Empowering WOMEN IN MINE ACTION 4 APRIL 2014 INTERNATIONAL MINE AWARENESS DAY

Transcription

1 Intro to Exhibition Half the Sky Deserve all the Earth Empowering WOMEN IN MINE ACTION 4 APRIL 2014 INTERNATIONAL MINE AWARENESS DAY Presented by UNMAS Each year on April 4 th, Governments, civil society and organizations on all continents mark the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. The Day was dedicated by the United Nations General Assembly to raise awareness about the problems of landmines and explosive remnants of war and the progress made towards eradicating this threat. This exhibit highlights some of the important positions that women hold in the world of mine action. It shows how their efforts make mine action work more efficient and effective. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has emphasized the importance of gender mainstreaming in mine action. I continue to attach great importance to the mainstreaming of gender in all programmes and recommend that the Mine Action Service, as mine action focal point, provide programme managers on a regular basis with relevant training, guidance and advice, in cooperation with relevant entities. When surveying mined areas it is essential to take into account the routines of women, men, boys and girls. When deciding where to begin clearance the perspective of the entire community is important. When conducting mine risk education men and women must go into schools and places of worship. During post-conflict stabilization demining is a good economic opportunity. Men and women both deserve access to this career. Women represent more than 20 per cent of UNMAS field staff and at Headquarters it is more than 40 per cent. The United Nations and its partners, wherever they work on mine action, strive to include women and men in all aspects of the work. HALF THE SKY DESERVE ALL THE EARTH is a unique photography exhibit featuring work by world-renown professional photographers such as Gwenn Dubourthoumieu and 1

2 Marco Grob; United Nations photographers Iason Foounten, Isaac Billy, Justyna Pietralik, Logan Abassi, Martine Perret and Tobin Jones and photographs taken by UNMAS field officers Tammy Bunbury, Lindsay Harkness and Marc Vaillant. Images show women deminers in Colombia working tirelessly to clear their homeland from danger. In Libya, Mali and Somalia women are shown teaching their families about the dangers of unexploded bombs. In Côte d Ivoire UNMAS officers are shown managing the safe storage of ammunition for the Government. And in Afghanistan and Cambodia we see the dignity of women who have survived a landmine explosion. By focusing on the individuals affected by these devices, the photographers tell a compelling story: explosive remnants of war, including cluster munitions, take a toll on all of humanity. Women need to be part of the solution. UNMAS, located in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions, helps reduce the impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war and enables people to resume their normal lives. Find out more and how to get involved at: 2

3 Panel 1 Humanitarian Clearance From Laos to Colombia, from South Sudan to Somalia many of the best deminers are female. Capable of long hours of detail oriented concentration, fastidious, patient and able to stay focussed in harsh climates, the women in these photos are some of the unsung heroes of the worldwide campaign to eradicate landmines. Landmines and unexploded ordnance pose a threat the moment they are deployed. And as time goes by, their danger increases. Detonators become unstable making them more likely to malfunction or explode when moved. Landmines, when laid, are often set at a uniform depth, making certain that they are most effective, but after time they sink, rise or shift in the ground. Post-conflict clearance, which includes clearing landmines, explosive remnants of war and unexploded ordnance, is referred to as battle area clearance or humanitarian clearance. It is painstaking work. A landmine can cost between 5 to 30 US dollars to make, and even less to bury, but it usually costs 50 to 100 times more to safely clear. Mine fields must be located, surveyed and mapped. Deminers must be trained. Safety equipment must be procured. Medical facilities must be put into the theatre of demining. During the Second World War handheld metal detectors were invented to facilitate demining. But as anyone who has used a metal detector on the beach or in a park knows, even a bottle cap or nail could make it beep. When you demine, each beep means the spot must be carefully probed to see if that beep meant there is a mine in the ground. Depending upon the terrain, this can take hours per square meter. Humanitarian clearance carries with it a huge responsibility and there are important international standards. 3

4 A Controlled Explosion Explosives and ammunition have a sell by date. The conditions in which they are stored can accelerate their deterioration. UNMAS assists UN missions and governments with the destruction of old ammunition and explosives. UNMAS lit up the afternoon sky in Haiti in 2013 with a controlled explosion of contaminated ordnance and ammunition. Just imagine if this explosion had occurred spontaneously? UN Photo/Logan Abassi Clearance in Colombia This minefield had previously caused casualties Clearance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 4

