To Walk the Earth in Safety (2022)

A Message From Assistant Secretary Jessica Lewis

Since being sworn in as the U.S. Department of State’s Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs on September 30, 2021, I have come to appreciate deeply the mission of the Bureau’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) and its unique contributions to our Bureau’s larger mission to promote international security worldwide. In addition to saving lives and limbs, conventional weapons destruction (CWD) presents new economic opportunities and improves food security in communities struggling to recover from past conflicts.

Before taking on this new role, I had seen first-hand the positive impact of CWD efforts and the need for our programs. Previously, when I was the Director of Net Corps Americas at the Trust for the Americas at the Organization of American States (OAS) in the late 1990s, we worked with people with disabilities in Central America, including those injured by landmines. At that time, I was shocked to learn that a primary school had been using an unexploded landmine as a school bell. In another community in El Salvador, I saw how landmine survivors benefitted from a community initiative to provide prosthetic limbs. I know that our partnerships with organizations like the OAS help protect local communities and save lives.

In addition to saving lives and improving livelihoods, U.S. investments in CWD contribute greatly to food security, a focus of this year’s report. In recent years, our programs have helped increase agricultural output in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, promoted other food security efforts in Zimbabwe, and enhanced socio-economic development in Colombia. Where local farmers once potentially risked their lives every time they visited their fields, many now can enjoy their harvests of bananas, cashews, coffee, and rice, as well as improved livestock grazing and water access after U.S. support helped survey and safely clear landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW).

Beyond supporting humanitarian mine action (HMA) and battle area clearance (BAC), we also help secure at-risk small arms and light weapons (SA/LW) through physical security and stockpile management programs (PSSM), thereby contributing to U.S. efforts to expand peace and security across the globe, another key Administration priority. Around the world, our border and aviation security training and targeted destruction programs help prevent the illicit proliferation of Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) and other advanced conventional weapons.

Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and other competing global priorities, CWD remains an important investment in security and economic opportunity. We are grateful for the support of the American people and the bipartisan support of our Congressional representatives, and we are committed to continuing our work with our incredible implementing partners around the world so that everyone can walk the earth in safety.

Jessica Lewis
Assistant Secretary
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

Commonly Used Acronyms

The United States’ Commitment to Conventional Weapons Destruction

Stockpiles of excess, poorly-secured, or otherwise at-risk conventional weapons continue to challenge peace and prosperity worldwide. In the wrong hands, SA/LW and more advanced conventional weapons such as MANPADS fuel political instability and violence and threaten international security. Aging ammunition stockpiles may also explode without warning, devastating nearby population centers. Meanwhile, landmines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and ERW, including cluster munition remnants, unexploded artillery shells and mortars shells, kill and maim people even after conflicts end. Clearing land paves the way for stabilization assistance to move forward, allowing displaced persons to return home, economic revitalization to begin, and political stability to take root.

The U.S. Government’s Collaborative Approach

The United States is committed to reducing these threats worldwide and is the leading financial supporter of CWD, providing more than $4.2 billion in assistance to more than 100 countries since 1993. This makes the United States the world’s single largest financial supporter of CWD. The Department of State, Department of Defense, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) work together with foreign governments, private companies, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to reduce excess SA/LW and conventional munitions stockpiles (including MANPADS), implement best practices for PSSM at conventional weapons storage sites, and carry out HMA programs.

In 2021, PM/WRA managed $234 million* in CWD assistance programs globally. It also led the U.S. interagency MANPADS Task Force (MTF), which coordinates counter-MANPADS efforts by the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, and other relevant stakeholders, and helps partner nations eliminate or better secure their MANPADS. In addition to these Department of State-led efforts, the Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Training Center (HDTC) trains deminers, ammunition handlers, and stockpile managers from partner countries. The Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program (HD R&D) improves CWD technologies, enhancing the efficiency and safety of humanitarian demining operations around the world. USAID also assists landmine and ERW survivors, providing medical and rehabilitative care through the Leahy War Victims Fund (LWVF).

Department of State Support for CWD

The Department of State has managed more than 75 percent (more than $3.2 billion) of the United States’ contribution to CWD since 1993, with a three-fold objective:

• Enhance U.S. and international security by destroying and securing SA/LW, including MANPADS, at risk of proliferation to terrorists, insurgents, and other violent non-state actors.
• Improve stability and prosperity by clearing landmines and ERW and returning land to productive use.
• Build trust and deepen relationships with key partners to accelerate achievement of broader U.S. foreign policy objectives.

Robust project performance standards, enhanced monitoring and evaluation strategies, and a comprehensive program planning process guide PM/WRA’s decisions and hold implementing partners accountable.

The measurable, tangible results that flow from the U.S. Government’s commitment to CWD strongly support U.S. foreign policy priorities. In addition, these programs help protect the lives and livelihoods of civilians so they can more safely remain in their own countries.

*Initial planned allocations

1993–2021 Global Overview of the U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction Program

Percent of Total U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction Funding by Region 1993–2021

Top 10 Countries Funded 1993–2021 (Aggregate) 

(Dollars in thousands)

United States Agency for International Development Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund

Impact of Strengthening Rehabilitation Services in Colombia

Established in 1989, the USAID LWVF is an important source of U.S. assistance to civilian survivors of conflict in developing countries. The LWVF is a dedicated source of financial and technical support to develop sustainable, quality physical rehabilitation services, including prosthetic and orthotic, physical and occupational therapy, and assistive technology. The LWVF supports the development of a range of services while maintaining its vital focus on victims of conflict and persons with disabilities.

In 2021, the LWVF provided more than $12 million to support the rehabilitation of survivors of conflict in 18 countries. To date, the LWVF has provided approximately $324 million in assistance to more than 50 countries.

In Colombia, the 50-year internal armed conflict created more than nine million civilian victims with physical injuries, and mental health and psychosocial trauma—many with limited access to state-offered support services.

The Colombian Victims’ Law guarantees access to physical rehabilitation and mental health and psychosocial services (MHPSS) through the Colombian healthcare system, especially for survivors of armed conflict. However, in the remotest municipalities, these services are provided through a public hospital network that lacks infrastructure, staff, and equipment to provide and sustain appropriate services. Historically, MHPSS were only available in specialized urban hospitals in Colombia. As a result, many people living in remote locations choose not to access services due to the cost of travel.

To address this problem, the Colombian Ministry of Health is partnering with the Presidential Advisory Office for the Participation of Persons with Disabilities, the International Organization for Migration, Organizations of Persons with Disabilities, and other civil society organizations to take a health system strengthening approach. A health system strengthening approach is a best practice to comprehensively address gaps and ensure that essential services are integrated into the healthcare system. In Colombia, this approach includes workforce development, improving leadership skills, and optimizing resources to ensure that services are sustainable and accessible to those in need, particularly individuals living in remote conflict-affected locations.

The USAID-funded Victims Institutional Strengthening Program/Strengthening Functional Rehabilitation Services, implemented by the International Organization for Migration, works with primary care hospitals in 32 Colombian municipalities to develop physical rehabilitation and psychosocial services in the communities where survivors live. Ms. Elba, Leader of the Community of La Balsa, Municipality of Buenos Aires Cauca, observed that “the rehabilitation project allowed us to reopen the health center, which had been closed for 20 years. The rehabilitation services are the best thing that has happened to La Balsa because people have access to rehabilitation services close by and do not have to pay to go to Santander de Quilichao or Cali. Additionally, the physiotherapist has taught me a lot because my son has a disability, and I am his primary caregiver.”

As of October 2021, 14,000 people have accessed these services, and approximately 60,000 physical rehabilitation and/or mental health and psychosocial sessions have been carried out in 32 public hospitals. In addition, community leaders are providing oversight and advocacy messages to promote the use and importance of rehabilitation services, as well as promoting the need for increased availability of services at a community level.

These advances have created an opportunity for the Ministry of Health to draft a new public policy for rehabilitation that will reinforce health as a fundamental right, inclusive of physical rehabilitation and psychosocial services, and strengthening access to these services in the municipalities most affected by armed conflict.

Alejandro Cepeda, Head of the Social Promotion Office, Ministry of Health and Social Protection says,

“The rehabilitation policy guidelines seek to bring services closer to where people are, and thus ensure adherence to rehabilitation processes to improve the quality of life of victims of conflict, persons with disabilities, and the rest of the population that require these services. In addition, bringing rehabilitation services closer to people helps the system to serve the Colombian population, and recognizes that we have an ethnic, territorial, and geographic diversity. The Policy responds to the needs of the population and this is key to the comprehensive health care policy led by this Ministry.”

