Clearing for Results

Purpose of Project

Clearing for Results is a multi-donor funding facility for mine action. It helps develop the capacity of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), Cambodia’s national mine action oversight body, to coordinate, regulate and monitor all mine action activities, and to support the Government’s community-driven landmine clearance process. The project aims to address efficiency and cost-effectiveness issues and to support the systematic integration of mine clearance into national and provincial development plans and programmes. It supports demining operations by the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) and survey activities by demining operators including Halo Trust. It also supports awareness raising on land mines, explosive remnants of war and cluster munitions, through community activities and the arts.

Main Activities

• Support CMAA to establish the policy and strategic framework for mine action in Cambodia.
• Support CMAA to develop a system for socioeconomic planning and monitoring of cleared land by national and provincial authorities, in order to maximize the development benefits for affected communities.
• Support CMAA to develop a regulatory framework and independent quality assurance capacity.
• Contract demining operators to demine affected areas and conduct baseline survey of remaining contaminated land.

Key Results

• CMAA has established a strong policy and strategic framework for mine action in Cambodia within the international context.
• In 2009, CMAA led the formulation of a National Mine Action Strategy that reflects Cambodia’s vision and goals for mine action and guides development partners, demining operators, and future mine action programmes.
• CMAA is coordinating and monitoring a Baseline Survey over 2009-2012 to establish precisely how much land remains contaminated and will require clearance in the future.
• CMAA led the formulation of Cambodia’s request for a 10-year extension to its Article 5 deadline under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty. It led Cambodia’s delegation at the Second Review Conference in Cartagena in Colombia, where the request was granted in December 2009, giving Cambodia until 2019 to clear known mined areas.
• Cambodia participated in the international gender workshop in Geneva in March 2009.
• UNDP supported Cambodia’s participation in the international meetings that led to the conclusion of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo in December 2008. The convention prohibits all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster munitions. Cambodia is assessing the implications of joining the convention. UNDP continues to advocate for Cambodia to sign.
• CMAA supports the Government’s decentralized planning process, by which communities select and rank sites to be cleared. The provincially appointed Mine Action Planning Units (MAPUs) draw up work plans based on priority clearance tasks agreed through participatory planning. The work plans are reviewed and approved by Provincial Mine Action Committees.
• CMAA drew up Operational Guidelines on the Socioeconomic Management of Mine Clearance in 2006. The guidelines clarify the criteria to be used for making decisions and ensure that both women and men from mine-affected communities are consulted. They ensure uniformity across provinces and serve as a reference point for the MAPUs in the event of a dispute.
• From 2006 to 2008, CMAA’s socioeconomic teams conducted post-clearance monitoring to ensure that cleared minefields were used for their intended purposes and by their intended beneficiaries. In 2009, monitoring was delegated to the provincial MAPUs.
• CMAA has developed a regulatory framework and a system for accrediting, licensing and monitoring demining operators.
• 12 Cambodian Mine Action Standards have been developed and approved, based on international standards, covering issues such as clearance requirements, accreditation, worksite safety, protective equipment, mine detection dogs, marking, and the baseline survey.
• Six mine clearance operators have been licensed: four humanitarian deminers, one private company, and a platoon of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.
• CMAA has trained six Quality Assurance teams, which systematically check the operations of all accredited deminers. In 2009, the QA teams made 1,447 visits to clearance activities.

CMAC has demined contaminated land for community use:

• In 2006-2009, working with UNDP-managed funds, CMAC cleared 31.7 sq km of priority land, destroying 34,814 anti-personnel mines, 839 anti-tank mines and 130,868 pieces of unexploded ordnance.
• Most of the cleared land has been used for agriculture and resettlement, and the remainder for roads, irrigation channels, schools, health centres, pagodas and other community facilities.

The project has supported awareness-raising activities:

• To spread the word in Cambodia about the Convention on Cluster Munitions, a Cluster Munitions Ban Bus toured affected communities and the capital in 2009, collecting signatures for a People’s Treaty to Ban Cluster Munitions.
• To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Cambodia signing the mine action treaty, UNDP and AusAID commissioned a documentary and an art project on the impact of mine action. The works were shown in Cambodia, Cartagena and New York in 2009 and 2010.

Background

After nearly three decades of war and internal conflict, Cambodia remains severely affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war. Cambodia has adopted a special ninth Millennium Development Goal to clear all affected land, reduce the casualty rate to zero, and improve survivor assistance by 2015. The Government estimated in 2009 that some 649 sq km of contaminated land required clearance over the next 10 to 13 years. The baseline survey being conducted over 2009-2012 will establish more precisely the extent and location of areas remaining to be cleared, setting the agenda for mine action in Cambodia for the decade to 2019.