5 including a seven year old boy after he picked up a mine. Clearance of this minefield is now complete and benefits the 1,000 people living nearby. Colombia has one of the highest percentages of trained female deminers. HALO Trust Photo Kabumba, as small village in the Katanga province of Eastern Congo, was heavily mined during the five-year conflict in the region between A defensive minefield was planted around Kabumba and many other villages in the area. This picture shows a female deminer from DanChurchAid (DCA). UNMAS supported DCA to begin demining operations in Kabumba in The population has since progressively returned and agricultural activities have now increased as a result of the handover of safe areas. Photo: UNMAS/Marc Vaillant Juwa Stella Anyazo, Deminer in South Sudan Juwa Stella Anyazo works with an all-female demining team in Yei, South Sudan supported by Norwegian People s Aid and UNMAS partner. For more information about this team, see the UNMAS film in this exhibition Betty. UNMAS/Marco Grob Clearing Paths in the Desert These women are part of a Battle Area Clearance team operating in Mehaires, Western Sahara. UNMAS, in partnership with Action on Armed Violence, has reduced cluster strike areas to the east of the berm by 70% - saving lives and increasing access to vital water sources. UN Photo/Martine Perret Explosive Ordnance Disposal 5

6 A female member of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team brushes sand off a mortar shell during a demonstration held by UNMAS in Mogadishu, Somalia. Ms. Khadija was trained as an EOD operator in UN Photo/ Tobin Jones 6

7 Panel 2 Mine Risk Education We all teach our children to look both ways before crossing the road. Fortunately, most of us do not have to teach our children what a cluster bomb looks like or where mines could be buried. But in many parts of the world, that information is as important as learning how to safely cross a street. Mine risk education, or MRE, refers to educational activities aimed at reducing the risk of injury from mines and unexploded ordnance by raising awareness and promoting behavioural change through public-information campaigns, education and training and outreach work to communities at risk. The more informed the instructors are, knowing what types of munitions or landmines were used where, how they were deployed and in what quantity, the more effective they can teach. Mine risk education usually entails how and where to report unknown objects and how to mark areas where they are found so that qualified authorities can dispose of them. In places where people have access to a computer or camera phone they can use the UNMAS phone application to identify and report remnants of war. UNMAS also distributes playing cards that show pictures of and describe landmines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices which are a helpful risk education tool. MRE, along with demining (which includes technical surveys, mapping, clearance of unexploded ordnance and mines, marking unsafe areas, and documenting areas that have been cleared), contributes to mine-risk reduction, or limiting the risk of physical injury from mines and unexploded ordnance that already contaminates the land. The participation of women in this activity is essential. It ensures access to women and girls in all societies. 7

8 Raising Awareness in Bangboka, Democratic Republic of the Congo Mine Risk Education session at the local school in Bangboka, a village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Teaching at schools and distributing information at town meetings are traditional ways to conduct mine risk education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. UNMAS/Gwenn Dubourthoumieu A member of the Mundari tribe in South Sudan UNMAS works with Sudan Integrated Mine Actions Service to provide mine risk education to the Mundari tribes, helping them identify and report anything suspicious they may find. UNMAS has deployed an innovative smart phone app (and telephone hotline) to assist with this reporting in its urban programmes. UNMAS/Marco Grob Risk Education in Buulo IDP Camp, Somalia Children looking at a pamphlet during an UNMAS explosive hazard awareness session at the Buulo IDP camp in Hawl Wadaag district of Mogadishu, Somalia. Families are often forced to move through or into contaminated areas to avoid conflict or as a result of frequent food shortages, drought, and flooding. UNMAS/T. Bunbury Marching for Mine Awareness in Libya A youth participant in a march through the centre of the Libyan capital on the International Day for Mine Awareness to highlight the dangers posed by mines and explosive remnants of war. 8

9 UN Photo/Iason Foounten Backpacks raising Awareness in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Philomene Edebu can t wait to get involved in mine action. She is carrying the new school bag that was distributed to children in the eastern part of the country. The key message for children in areas affected by conflict is: Don t touch any strange objects. The Government of Japan supported this outreach initiative. UNMAS DRC Photo Raising Awareness at United Nations Headquarters in New York Stepping carefully over a mine carpet which was part of an exhibition at the UNHQ in New York for the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action (4 April), on the theme For a Mine-Free World: Twenty years of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. UN Photo/JC McIlwaine Explosive Remnants of War Risk Education in Palestine UNMAS provides Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) Risk Education training to the UNRWA 9