U.S. Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program

The U.S. Army Humanitarian Demining Research and Development (HD R&D) Program develops, demonstrates, and validates new landmine and UXO detection and clearance technologies using a rapid development process that focuses on the transformation of commercial off-the-shelf equipment into demining technologies that are improving the safety and efficiency of mine clearance worldwide. The HD R&D program also uses mature technologies or leverages existing military countermine technologies for implementation in a humanitarian demining role.

The program coordinates extensively with U.S. DoD Geographical Combatant Commands’ HMA officers, PM/WRA, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and its Humanitarian Demining Training Center (HDTC), host nation mine action centers, and foreign militaries to ensure that program requirements are being met.

HD R&D’s current technology development areas include hazardous area confirmation, vegetation/obstacle clearance, mine and UXO detection, mechanical-mine and UXO clearance, mechanical-mine neutralization, post-clearance quality control, and information management. Technology development plans are based on feedback from ongoing field evaluations, biannual requirements workshops with implementing partners and country programs, and periodic site assessments with these same partners.

HD R&D partners with humanitarian demining organizations to conduct operational field evaluations of developmental technology in their own demining operations to provide assessment and feedback on new technologies. Operational field evaluations are one of the most important aspects of the HD R&D program because the equipment undergoes testing in actual minefields. These evaluations allow the host country to operate the equipment and determine whether it is useful, cost effective and efficient, and is key to HD R&D’s success in research and development.

From October 2020 through December 2021, HD R&D performed testing and operational field evaluations in Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Colombia, Iraq, Kosovo, Lebanon, Palau, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Ukraine, Vietnam, the West Bank, and Zimbabwe. Since 1995 HD R&D technologies have cleared over 89 million square meters (21,992 acres) and removed or destroyed approximately 396,000 mines and UXO. The program has fielded technologies in support of 249 operational field evaluations in 43 countries.

http://humanitarian-demining.org/

U.S. Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Training Center

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) operates the Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Training Center (HDTC), at Fort Lee, Virginia. HDTC trains and prepares U.S. military forces, U.S. Government stakeholders, and international partners to conduct HMA missions, ERW disposal, and PSSM using “Train the Trainer” instructional methods.

HDTC conducts the Humanitarian Mine Action Basic Course (HMABC) that trains U.S. service members in the preparation and delivery of instruction covering landmine clearance and BAC, which conforms to IMAS and international best practices. The HMABC also covers HMA mission planning and course development including lesson plans and delivery, and policy and laws related to CWD. Students are exposed to a wide variety of clearance techniques and equipment used for clearance, as well as recognized international best practice for clearance of hazard areas.

HDTC also conducts a non-resident course via a mobile training team. The course provides an overview of the HMA program including applicable laws, policies and regulations, international treaties, IMAS, test and evaluation, and concept of operations.

In addition, the center provides program management support, capacity-building training, technical assistance, and demining and stockpiled conventional munitions assistance (SCMA) to partner nations for mine action programs and PSSM administered by the U.S. military’s geographic combatant commands: African Command, Central Command, European Command, Indo-Pacific Command, and Southern Command. When a partner nation is accepted into the Department of Defense mine action program, HDTC deploys program analysts to assess the state of a partner nation’s capability to conduct demining and SCMA. The assessment provides a viable plan with established objectives and outcomes and is a tool used by combatant commands to request OHDACA-funded resources to execute mine action projects. DSCA in consultation with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Special Operations Low Intensity Conflict, Stability and Humanitarian Affairs, and PM/WRA approve mine action and SCMA projects. Subjects cover demining, BAC, EOD, underwater UXO disposal, and PSSM of conventional stockpiled munitions. Training is conducted in accordance with U.S. law and policy, and international guidelines governing mine action, UXO disposal, and PSSM.

HDTC personnel also provide a suite of tools and expertise to perform PSSM, landmine clearance, EOD, and underwater UXO disposal in partnership with other public organizations or private industry. The beneficiaries of this capacity building are junior military officers, non-commissioned officers, and civil servants tasked with conducting mine action. In order to sustain the capabilities of partner nation HMA programs, HDTC, in coordination with PM/WRA, also executes mine action projects to enhance the skills of mine action managers and ministerial or executive level personnel through projects that include seminars and workshops on legal, policy, and programmatic topics at the operational and strategic levels.

HDTC continually improves its management systems and educational services to meet the changing needs of customers and U.S. HMA programs. In FY2021, HDTC spent $15.4 million to execute its vital global mission.

https://home.army.mil/lee/index.php/units-tenants/humanitarian-demining-training-center

U.S. Department of State Quick Reaction Force: Providing Rapid Response to CWD Emergencies Globally

The Quick Reaction Force (QRF) is a team of civilian EOD technical experts that serve as PM/WRA’s first responders to CWD-related emergencies around the world, including munitions depot explosions, ammunition depots at risk of imminent explosion, and ERW that pose significant threats to civilians. These situations require immediate action to secure or dispose of poorly-secured or unstable munitions, prevent loss of life, protect critical infrastructure, and conduct needs assessments for further CWD activities. The QRF can begin to respond to these threats worldwide in as few as 48 hours.

“Too many foreign military depots, even if originally situated in uninhabited locations, have become surrounded by urban growth over the decades,” notes Stanley L. Brown, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs. “In other cases, depots were deliberately built in populated areas. Either way, the aging ammunition in these dangerous depots poses an imminent threat to nearby civilians. Ultimately, it is smarter and more cost-effective to safely remove and demilitarize aging ammunition beforehand than it is to let that ammunition decay, blow up, and result in the loss of life, damage to infrastructure, economic loss, and pollution of surrounding neighborhoods with unstable ammunition spread by the explosions. But when that happens, the QRF serves as the United States’ first responders.”

Golden West Humanitarian Foundation, implementing partner for the QRF, is a U.S. NGO specializing in humanitarian demining, BAC, PSSM, and harvesting explosives to create affordable and effective donor charges.

https://www.state.gov/about-us-office-of-weapons-removal-and-abatement

The Interagency MANPADS Task Force: Building Partnerships to Protect Global Aviation

WHY DO MANPADS MATTER? Since 1970, terrorists and other non-state actors have struck dozens of civilian aircraft with MANPADS, often referred to as shoulder-fired missiles, killing over 1,000 civilians. MANPADS were first developed in the 1960s to help legitimate armed forces defend against air attacks. However, in the hands of terrorists, criminals, or other non-state actors, MANPADS pose a serious threat to civilian and military aircraft around the world. U.S. leadership in CWD and conflict resolution remains critical, as over 90 percent of MANPADS strikes on civilian aircraft occur in conflict zones.

WHAT IS A MANPADS? A MANPADS is typically a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, which consists of a guided missile enclosed in a launch tube, a reusable trigger mechanism (“gripstock”), and a single-use battery or battery-cooling unit. The tube, which protects the missile until it is fired, is disposable. The battery powers the missile’s infrared seeker and other systems for a short period prior to launch. Most MANPADS are 1.4 to 1.6 meters (4.5 feet to 5.5 feet) long, about 72 millimeters (3 inches) in diameter, and weigh between 15 and 18 kilograms (33 to 39 pounds). They can travel at twice the speed of sound and hit aircraft flying as high as 6 kilometers (about 20,000 feet) out to a horizontal range of up to 5 kilometers (3.1 miles). A single individual or crew can carry and fire MANPADS. Their small size makes them easy to transport and conceal. The most common types can fit into an automobile trunk.

WHAT WE ARE DOING: The U.S. Department of State chairs the Interagency MANPADS Task Force (MTF), which focuses on curbing the proliferation of MANPADS in order to protect civil and military aviation. The MTF was formed in 2006 by a White House directive to coordinate comprehensive efforts by government agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Transportation, Homeland Security, and the Intelligence Community to address risks posed by MANPADS in the United States and globally.

