Mountains to support the Joint Military Commission (JMC), and to act as the focal point for all mine action activities in the area.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

In support of the project, flexible and mobile technical survey teams, supported by Explosive Detection Dogs (EDD), will be deployed. The teams will be centrally tasked and co-ordinated by the UN Mine Action Coordination Office in Kadugli.

Data supplied by the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) will determine the basis for establishing the scope of the problem. Prioritisation of tasks will be driven by humanitarian aid requirements, as identified through the Nuba Mountains Peace and Conflict Transformation (NMPACT) programme and in co-operation with OCHA. In particular, it is anticipated that the teams will conduct route clearance and route verification tasks.

Once an area is confirmed as mined, individual teams, or groups of teams will undertake clearance activities. If it is beyond the practical scope of the survey/EDD assets, the areas will be clearly marked and where practical, physically fenced. Once the threat has been treated in this way, information will be recorded within IMSMA and subsequent, long-term clearance activities will follow if necessary.

Based upon the already identified locations of mined areas, it is considered that four survey teams supported by four EDD teams will be the most effective deployment for the initial clearance season. In the second period, the number of teams in each specialty may be reduced to two.

The MAP will be considered finished when;

  • All major roads/tracks throughout the area open and free from a landmine threat;
  • All known dangerous areas have been cleared of landmines or reduced to a manageable perimeter. This perimeter will be clearly marked, recorded and where feasible be surrounded by a physical fence.
This project will be implemented in close coordination with the related mine clearance project for the Nuba Mountains. (funded by the European Union). With decisive funding support it is believed that this project can be successfully implemented within two years.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

BUDGET ITEM
US$
Co-ordination costs
500,000
Technical survey teams x 4 (October 2002 to May 2003)
600,000
EDD teams x 4 (October 2002 to May 2003)
950,000
Marking and fencing
50,000
Sub-total 2002/2003
2,100,000
Technical survey teams x 2 (September 2003 to May 2004)
300,000
EDD teams x 2 (September 2003 to May 2004)
550,000
TOTAL
2,950,000

CONTACT: Akira Akazawa
EMAIL: akazawa@un.org

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