10 supported Daraj Area Women programmes Centre in Gaza city. In an attempt to address the increased threat posed by explosive hazards in the aftermath of the escalations of hostilities at the end of November 2012, which resulted in a spike in Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) civilian victims in Gaza, 90% of whom were children UNMAS engaged with Palestinian authorities, UNICEF, UNRWA, and community-based organizations to ensure the process of ERW risk education was institutionalized in schools and promoted through civil society groups across Gaza. UNMAS photo 10

11 Panel 3 Victim Assistance Victim assistance is a core component of mine action and an obligation of States Parties under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention. Article Six of the Convention states that "Each State Party in a position to do so shall provide assistance for the care and rehabilitation, and social and economic reintegration, of mine victims and for mine awareness programs." Hundreds of thousands of mine and explosive remnants of war survivors exist in over 70 countries. UNMAS works closely with UNICEF, UNDP and other UN entities, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), to support victim assistance activities. Statistically young men and boys are at greatest risk to be killed or injured by landmines but hundreds of women and girls are victims each year. According to the Landmine Monitor in 2012 there were approximately 10 casualties a day or 3,628 landmine or explosive remnants of war casualties reported for the year. Of this number 2,552 survived. Cambodian Youth Ambassador for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines Song Kosal is a Youth Ambassador for the Injured at age 5 in Kabul, Afghanistan Gulsom is a student in a tailor shop. She was 5 years old when she lost her leg in a 11

12 International Campaign to Ban Landmines. At age six, Song lost her leg in a landmine explosion while working in the rice paddies with her mother. She has since dedicated her live to creating a world free of landmines. Kosal, who is now in her 20s, represents youth campaigners and survivors at events worldwide and is an inspiration and tireless advocate for young landmine survivors around the world. UNMAS/Marco Grob landmine explosion in Kabul. The mine action sector in Afghanistan employs over 12,000 people and aims to make Afghanistan minefree by This was once considered an almost impossible task, but over the last decade great progress has been made. UNMAS/Marco Grob 12

13 Panel 4 Saving Lives Every year, mines, explosive remnants of war, unexploded ordnance, unsafe munitions depots, cluster bombs and improvised explosive devices kill or injure thousands worldwide. The human toll is terrible. The disruption to lives and livelihoods and other costs to communities are equally devastating. These explosive hazards close roads, prevent children from going to school. They stop farmers from working the land, hampering economic and social development and effectively robbing people of their sources of income. Their presence delays reconstruction and breeds insecurity. They block the delivery of humanitarian aid, the deployment of peacekeepers and development. UNMAS is the lead United Nations entity on explosive hazards and the focal point for the coordination of mine action in the UN system. Twelve UN entities work together to implement the United Nations vision of a world free from the threat of mines and explosive remnants of war including cluster munitions. UNMAS provides critical support to the protection of civilians, peacekeeping, humanitarian relief and development, allowing UN staff to rapidly deploy and refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to safely return to their homes and resume their lives without fear. UNMAS expert staff and specialized equipment tackle unsecured and poorly-managed stockpiles of weapons and ammunition, improvised explosive devices, dangerous storage depots, unexploded ordnance and cluster munitions. UNMAS is an active component of peacekeeping and special political missions throughout the world in accordance with Security Council mandates and also intervenes at the request of Member States and United Nations Country Teams in the context of humanitarian emergencies. UNMAS is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to ensure an effective, proactive and coordinated response to the problem posed by a wide range of explosive hazards. The primary goal of UNMAS is to save lives. 13

14 Women return to Khor Dileb in South Sudan after Clearance completed Women pump water in Khor Dileb, Eastern Equatoria State, in South Sudan on land recently cleared by UNMAS. Barely days after deminers left the area, a group of women moved in, building thatched roof huts to house their growing families and drawing water from a pump that had stood abandoned when unexploded ordnance littered the fields. UNMAS/Justyna Pietralik Knowing which path to take in the Democratic Republic of the Congo A woman from Tshamaka village goes into the forest, on a marked path designated by MECHEM Demining, a partner of UNMAS, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In this area, around the Kisangani/ Bangboka airfield mines and explosive remnants of war contaminate many of the paths and forests. By surveying the area and putting up markers, the people living in the villages near the airfield are able to go about their daily tasks without the constant fear that their next step may be their last. UNMAS/Gwenn Dubourthoumieu Life returning to normal in Gao, Mali In the middle of 2013 UNMAS set up a base in Gao in Northern Mali, where recent and on-going armed conflict had created a problem of weapon and explosive contamination which affected the civilian population and inhibits the voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced people. In Gao, since March 2012, 88 civilian Running the UNMAS Show in Liberia Ms Sheila Black is the UNMAS Programme Manager in Liberia. From New Zealand, she served for 11 years as an officer in the New Zealand Army, where she completed two UN Missions in Somalia and Angola. During her time in Angola she became involved in the Mine 14