• DESTROYING WEAPONS: To prevent future illicit proliferation of MANPADS, the MTF, in collaboration with PM/WRA’s Program Management Division, addresses MANPADS destruction and PSSM through PM/WRA’s CWD program. MTF provides CWD assistance to countries to secure existing stockpiles and destroy excess, unserviceable, or obsolete munitions including MANPADS. In 2021, this included destruction for government authorities in states vulnerable to the influence of non-state armed groups and in countries where our assistance helped ensure older, excess weapons did not find their way to less responsible actors or lead to accidental explosions.
• BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS: The MTF continues to lead bilateral and multilateral coordination to build partners’ understandings of the risks associated with MANPADS, encourage responsible sales, interdict attempted black market sales, and advocate for MANPADS and components destruction and PSSM in Europe, Africa, South America, and the Middle East. The 42 participating members of the Wassenaar Arrangement have agreed to export control measures to curb the illicit transfer of MANPADS. The MTF is strengthening its coordination with the OAS, International Civil Aviation Organization, NATO, and other international organizations to curb illicit transfers and strengthen compliance with international regimes on MANPADS and ATGMs proliferation.
• TRAINING SUBJECT-MATTER EXPERTS: The MTF provides MANPADS Recognition Training (MRT) and training and identification guides to global border security, aviation security, and defense personnel working on the front lines to fight illicit weapons proliferation. Along with MRT, MTF offers a broader Aviation Security training called Countering Aviation Security Ecosystem Threats (CASET). This focuses on a myriad of topics including MANPADS, ATGMs, unmanned aerial systems (drones), low-technology chemical and biological materials, cyber disruption and attacks, and insider threats. Additionally, in coordination with the MTF, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) conducts MANPADS Assist Visits and International MANPADS Outreach and Training Programs that help partner countries understand and mitigate risks from MANPADS and other aviation threats and vulnerabilities. To date TSA has conducted 81 such programs in 51 countries.

https://www.state.gov/about-us-office-of-weapons-removal-and-abatement

PM/WRA’s Accident Review Panel: Gaining Knowledge and Improving Safety

Although members of the HMA community employ a variety of safety protocols to mitigate risk, the unfortunate reality is that in this line of work, accidents happen. Effective accident response is key to learning from mistakes and enhancing the safety of future demining work.

In response to an increase in demining accident reports in 2020, PM/WRA established the Safety and Accountability Working Group to improve safety with implementing partners. The working group identified the need for a more permanent and standardized response to accidents. As a result, a standing Accident Review Panel (ARP) was established in the spring/summer of 2021 to improve reporting and response to accidents, as well as to identify trends that can inform and improve future demining practices. The panel is currently comprised of ten PM/WRA staff.

The ARP is working to standardize PM/WRA’s response to accidents occurring on PM/WRA-funded projects, and to document and track trends in accident data over time. As accident reports are received, the panel will examine the incident to determine if it involved violation of PM/WRA’s grant terms and conditions, and if so, determine if the implementing partner’s proposed remedial actions are likely to prevent recurrence. Depending on the circumstances, the ARP may offer recommendations to the implementing partner involved.

Overall, the HMA community has made great strides to improve operational safety over the years, a process that never ends as technologies, methodologies, and understanding continually evolve. The IMAS includes guidance for accident response, providing standards of compliance and recommendations for ideal accident response, setting the precedent for many in the HMA community. Additionally, HMA organizations including UNMAS, GICHD, CISR, and private accident specialists work toward cultivating better accident responses through investigations and reporting, professional training courses, and databases and repositories that record accidents, incidents, and near misses. Conversations with members of the HMA community indicate that the sector is dedicated to improving safety through high-quality accident response, with a few common themes emerging as potential best practices moving forward: preparedness, quality investigations and response, and cultivating a culture of openness.

The ARP is not intended to duplicate any of these existing efforts. Rather, it has been established to emphasize the United States’ commitment to the safety of all demining personnel on U.S.-funded projects. To ensure transparency, the ARP’s goal is not to conduct independent PM/WRA investigations, but to promote a culture of safety and cooperation. Should the ARP identify the need for additional remedial actions, the panel can suggest potential corrective actions to the Grants Officer and appropriate Grants Manager. While risk cannot be completely eradicated, continually improving accident investigations and reporting can improve safety in the field. PM/WRA’s ARP is the latest example of how the HMA community is dedicating increased resources to this critical need. Broad and sustained commitment to accident preparedness, conducting quality investigations and reporting, and cultivating a culture of openness is key to reducing accidents and enhancing safety in future projects and CWD projects.

Overview

U.S. investments in CWD create lasting security and economic growth across Africa, where explosive hazards hinder travel to and from school and water sources, limiting the safety and socioeconomic growth of local civilian populations. Unexploded ordnance (UXO), or even the suspected presence of explosive hazards, limit agriculture and local economic development in places like Angola. At-risk stockpiles of obsolete or excess state-owned SA/LW pose a risk of fueling violence and threatening civilians if acquired by terrorists, transnational criminal organizations, and other destabilizing actors. U.S. partners across the region are working to reduce the availability of SA/LW and IED components used by terrorists and extremist groups by destroying excess and obsolete munitions. Other programs help secure government arms inventories by building or refurbishing armories and depots, marking weapons for inventory and tracing purposes, and providing training in stockpile management. These initiatives help partner governments improve security sector governance, enhance accountability, and prevent munitions from being lost or stolen.

Angola | Benin | Burkina Faso | Chad | Cote D’Ivoire | Democratic Republic of The Congo | Ethiopia | Guinea-Bissau | Kenya | Malawi | Mali | Mauritania | Niger | Rwanda | Senegal | Somalia | South Sudan | Sudan | Tanzania | Togo | Uganda | Zambia | Zimbabwe

In the year 2021,
> 23 countries in Africa received assistance
> 5,748,947 square meters of land released
> 26,400 individuals received risk education
> 14,036 landmines destroyed
> 8,999 excess SA/LW destroyed
> 2,783 pieces of SAA destroyed
> 2,544 weapons marked
> 27.56 metric tons of stockpiled ammunition destroyed
> 1,640 pieces of UXO destroyed
> 401 individuals trained in PSSM
> 62 munitions storage units built or refurbished
Total U.S. CWD Funding > $25.3 million in FY2021
Total U.S. CWD Funding > $538 million FY1993-FY2021

Total U.S. CWD Funding FY1993-FY2021

1. Guinea-Bissau received regional funding in FY21.
2. The “Sudan and South Sudan” budget line reflects the total funding for Sudan until 2011, when the country split into Sudan and South Sudan. The separate funding lines for “Sudan” and “South Sudan” reflect their respective separate funding totals since 2011.
3. Countries with activities in 2021 that were solely held as part of Global/Multi-country
   USAID funding.

Improving Lives Through U.S. CWD Programs: Clearing and Releasing Land for Living and Prospering in Zimbabwe and South Sudan

Trust Masiya, who is 35 years old, has lived most of his life in his hometown of Chilotlela, Zimbabwe, a village located alongside the Mozambique border near a minefield assigned to APOPO for clearance. Since his early childhood, Masiya remembers the devastating impact the minefield had on his community. Not only did he see victims of the minefield almost every day, but the presence of mines impeded farming and killed numerous cattle owned by community members, devastating their income and livelihoods. When APOPO came to the area and met with his village to inform them they were prioritizing hiring deminers from within the community, he immediately applied. While the steady salary and chance to learn new skills were highly motivational, knowing he was helping the cattle herders and farmers of his village, including his own immediate family to improve their livelihoods, was the most important reason he applied for the job.

Thanks to funding from the U.S. Department of State, Masiya has been working on the high-density legacy minefield since January 2021. Chilotlela was the first settled community along the minefields that APOPO has fully cleared. To date, APOPO has released over one million square meters of suspected hazardous area (SHA) in southern Zimbabwe near the border with Mozambique and plans to finish clearing this area by 2025.

Oworolojore is a village located in Liria Boma of Juba County, South Sudan. The 1998–2005 civil war left behind heavy ERW contamination. Consequently, the villagers were unable to farm, make charcoal for fuel, cut grass, fetch firewood, collect honey, or hunt without fearing for their safety.

Jackline, a 28-year-old mother of two children explains, “I have been cultivating maize, sorghum, and groundnuts within the area and found some bombs as I was planting. This led to a lot of fear to me and my family. When this team from MAG (Mines Advisory Group) came to our village and told us more about the dangers of mines and bombs, as well as how to stay safe in an area like ours, I started to really understand the dangers unexploded bombs and mines pose to people, animals and even vehicles. Now I’m able to report any dangerous object to our chief of the area. I always advise my children not to touch, pick-up or burn any unknown objects because it may be dangerous to them. I also tell them to recognize all the warning signs posted within our community by the MAG team working in our village.”

Working in Liria from May to August 2021, MAG teams funded by the U.S. Department of State provided explosive ordnance risk education to 2,138 beneficiaries and cleared 56,959 square meters (over 14 acres) that benefited 1,329 individuals.

Jackline concludes, “I appreciate the MAG teams for their good job of saving our lives by giving us awareness and clearing our land. I encourage them to continue with their work so that people returning to the area, specifically displaced people who are coming from Uganda and Juba, will not be injured by bombs and mines in our community.”

Angola

Angola is still recovering from over 40 years of conflict that ended in 2002. It continues to be one of the world’s most landmine and ERW-affected countries, with over 84.4 million square meters (20,850 acres) of contaminated land remaining as of late 2020 according to the Mine Action Review’s Clearing the Mines 2021 report.

From 1995 to 2021, the United States invested more than $149.9 million for CWD in Angola. This assistance released over 467 million square meters (115,398 acres) to productive use and destroyed 103,675 landmines, pieces of UXO, and abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO). CWD assistance also destroyed 112,291 excess SA/LW and 610 metric tons of ammunition from government stockpiles, reducing the risk of explosions and illicit diversions.

In 2021, U.S. investments in CWD expanded demining operations in Bié, Cuando Cubango, and Moxico Provinces while continuing to support PSSM programs that strengthened police control over its weapons.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• The HALO Trust (HALO) destroyed 3,566 excess SA/LW and 9.55 metric tons of stockpiled and abandoned ammunition. HALO released 1.7 million square meters through survey and clearance operations, destroying 4,519 landmines and other explosive hazards. HALO’s demining operations in southern Moxico and Cuando Cubango directly support the Government of Angola’s goals for environmental conservation and development of an eco-tourism industry in the Okavango River basin.
• MAG continued to clear minefields in Moxico Province through manual and mechanical demining. These minefields are high priority due to their proximity to populated areas, many of which are experiencing significant population growth and require more land for housing, agriculture, grazing, and other activities. MAG released 1.2 million square meters (296 acres), destroying 1,078 landmines and other ERW. MAG also began a pilot PSSM project in Moxico, Lunda Sul, and Lunda Norte Provinces.

With funding from the Department of Defense, HD R&D, in partnership with MAG, evaluated the Rex, a versatile, lightweight armored excavator modified by the integration of demining attachments. Additionally, the program deployed the GPZ-7000 handheld detector to HALO. HD R&D technologies were used to clear more than 1.86 million square meters (460 acres) of land and destroy 1,290 mines and 152 pieces of UXO since 2006.

Benin

The United States’ partnership with Benin is based on the goals of strengthening democratic institutions and respecting human rights, improving regional security, and assisting Benin to improve the health and prosperity of its people. The condition and security of its government munitions stockpiles remain a concern in Benin. New bilateral cooperation in this area will lead to increased national and regional security.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner (with prior year funds):

• MAG began destroying obsolete and surplus ammunition to reduce the likelihood of diversion and unplanned explosions at munitions sites (UEMS), and training members of the Benin Armed Forces in ammunition destruction.

Burkina Faso

Violent extremist organizations continued to operate in Burkina Faso in 2021 using illicitly-trafficked SA/LW and ammunition. From 2015 to 2021, the United States invested more than $5.4 million in Burkina Faso to improve its PSSM.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner:

• MAG refurbished five weapons storage facilities and marked 2,179 weapons for the gendarmerie, police, and military. They also provided stockpile management and PSSM training to 66 members of the Burkinabe security forces.

Chad

Chad is a key transit point for illicit weapons flowing to and from Libya, and a destination for weapons trafficked illicitly from Sudan. CWD programs help ensure Chadian Government arms and ammunition stockpiles remain secure and serviceable as the Chadian military continues to make substantial efforts, with U.S. support, to counter the threats from extremists.

From 1998 to 2021, the United States invested more than $19.7 million in Chad to destroy excess SA/LW and ammunition, improve PSSM, and clear landmines.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner:

• MAG built or refurbished 22 storage facilities for the military, gendarmerie, and the National and Nomadic Guard. MAG also provided training in stockpile management to 43 personnel, marked 365 weapons, and destroyed six metric tons of excess ammunition and 210 excess SA/LW.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) eastern provinces continue to suffer from intense fighting between non-state actors and government forces. Illicit proliferation of SA/LW and ammunition fuels the fighting, resulting in population displacement, ERW contamination, and a lack of economic development. The conflict also exacerbates public health crises when health workers and humanitarian assistance cannot safely access conflict areas regularly.

From 2002 to 2021, the United States invested more than $40 million in funding for CWD in the DRC, destroying 180,739 SA/LW and 1,807 metric tons of ammunition, as well as upgrading weapons storage facilities and training security force personnel in PSSM. Support for landmine survey and clearance released 607,283 square meters (150 acres) of land to productive use and prevented injuries through explosive ordnance risk education provided to 124,025 individuals.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• MAG delivered four storage containers designed to safely store ammunition to the DRC Armed Forces in Goma.
• DanChurchAid (DCA) released 43,149 square meters (10.7 acres) of land to productive use through HMA in Maniema Province and conducted explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) spot tasks in Maniema and North Kivu Provinces. DCA also provided explosive ordnance risk education to 18,247 civilians.
• POLUS Center provided prosthetics to three conflict survivors and performed 15 follow-on evaluations and repairs for patients previously fitted with prosthetics, continued to develop a survivor assistance association, and provided vocational training to conflict survivors—including coffee processing and agricultural practices, boatbuilding, and woodworking.

Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau declared itself free from known landmine contamination in 2012 with CWD assistance from the United States. However, the condition and security of its government munitions stockpiles remain a concern.

From 2000 to 2021, the United States invested more than $9.9 million in CWD efforts in Guinea-Bissau.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner (with prior year funds):

• HALO destroyed .12 metric tons of stockpiled ammunition and 79 excess SA/LW, constructed or refurbished 12 armories and ammunition stores, and provided PSSM training to 40 security force personnel in armory storekeeping. This program builds off an African Union-sponsored assessment under its Ammunition Management Safety Initiative.

Malawi

The African Union sponsored an assessment of Malawian stockpiles in 2018 under its Ammunition Management Safety Initiative, identifying gaps in security measures and degraded ammunition that poses a high risk of accidental explosion. Based on that initial assessment and the findings of subsequent assessments, between 2019 and 2021, the United States destroyed excess ammunition, upgraded physical infrastructure, and trained Malawian security forces in PSSM standards to prevent diversions and depot explosions.

From 2018 to 2021, the United States invested more than $1.6 million in CWD efforts in Malawi.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner (with prior year funds):

• HALO trained 50 members of the Malawian security forces in PSSM standards and began laying the groundwork for extensive armory and ammunition storehouse construction activities in 2022.

Mali

From 2015 to 2021, the United States invested more than $6.4 million in Mali to improve PSSM of its munitions.

Prior to discontinuing support following the summer 2021 coup, MAG teams funded by the U.S. Department of State helped Malian security forces upgrade management practices for their security and arms inventories for law enforcement personnel while strengthening their capacity to manage the stockpiles effectively.

Mauritania

Most of Mauritania is in the Sahara Desert with remote areas that provide a safe haven for terrorists and the illicit trafficking of SA/LW into the Sahel and beyond. U.S. investment in CWD has helped Mauritanian security forces properly manage weapons and ammunition in secure facilities to prevent diversions to extremists and arms traffickers.

From 1999 to 2021, the United States invested more than $9.1 million in Mauritania. These projects destroyed 3,107 metric tons of ammunition and 300 MANPADS, trained 54 personnel in stockpile management, and built or refurbished 13 storage facilities.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner:

• MAG began a PSSM project to build new explosive storage capacity for serviceable ammunition and provide storekeeper training to Mauritanian security services. MAG will also procure equipment for destruction of obsolete munitions.

Niger

Niger is a key partner in regional and international counterterrorism efforts, including the G5 Sahel, Multi-National Joint Task Force-Niger, and UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in neighboring Mali.

From 2015 to 2021, the United States invested more than $7 million in CWD funding to build or rehabilitate 30 storage facilities, train personnel in PSSM, destroy 15 metric tons of excess ordnance, and mark 6,000 SA/LW belonging to Nigerien security forces.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner:

• MAG began a new PSSM project with Nigerien security forces to prevent the illicit trafficking and diversion of SA/LW.

Senegal

More than 30 years of internal conflict between the Government of Senegal and the separatist Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance left parts of Senegal’s Casamance region impacted by landmines and UXO. The United States first provided demining assistance in Casamance in 2008. Landmine clearance continues to facilitate the Casamance peace process and the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

From 2002 to 2021, the United States invested more than $8.6 million in CWD funding for mine and UXO clearance, explosive ordnance risk education, technical survey (TS) and non-technical survey (NTS) of SHAs, and capacity building.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner (with prior year funds):

• MAG continued an ongoing PSSM project to mitigate the threat to national and regional security and reduce the risk of UEMS in Dakar through relocation of ammunition to a secure depot.