15 casualties (killed or injured) were reported, of which more than half were children. UNMAS oversees and coordinates the humanitarian demining in Gao surveying, marking and clearing contaminated areas and providing risk education to affected communities. By the end of 2013, 508 villages were surveyed with 40 contaminated areas identified and marked, making life safer for all of the children living in the region. UNMAS/Marc Vaillant Action programme. For the last 15 years she has worked with humanitarian organizations and UN Missions in post conflict environments. Ten of those years were with UNMAS. Before she went to Liberia, Black worked as part of the UNMAS global Rapid Response and Technical Support Capacity, where she was involved in launching projects in Libya, Syria, Côte d Ivoire and supporting existing projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine, Sudan and South Sudan. In Liberia she is working with the police and army to help build explosive disposal capacities. UNMAS/Lindsay Harkness 15

16 Panel 5 Dealing with Landmines, Munitions and Small Arms Stockpile and Destruction Stockpiled landmines far outnumber those actually laid in the ground. In accordance with Article 4 of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, State Parties must destroy their stockpiled mines within four years after their accession to the convention. Sixty-five countries have now destroyed their stockpiles of anti-personnel landmines. UNMAS and its partners assist governments to destroy landmines when requested. As part of humanitarian clearance UNMAS gathers and destroys all explosive remnants of war (ERW), including mines, unexploded ordnance and ammunition. Increasingly UNMAS is also called upon to manage or dispose of ammunition stockpiles. UNMAS Ammunition Safety Management projects have been established, sometimes as an integral part of existing Mine Action programmes, in a number of countries, including Guinea-Bissau, Libya, South Sudan, Côte d Ivoire, Somalia, Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. UNMAS has created a Pool of Experts of Ammunition Technical Officers with experience in storage, inspection, transportation and stockpile destruction of ammunition. As one of the implementing UN agencies for the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines (IATG), UNMAS provides efficient, quick and safety-focussed solutions for countries interested in developing national standards, for emergency response on ammunition depot accidents and the cross-border consequences of poorly managed stockpiles. UNMAS has also assisted with the disposal of small arms and light weapons in Côte d Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Haiti in support of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes in those countries. 16

17 Reducing the risk in Somalia A joint team, consisting of members of the Ugandan and Burundian contingents of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), destroyed over 75 kilos of munitions captured from al-shabaab militants, at a safe location outside of Mogadishu. Training provided by UNMAS over the past four years has enabled these teams to manage explosive hazards in a conflict environment, and resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of AMISOM casualties as a result of explosive accidents and incidents. UN Photo/ Tobin Jones Explosive Remnants of War in post revolution Libya In the aftermath of the revolution in Libya, large quantities of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) and stockpiles of munitions were exposed in different parts of the country. UNMAS and its partners have collected and destroyed thousands of these remnants. UNMAS has also overseen the construction of an Ammunition Storage Area, with a capacity of 400 tons of ammunition, in Misrata, and work has begun on a second one in Zintan. One quarter of the UNMAS staff working in Libya are female. UN Photo/Iason Foounten South Sudan Ammunition Storage Unit The Director of UNMAS, Agnès Marcaillou visits the South Sudan National Police Service (SSPS) s newly-renovated armoury at its Central Equatoria headquarters, in Rajaf. Remnants of War Destroyed in Libya Since March 2011, a total of 768,642 mines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) have been cleared and destroyed in Libya. Following the revolution and NATO bombing, there were 17

18 UNMAS works with police services in Côte d Ivoire, Liberia and South Sudan. The Director of UNMAS and more than 40% of the Headquarters staff are women. UN Photo/Isaac Billy literally tons of munitions littering the villages, cities, roadways and areas of the desert UNMAS Photo Collected and Destroyed Unexploded ordnance (UXO) collected in the Akouédo military base, where ammunition stores exploded during the fighting in April These items were destroyed, together with others collected to make the compound and the surrounding area safe. UNMAS in Côte d'ivoire also works closely with the UN DDR teams to destroy small arms and light weapons. UNMAS/ Alex Riebl Destroying small arms in the Democratic Republic of the Congo On 20 November 2013 in a ceremony in Goma, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the MONUSCO mine action and DDR/RR sections organized a weapons destruction ceremony at the South African Brigade camp. The ceremony involved cutting weapons, including AK-47 rifles and rocket propelled grenade launchers, rendering them completely and permanently unusable. On that day 926 small arms and light weapons and 38,801 pieces of small arms ammunition collected by the DDR/RR section from demobilized ex-combatants were safely disposed. MONUSCO/South African Battalion 18