With funding from the Department of Defense, USAFRICOM invested in building the Senegalese Armed Forces’ PSSM capacity to reduce the risk of a catastrophic event from a UEMS. Through the State Partnership Program, the Vermont National Guard provided train-the-trainer sessions to build a cadre of Senegalese instructors who will be able to conduct future PSSM training. The Vermont National Guard and the Senegalese Armed Forces also evaluated ammunition bunkers to ensure previously received training is being applied. Also, a temporary ammunition storage facility in Thies was constructed to move munitions from population-dense Dakar to mitigate the risk of a catastrophic event similar to the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon in August 2020.

Somalia

While much remains to be achieved, the most successful ongoing U.S. CWD engagement in the Horn of Africa region is in Somalia, where our partners are conducting programs to curb the illicit flow of SA/LW as well as to safely clear explosive hazards. Al-Shabaab remains a significant threat to Somalia’s security, stability, and prosperity, controlling territory throughout south and central Somalia. Many weapons in al-Shabaab’s arsenal have been taken from government stockpiles, underscoring the need for improved security and accountability of government-controlled weapons and ammunition. The widespread trafficking of SA/LW and ammunition, including from Yemen, enables al-Shabaab and other non-state actors to carry out attacks and continue destabilizing the Horn of Africa. Additionally, al-Shabaab harvests explosives from unsecured and abandoned munitions storage facilities to create IEDs.

U.S. efforts in Somalia focus on capacity building within the Federal Government of Somalia security forces to properly manage their conventional weapons stockpiles, particularly in south-central Somalia, where the risk of illicit diversion to non-state actors is highest. Since 2016, the United States has also supported mobile weapons and ammunition disposal (WAD) teams to destroy 8,452 unsecured munitions.

From 1998 to 2021, the United States invested more than $37 million in CWD programs in Somalia for PSSM, MANPADS stockpile reduction, HMA, and other programs to promote stability.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner:

• HALO trained 101 personnel in stockpile management and deployed WAD teams to south-central Somalia that destroyed 1,352 explosive pieces and 2,783 pieces of small arms ammunition (SAA). HALO also constructed or refurbished 23 armories for the military and national police.

South Sudan

The majority of landmine and ERW contamination in South Sudan is found in Central, Eastern, and Western Equatoria, Jonglei, Unity, Upper Nile, and Western Bahr El Ghazal States. Landmine and ERW contamination inhibits delivery of humanitarian assistance, impedes development, and poses a physical threat to civilians. In addition, loose SA/LW continue to threaten communities throughout the country and compromise security throughout the region.

In late 2019, CWD programs expanded beyond individual EOD spot tasks and explosive ordnance risk education to include full survey and clearance activities by MAG in Central and Eastern Equatoria States. This restart of systematic clearance efforts reflects a more permissive operating environment in MAG’s specific area of work, despite continued security and access issues elsewhere in the country.

From 2003 to 2010, the United States invested more than $24.4 million in CWD funding in Sudan prior to the creation of South Sudan, directing much of it to what is now South Sudan.

Following South Sudan’s independence, from 2011 to 2021, the United States invested more than $18.9 million directly for mine and UXO removal, survivor assistance, and enhanced stockpile security.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner:

• MAG deployed teams for survey, clearance, and EOD callouts in Central and Eastern Equatoria States, clearing 288 pieces of UXO. MAG also delivered 495 explosive ordnance risk education sessions to 5,899 IDPs and returnees.

Sudan

Long-standing armed conflicts in Sudan over the past decades contaminated large swathes of land with landmines and UXO. While recent ceasefires have decreased the violence, the Sudanese people, especially those displaced by conflict, still require humanitarian assistance. However, widespread landmine and ERW contamination makes humanitarian access dangerous and difficult.

From 2003 to 2010, the United States invested more than $24.4 million in CWD funding in Sudan prior to the creation of South Sudan, directing much of it to what is now South Sudan.

From 2011 to 2021, the United States invested more than $3.4 million in CWD funding in Sudan.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner (with prior year funding):

• United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) began a project that will manage cooperative demining activities between the Sudanese Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North. This will facilitate the UN peace process and the safe use of land previously contaminated with mines and ERW for the Sudanese people and humanitarian organizations.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe still retains dense anti-personnel minefields along its borders with Mozambique that kill and injure civilians and constrain economic development, particularly by killing livestock and preventing agricultural activities. At the end of 2020 the Zimbabwe Mine Action Center reported 34.1 million square meters (8,426 acres) of land were contaminated.

From 1998 to 2021, the United States invested more than $25.7 million for CWD in Zimbabwe. This assistance released 11.6 million square meters (2,866 acres) of contaminated land to productive use and destroyed 51,216 landmines and other explosive hazards.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• HALO continued demining in Mashonaland Central Province. They released 807,316 square meters (199 acres) to productive use, conducted EOD callouts, destroyed 2,475 landmines and UXO, and provided explosive ordnance risk education to 613 individuals. They also provided prosthetics to 10 landmine survivors.
• Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) continued demining operations in Manicaland Province. It released 430,769 square meters (106 acres) to productive use, destroyed 144 landmines and ERW, and provided explosive ordnance risk education to 316 individuals.
• APOPO continued manual demining operations to clear the border Corsan minefield in Masvingo Province. It has released more than 1.4 million square meters (346 acres), destroyed 5,820 landmines and ERW, and provided explosive ordnance risk education to 1,325 individuals.

With funding from the Department of Defense, HD R&D, HALO continued to evaluate a soil-sifting excavator attachment and the dual-sensor HSTAMIDS developed by HD R&D. Additionally, four commercial GPZ-7000 handheld detectors were deployed to partner APOPO in December 2021. HD R&D technologies were used to clear 12,000 mines from more than 1.15 million square meters (284 acres) of land since 2014.

Africa--Regional Programs

Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania contain vast stretches of porous, unguarded borders in which SA/LW proliferation is common. In addition, poorly-secured munitions stockpiles in remote areas, such as near Kenya’s border with Somalia, are attractive targets for exploitation by criminals and terrorists.

To reduce illicit SA/LW proliferation, governments of the Great Lakes region established the Nairobi Protocol in 2004 and subsequently created the Regional Center on Small Arms in the Great Lakes Region, Horn of Africa, and Bordering States (RECSA) to implement the protocol. From 2006 to 2021, the United States provided more than $7.3 million in support of RECSA’s initiatives.

In 2021, CWD funding supported the following initiatives to strengthen stockpile security, increase accountability, and reduce the threat of proliferation:

Kenya: RECSA destroyed 5,144 excess SA/LW and provided a mobile armory to a police unit deployed near the border with Somalia, where there is high risk of attacks by violent extremists. Under a new joint initiative that began in August 2021, HALO and RECSA prepared for further armory construction and trained 35 members of the Kenyan police.

Rwanda: RECSA trained 18 police officers in PSSM. The manufacturer of the hydraulic shears, JMC Recycling Systems, which RECSA had provided to the police in 2020 to facilitate destruction of excess SA/LW, virtually trained six police officers on the operation and maintenance of the machine.

Tanzania: RECSA trained 48 police officers in PSSM, enhancing their standard training by using a PSSM best practices handbook translated into Swahili the previous year.

Africa--Other U.S. Support

As part of a multi-regional program, USAID’s LWVF supported Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to improve access to nutrition and early childhood development services, and supported the World Health Organization (WHO) to integrate rehabilitation into existing healthcare systems in Rwanda. As part of multi-regional programs, USAID continued to support the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to strengthen the rehabilitation sector in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo, and Zambia. USAID also continued to support Results for Development (R4D) to integrate and strengthen rehabilitation services in healthcare systems in Ethiopia; and supported Johns Hopkins University (JHU)-Bloomberg School of Public Health to develop health systems that are responsive to growing needs for rehabilitation across the lifespan in Uganda.

Overview

Thousands of communities across East Asia and the Pacific face lingering dangers from landmines and UXO dating back to the Second World War, Vietnam War, and Indochina Wars. Many Pacific Island nations were the setting of battles between Japan and Allied forces in the 1940s, while in Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam endured warfare from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. Much of the contamination is of U.S. origin, from World War II explosives to the numerous cluster munitions remaining from U.S. bombing campaigns during the Vietnam War. Strong economic growth and population expansion into previously unoccupied areas in the decades since combat ended has continued to expose landmines and UXO, which pose a serious threat to safety and inhibit local economic development.

For over 25 years, U.S. CWD programs have been a key component of our diplomatic outreach to partner countries throughout East Asia and the Pacific. U.S. investments in landmine and UXO clearance operations save lives, deepen diplomatic ties, and open new economic opportunities—especially in the food security and agricultural sectors as formerly contaminated farmland is safely released to area residents.

Since 1993, the U.S. CWD program has invested more than $738 million in the East Asia and Pacific region for explosive ordnance clearance, explosive ordnance risk education, assistance for survivors of landmine and UXO accidents, local capacity building so partners can manage their long-term contamination risks, and improving munitions stockpile security.

Burma | Cambodia | Laos | Palau | Thailand | Timor-Leste | Vietnam

In the year 2021,
> 7 countries in East Asia and the Pacific received assistance
> 193,560,405 square meters of CHA positively identified
> 101,706,102 square meters of land released
> 96,015 pieces of UXO and AXO destroyed
> 10,681 EOD callouts
> 6,783 SAA destroyed
> 2,526 anti-personnel mines destroyed
> 51 anti-tank mines destroyed
> 46.0 metric tons of excess munitions destroyed
Total U.S. CWD Funding > $72.1 million in FY2021
Total U.S. CWD Funding > $738 million FY1993-FY2021

Total U.S. CWD Funding FY1993-FY2021

1. In FY21 Palau received regional funding from the U.S. Department of State.

Improving Lives Through U.S. CWD Programs: ERW Clearance in Southeast Asia--Creating Food Security and Economic Growth

Sadly, many people in Southeast Asia are unable to provide food for their families because of the persistent threat of ERW and landmines. As a result of decades of conflict, vast swaths of land that could be used to produce food and fuel economic growth remain littered with explosive hazards. The significant potential bounty of contaminated farmland makes survey and clearance of these agricultural areas a top priority to promote food security and economic growth in the region. The United States is funding ERW and landmine clearance, as well as explosive ordnance risk education, to help local populations realize that potential.

Some have already learned to identify and avoid ERW. But others have not. Mrs. Morlao, a farmer in Laos explains, “I found bombs when I first started farming my land and prepared the ground to plant sweet corn. I didn’t know they were dangerous and could kill me or my children. When the MAG team showed me photographs of different types of bombs, I recognized them from my land, and reported them.”

Along with other implementing partners, MAG surveys and clears the land, and provides explosive ordnance risk education. To date, MAG has educated 16,096 individuals in Laos to identify cluster munitions and other ERW and report them to the appropriate authorities so they can be safely removed by experts.

Mr. Xiengheuang, a farmer in the Xiang Khoang province of Laos, said that after the war his use of his family’s farmland was extremely limited. “We were forced to grow food on contaminated land, but we only used a small part, had to work slowly, and only produced enough for our family,” he said.

Decades later in 2020, MAG cleared Mr. Xiengheuang’s farmland and discovered 27 cluster munitions remnants—or “bombies” as they’re referred to locally—contaminating his land. In doing so, MAG released 55,872 square meters (nearly 14 acres) of land to Mr. Xiengheuang. “After clearance we are more confident to carry out our daily life, especially gardening and farming,” said Mr. Xiengheuang. “We can produce more food because we have been able to expand the paddy fields and earn more income to support our family, particularly our children.”

When Sok Rothea and Tin Navin, a married couple of 10 years, lost their urban-based jobs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, they moved back to their family’s land in Chamkar Chek village in Cambodia—a decision they hesitated to make prior to the pandemic because they feared the explosive hazards on their land. Cambodia’s agricultural production is sharply limited due to the impact of ERW and landmines.

Not long after returning to their land, HALO, with U.S. funding, began clearing the area of ERW and landmines, returning formerly contaminated land to local populations.

“[Now] we are growing cashew trees and bananas on the cleared land,” Sok Rothea said. “After the land was cleared, we were very happy, and we started to plant shortly after. We were excited to enter our land for the first time. In a few years we will be able to get some cashews and the output/harvest will slowly increase because it is a long-term crop. I know people who earn good money from their cashew crop. When we harvest the cashews, I will have some money to start a shop at my home and my husband can look after the chicken farm on our cleared land.”

Cambodia

Cambodia faces a wide range of ERW risks in addition to extensive minefields that were laid by the Khmer Rouge, Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, Vietnamese, and Thai militaries during the Indochina Wars and Vietnamese occupation. The United States also conducted air strikes during the Vietnam War over the eastern and northeastern regions and along the Vietnamese border, leaving behind significant ERW contamination in those areas. Additional factional fighting that ended in 1999 also contributed to ERW throughout Cambodia.

The United States funds ERW and landmine survey and clearance operations through several implementing partners, and supports Cambodia Mine Action Center (CMAC) clearance teams.

From 1993 to 2021, the United States invested more than $180 million for CWD programs in Cambodia that cleared mines and ERW and supported national capacity development.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• Golden West Humanitarian Foundation (Golden West), in partnership with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), continued its cost-effective explosive harvesting program, which utilizes explosive material from Cambodia’s excess munitions stockpiles and repurposes it for use in the demolition of landmines and UXO found and removed by HMA organizations. In 2021, Golden West disposed of over 45.9 metric tons of munitions, creating over 10,500 demolition charges to be used by HMA operators throughout Cambodia.
• Golden West also worked with the RCAF to build national capacity in weapons and ammunition management, providing training to six personnel across two training courses at the RCAF military technical academy.
• HALO continued to deploy clearance teams in some of the densest anti-personnel and anti-tank minefields in the K-5 mine belt in northwestern Cambodia, releasing more than 4.8 million square meters (1,186 acres) of land. As a part of this project, HALO destroyed 1,096 anti-personnel landmines, 26 anti-tank mines, 213 UXO, and conducted 508 EOD callouts.
• Landmine Relief Fund concluded its U.S.-funded project with Cambodia Self-Help Demining (CSHD) as it conducted clearance and explosive ordnance risk education in small villages in northwestern Cambodia. CSHD released 168,621 square meters (41.6 acres) of land under this project, destroying 196 anti-personnel landmines, 499 UXO, and conducting 213 EOD callouts.
• Humanity and Inclusion (HI) succeeded Landmine Relief Fund in oversight of the CSHD project to further develop CSHD HMA expertise. HI also completed a five-year development strategy, created long-term risk protocols, and oversaw clearance and EOD spot tasks. As a part of this project, CSHD released 961,075 square meters (237 acres) of land while destroying 775 anti-personnel landmines, 11 anti-tank mines, 1,687 UXO, and conducting 803 EOD callouts.
• MAG survey and clearance teams continued to address landmine and cluster munition contamination throughout Cambodia. In 2021 MAG released more than 5.1 million square meters (1,265 acres) of land to local populations in eastern and western provinces and identified more than 11.7 million square meters (2,901 acres) of confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) through cluster munitions remnant survey (CMRS). During these operations MAG teams destroyed 366 anti-personnel landmines, 2,252 UXO, and conducted 1,546 EOD callouts.
• NPA continued its partnership with CMAC on survey and clearance in eastern Cambodia. NPA also deployed teams in Ratanakiri Province, identifying more than 69 million square meters (17,075 acres) of CHAs through CMRS and releasing 22.4 million square meters (5,535 acres). This included destroying 52 anti-personnel landmines, one anti-tank mine, 14,526 UXO, and conducting 1,541 EOD callouts.

With funding from the Department of Defense,

• HD R&D partnered with HALO, MAG, and NPA to continue evaluating the Armored Remote-Control Chase Vehicle, the Badger tracked excavator, the Bearcat vegetation clearance system, HSTAMIDS detectors, Mini and Medium MineWolf tilling systems, Nemesis and Rex tools, Rambo demining support vehicles, Scorpion UXO detection systems, Traxx remote area preparation platforms, VMX10 UXO detector, wet soil sifting excavator attachments, tracking devices, and the Little Storm rough terrain system. HD R&D technologies were used to clear more than 42 million square meters (10,378 acres) of land and 45,328 mines and UXO to date.
• U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) supported Cambodia to reduce the social, economic, and environmental impact from landmine and ERW contamination through the detection and clearance of landmines and ERW, and assisted landmine survivors with casualty care by furnishing HMA-related equipment, education, training, and technical assistance.

Laos

Laos has the highest contamination of UXO in the world, a majority of which is from U.S. aerial bombing campaigns during the Vietnam War. U.S. origin cluster munitions from this era remain in most of the country’s 17 provinces. UXO continues to prevent land from being used for agriculture, hindering economic growth for many farmers and landowners. The United States has increased funding to Laos substantially over the past five years, accelerating survey operations to help guide increased U.S.-funded clearance capacity.