19 Film Captions (For exhibition) 1. Eliminating, Educating, Saving. UNMAS Produced by PostMillenium This Public Service Announcement was created to raise awareness about the perils of unexploded ordnance and landmines, the work of UNMAS, and the need for financial support to quickly and efficiently address these threats. Thousands of innocent men, women and children are wounded or killed each year by these deadly legacies of war. The spots were produced in partnership with PostMillenium, edited by Jamison Hermann under the supervision of the Executive Producer Adam Soutar. Most of the footage was gathered for UNMAS by Nathan Beriro. The music was supplied by Keith Kenniff. They are availablein Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German,Japanese, Russian and Spanish through UN Multi-media and UNMAS.org. 2. UNMAS 2013 and Beyond (Vue d'ensemble de l'unmas et nouveaux horizons) An UNMAS Film, Directed by Nathan Beriro An overview of the work of UNMAS in 2013 and the work that this UN Service is concentrating on in 2014 including building ammunition storage areas and countering improvised explosive devices. The Director of UNMAS Ms. Agnès Marcaillou describes what mine action entails, where UNMAS is working and what new challenges face the lead United Nations entity on explosive hazards. Striking images from Afghanistan, Libya and South Sudan, to name a few, shows the reality of defeating landmines and other explosive hazards in operations around the world. The film was produced and directed by Nathan Beriro. 2. Bis SLAM 2013 et au-delà (Vue d'ensemble du SLAM et Nouveaux horizons) Un Film de Nathan Beriro Un aperçu du travail du SLAM en 2013 et du travail sur lequel ce service des Nations Unies se concentre en 2014, incluant la construction de zones de stockage de munitions et la lutte contre les engins explosifs improvisés. Le Directeur du SLAM, Mme Agnès Marcaillou, décrit ce que la lutte antimines implique, où agit le SLAM et quels sont les nouveaux défis auxquels l'entité de premier plan des Nations Unies sur les dangers d'explosion doit faire face. Des images saisissantes de l'afghanistan, la Libye et le Soudan du Sud, pour ne nommer que quelques pays, montrent la réalité de la lutte contre les mines et autres engins explosifs dans des opérations à travers le monde. 3. Betty A day in the life of a female deminer in South Sudan, An UNMAS Film, Directed by Marco Grob Betty Augustino is a member of an all-female demining team working in Yei, South Sudan. She is part of a demining project run by Norwegian People s Aid, an UNMAS partner. Norwegian People s Aid has worked in this region for more than 25 years. Mr. Grob and the UNMAS team set out to document what one day was like for a deminer doing manual detection, working with a metal detector and probes. The film demonstrates the tenacity and patience, as well as endurance and 19

20 strength that are needed to do this work. It shows how slow and painstaking it is to find even one mine, and that the men and women who do the work are heroic. 4. Nancy Sunday MineWolf Operator An UNMAS Film, Directed by Nathan Beriro After decades of war against its northern neighbour, South Sudan gained independence in July. During Sudan s civil war, armed forces on both sides defended their positions by laying thousands of landmines across roads and fields throughout the country. The United Nations has supported demining in the region for decades. This film tells the story of Nancy Sunday, the first Minewolf operator in South Sudan. Working in a project run by Norwegian People s Aid (NPA), an organization supported by the United Nations. NPA specializes in clearing landmines and explosives after conflicts have ended. A Minewolf is an armoured vehicle that tills land in order to crush or detonate landmines that may be buried beneath the surface. In South Sudan over 80% of women are illiterate and hold few economic rights. But Nancy is challenging traditional roles by proving that women can do jobs usually reserved for men. 5. Help UNMAS Remove Explosive Hazards and Educate Children Produced by PostMillenium A second Public Service Announcement created to raise awareness about the perils of unexploded ordnance and landmines, the work of UNMAS, and the need for financial support to quickly and efficiently address these threats. This is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish through UN Multi-media and UNMAS.org. 6. Behind the Scenes of UNMAS South Sudan - Marco Grob Emmy award-winning photographer Marco Grob travels to South Sudan to photograph the Mundari tribesmen as they roam vast plains in search of grazing land for their cattle. Here is an inside look into the creation of these stunning photographs. Mr. Grob has donated his time and creativity to support the United Nations mine action work since He has travelled to Afghanistan, Cambodia, Mali and South Sudan to promote the work. 7. Mali: (TBD this film is being made now in Mali, we will write title and description when it is completed). 20