From 1995 to 2021, the United States invested more than $310 million in CWD programs in Laos that supported survey and clearance activities, explosive ordnance risk education, survivor assistance, and capacity development.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• HALO continued large-scale survey and clearance operations in Savannakhet Province. HALO released 3.3 million square meters (819.9 acres) of land and conducted CMRS identifying more than 23.5 million square meters (5,806 acres) of CHAs, destroyed 9,505 UXO and 14 anti-personnel landmines, and conducted 749 EOD callouts.
• Tetra Tech continued its U.S.-funded partnership with UXO Lao on survey, clearance, and technical support, as well as managerial and technical support to the National Regulatory Authority, which oversees all ERW and demining-related activities in Laos. The United States via Tetra Tech funded UXO Lao survey and clearance teams to return 14 million square meters (3,459 acres) of land to local populations. UXO Lao also conducted CMRS to identify more than 23.8 million square meters (5,881 acres) of CHAs, destroyed 12 anti-personnel landmines and 17,800 ERW, and conducted 421 EOD callouts. The U.S. also funded UXO Lao operations at its headquarters and in Luang Prabang, Houaphan, Khammouane, Savannakhet, Salavan, and Attapeu Provinces.
• The Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR) began a comprehensive study to identify improvements and best practices for implementing partners’ monitoring and evaluation and curriculum of explosive ordnance risk education programs.
• MAG continued to deploy survey and clearance teams in Xieng Khouang Province, releasing more than 5.8 million square meters (1,433 acres) of land to productive use while destroying four anti-personnel landmines, 13,414 UXO, and conducting 1,346 EOD callouts.
• NPA continued survey and clearance operations in Champasak, Sekong, Salavan, and Attapeu Provinces, releasing more than 7.1 million square meters (1,754 acres) of land to local populations. NPA teams also conducted CMRS, identifying more than 1.5 million square meters (371 acres) of CHAs, destroyed one anti-tank mine, and 10,698 UXO.
• World Education, Inc. continued integrating explosive ordnance risk education within the primary-school curriculum and provided comprehensive case management and assistance for UXO victims.

With previous year funding from USAID, the LWVF continued supporting World Education, Inc. to improve and sustain the independent living and functional ability of persons with disabilities.

Palau

Many of Palau’s islands are contaminated with ERW remaining from World War II. From 2009 to 2021, the United States invested $5.4 million in CWD in Palau.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner (with prior year funds):

• NPA continued work with the Government of Palau to create a sustainable ERW clearance program and respond to ongoing ERW challenges. This included clearing CHAs according to the national UXO survey plan, conducting ERW surveys, and building the national capacity of the Palau Government to manage ERW issues on its own. In 2021, 54,121 square meters (13.4 acres) were released to productive use. U.S.-funded teams also destroyed three UXO, 864 AXO pieces, and conducted nine EOD callouts.

With funding from the Department of Defense, HD R&D, through a partnership with NPA, continued to evaluate the Mobile Bomb Cutter. To date, the cutter has destroyed 2,116 pieces of World War II-era UXO.

Vietnam

Vietnam remains heavily contaminated after 30 years of conflict from the Indochina Wars and the Vietnam War. U.S. support funds mine and UXO survey and clearance, but a significant amount of funding also goes towards capacity building of the country’s provincial mine action authorities and its national demining organization, the Vietnam National Mine Action Center (VNMAC). U.S.-funded BAC activities are focused on the central provinces of Quang Tri and Quang Binh, the areas with the highest U.S.-origin contamination. Along with a technical advisor, information management support, and HMA capacity building, the United States is assisting Vietnam to lay the foundation for an impact-free Vietnam that can operate independently of U.S. assistance.

From 1993 to 2021, the United States invested more than $185 million for CWD programs in Vietnam that cleared mines and UXO, provided explosive ordnance risk education and survivor assistance, and supported national capacity development.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• Catholic Relief Services continued its multi-year project focused on explosive ordnance risk education in primary and secondary schools. As a result, provincial governments included explosive ordnance risk education integration guidelines in the compulsory curriculum for all primary and secondary schools.
• MAG continued survey and clearance operations aimed at making Quang Tri safe from known UXO, releasing more than 19.3 million square meters (4,769 acres) back to local populations. MAG also destroyed 6,519 UXO, 5,463 SAA, and conducted 525 EOD callouts.
• Additionally, MAG continued to lead a consortium with NPA and PeaceTrees Vietnam in conducting survey and clearance operations in Quang Binh. In total, the three organizations released more than 6.2 million square meters (1,532 acres) in Quang Binh, conducted CMRS to identify more than 12.8 million square meters (3,162 acres) of CHAs, destroyed five anti-personnel landmines, 5,395 UXO, 926 SAA, and conducted 1,201 EOD callouts.
• NPA continued to support comprehensive survey and clearance aimed at making Quang Tri safe from known ERW and mines. It released more than 5.5 million square meters (1,359 acres) of land back to local populations and identified more than 44.3 million square meters (10,946 acres) of CHAs through CMRS. NPA also destroyed 12 anti-tank mines, 8,240 UXO, 12 AXO, 394 SAA, and conducted 711 EOD callouts.
• NPA continued to support capacity development of VNMAC through a technical advisor and support to the information management unit. Additionally, NPA continued its clearance alongside VNMAC clearance teams in Hue Province, releasing 534,466 square meters (132 acres) of land to communities in Hue while destroying 631 UXO and conducting 40 EOD callouts. NPA completed the clearance of Hamburger Hill, the site of a Vietnam War battle in Hue Province.
• PeaceTrees Vietnam continued to field EOD response and UXO survey and clearance teams along the heavily contaminated Quang Tri provincial border with Laos, releasing more than six million square meters (1,483 acres) of land and identifying more than 6.4 million square meters (1,598 acres) of CHA through CMRS. PeaceTrees also destroyed six anti-personnel landmines, 3,757 UXO, and conducted 1,068 EOD callouts.

With funding from the Department of Defense,

• HD R&D continued to partner with NPA to evaluate the Scorpion UXO detection system and a Bearcat vegetation clearance system, and with MAG to evaluate two area preparation vegetation removal attachments and a rotary sifter for mine and UXO clearance. HD R&D technologies were used in the clearance of 6,762 mines and UXO from more than 2.2 million square meters (546 acres) of land to date.
• USINDOPACOM supported Vietnam to reduce the social, economic, and environmental impact of landmines and ERW through their detection and clearance, and assisted mine survivor casualty care by furnishing HMA-related equipment, education, training, and technical assistance.

As part of multi-regional programs, USAID’s LWVF supported the ICRC to strengthen Vietnam’s rehabilitation sector, and the WHO to integrate rehabilitation into existing healthcare systems.

East Asia and Pacific--Regional Programs

Numerous Asia-Pacific countries continued to receive U.S. support through the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), which builds on previous risk management work to assist authorities in these countries in conducting long-term risk management. These risk assessments seek to address both the physical risks from ERW and to build national capacity of mine action authorities and governments to create long-lasting success for managing ERW and landmine contamination.

East Asia and Pacific--Other U.S. Support

With funding from the Department of Defense,

• Thailand: HD R&D, in partnership with the Thailand Mine Action Center, continued to evaluate the Mini MineWolf, an earth-tilling system developed by HD R&D capable of clearing anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines, as well as an Armored Remote Control Chase Vehicle. USINDOPACOM supported Thailand to reduce the social, economic, and environmental impact of landmines and ERW through their detection and clearance and assisted mine survivor casualty care by furnishing HMA-related equipment, education, training, and technical assistance.
• Timor-Leste: USINDOPACOM tasked U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific to enhance Timor-Leste’s EOD capability by conducting train-the-trainer instruction on site survey, training lane/training support construction, TS and NTS, and mentorship, including skill development, program assessment, and advice on capacity development. USINDOPACOM assisted mine survivor casualty care by furnishing HMA-related equipment, education, training, and technical assistance.

With previous year funding from USAID, the LWVF continued several projects in Burma. The United Nations Office for Project Services worked to ensure civilian victims of conflict and persons with disabilities have access to health, rehabilitation, and assistive technology services, and provide support to their families and communities. Development Alternatives, Inc., worked to help communities in conflict-affected areas improve access to essential services, recover from strife, improve resilience, and participate in the national reconciliation processes, and JHU-Bloomberg School of Public Health worked to develop health systems that are responsive to needs for rehabilitation across the patient lifespan as part of a multi-regional program. Funding for these projects will not be continued due to the February 1, 2021 coup d’etat.

Overview

The United States continues to support regional security and build national capacity in Eastern Europe by investing in efforts to reduce illicit transfers of SA/LW; prevent accidental detonations at depots storing older and chemically unstable ammunition; clear landmines and ERW in the Balkans left from the Yugoslav Wars; and help safely clear landmines and ERW resulting from Russia’s ongoing aggression in eastern Ukraine.

In 2021, the U.S. CWD program marked a significant milestone with the completion of the Mine Free Sarajevo project, enabling Bosnia and Herzegovina to declare four municipalities, including the city of Sarajevo, as mine free. In Kosovo, efforts continue to clear cluster munitions, while Serbia is concentrating on reducing its excess munitions stockpiles, and work continues on security upgrades at depots in Albania. Funding by the United States and other donors has freed much of Southeast Europe from the impact of landmines and ERW, while also making significant progress in reducing the region’s stockpiles of aging and excess munitions.

Albania | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Croatia | Georgia | Kosovo | Moldova | Montenegro | North Macedonia | Serbia | Ukraine

In the year 2021,
> 10 countries in Europe received assistance
> 9,098,374 square meters of land released
> 32,480 individuals received risk education
> 1,913 metric tons of excess and aging munitions destroyed
> 17 survivors of conflict received prosthetics
Total U.S. CWD Funding > $22.8 million in FY 2021
Total U.S. CWD Funding >$511 million FY1993-FY2021

Total U.S. CWD Funding FY1993-FY2021

1. Serbia and Montenegro split into two countries in 2007.

Improving Lives Through U.S. CWD Programs: Clearing Land to Raise Sheep in Kosovo

Bare is a small village of 413 people in the northeast part of the Mitrovica Municipality in Kosovo. The main source of income for the inhabitants is agriculture, particularly cattle and sheep breeding. During the war in 1999 several locations in the village were hit with cluster bombs by NATO. Some of the cluster sub-munitions failed to explode and remained in place, which prevented many residents from safely using their farmland. In 2018, with funding from the U.S. Government, NPA began BAC in the village. Since then, NPA has released almost 850,000 square meters (210 acres) through BAC, finding 25 cluster munitions remnants and other UXO.

Ruzhdi Xhafa, a 53-year-old farmer, lives in Bare with his wife Ruki and four of their daughters. The family owns part of the land where NPA found and cleared five cluster munitions remnants in 2019. After the land was cleared, they were able to return to grazing livestock. The Xhafas began breeding sheep in 2008 with a herd of 20. Now they own four cows and between 150 and 200 sheep. The family’s only source of income is the sale of sheep, meat, and dairy products.

“Now we know all the sheep will return safe from grazing. We do not worry any more when we send them out there” says Ruzhdi Xhafa to NPA’s Community Liaison Team.“My family, all of us, would like to thank all those who made our environment safer both for us and our cattle. We feel safe as the threat for us and the cattle is removed. We keep the sheep indoors in late fall and winter but as soon as the spring comes, we will keep sending them for grazing to our land. Also, now that our land is accessible and safe to use, we feel much more relaxed regarding our economic stability. We can send the cattle there for grazing, and we can safely collect wild fruits, which grow abundantly in our forests.” Ruzhdi Xhafa concludes.

Albania

Albania declared itself mine free in 2009 but UXO remaining at some former military ranges and depot explosion sites, known in Albania as UXO hotspots, continues to pose a threat.

From 2000 to 2021, the United States invested more than $51.4 million in Albania for CWD efforts that included hotspot clearance, stockpile security enhancements, and munitions disposal projects.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• United Nations Development Program’s South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (UNDP/SEESAC) made additional security upgrades at the Ministry of Interior facility in Mullet, continuing work begun in 2020 to bring it into compliance with international standards and facilitate safer and more secure weapons storage by the Albanian State Police.
• ITF Enhancing Human Security (ITF) initiated a PSSM project to safely dispose of waste generated by prior disposal of conventional weapons and ammunition.

With funding from the Department of Defense, U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) and the New Jersey National Guard completed an International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) EOD Level 3 train-the-trainer course. Through Golden West, the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) continued infrastructure renovations at two munitions storage locations (Miraka and the Engineer Battalion Tirana). The upgrades consisted of security fencing, perimeter security lighting, and renovating explosive storehouses. This is in addition to supplies, equipment, and on the job training and mentorship to safely transport, store, and inspect munitions. EUCOM also continued mentorship in Class V Accounting Systems, Introduction to Risk Management, and Basic Introduction to Ammunition and PSSM. Mentorship, including skill development, program assessment, and advice on capacity development was also provided to the Ministry of Defense.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Over 20 years after the breakup of Yugoslavia and subsequent regional conflicts, Bosnia and Herzegovina remains heavily contaminated with landmines and ERW. Most remaining minefields are in formerly contested areas along the separation line between Bosnia and Herzegovina’s two political entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. As of late 2021, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Center (BHMAC) estimated that more than 922 million square meters (227,831 acres) of its territory remained either SHAs or CHAs.

From 1996 to 2021, the United States invested more than $128 million in CWD assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina for landmine clearance, explosive ordnance risk education to warn of explosive hazards and prevent injuries, survivor assistance, and munitions stockpile destruction.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• ITF, in partnership with the Mine Detection Dog Center in Bosnia and Herzegovina (MDDC) and the Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI) successfully completed the Mine Free Sarajevo project, covering four municipalities, including the city of Sarajevo. This project enabled the safe return of more than 2.1 million square meters (519 acres) of land back to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina utilizing land release methodology in 2021.
• ITF released more than one million square meters (247 acres) of land to productive use through manual demining or TS throughout the country by utilizing local, private companies working in close coordination with U.S. Embassy Sarajevo and BHMAC.
• The United States partnered with the Government of Germany to support ITF in enabling the safe return of 654,510 square meters (161 acres) of land through manual clearance and TS.
• MAG continued land release projects, releasing 796,180 square meters (196 acres) to local communities.
• MDDC completed a land release project in Tešanj Municipality, releasing 523,000 square meters (129 acres) of land to the Oraš Planje community.
• MLI also continued its Children Against Mines Program (CHAMPS). Through CHAMPS, MLI provided explosive ordnance risk education to warn of ERW and landmines and prevent injuries to over 32,480 individuals, provided 17 landmine survivors with prosthetics and rehabilitative care, and connected schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina with schools in the United States as a part of the broader CHAMPS explosive ordnance risk education project. Participating schools in the United States included: The Laboratory Charter School (Philadelphia, PA); North Mianus School (Greenwich, CT); John Moffet School (Philadelphia, PA); and the Glenelg Country School (Ellicott City, MD).
• In coordination with the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina and U.S. Embassy Sarajevo, Tetra Tech destroyed 87.6 metric tons (395,061 pieces) of excess and obsolete munitions.

With funding from the Department of Defense HD R&D program, MAG continued to evaluate the Rambo demining team support vehicle and the Target Reacquisition and Positioning System to facilitate project planning, supervision, and mapping. The Rambo support vehicles helped MAG clear 1,126 mines from 778,124 square meters (over 192 acres) to date from minefields in areas of rough terrain inaccessible to larger commercial demining vehicles.

Croatia

Many communities in Croatia are still affected by legacy landmines and ERW contamination from the Yugoslav Wars of 1991–2001. Croatia maintains a robust commercial demining sector, which provides services in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. The Croatian Government funds most demining projects, in addition to research and development for demining-related technologies. Croatia also possesses a sizeable stockpile of conventional arms and ammunition inherited from the Yugoslav national military that exceeds its national defense requirements. Much of this material is beyond its useful life, is at risk for accidental detonation, and requires urgent destruction or demilitarization.

From 1999 to 2021, the United States provided more than $43.2 million for CWD in Croatia.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner (with prior year funds):

• ITF worked with Croatia’s Ministry of Defense to demilitarize or destroy 480.3 metric tons (40,926 pieces) of its excess and aging ammunition.

With funding from the Department of Defense, Naval Forces Europe (NAVEUR) EOD Mobile Units provided International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) EOD Level 2 Phase 3 train-the-trainer instruction to Croatian Ministry of Defense EOD forces in Split. These events increased Croatian capability to train its forces and were essential to continuing to EOD Level 3+ Underwater EOD. NAVEUR also continued renovating the National Humanitarian Demining Training Center in Split. This upgrade will provide a gender inclusive training center for HMA EOD, SCUBA Diver, and Underwater UXO/ERW Clearance training, and an EOD training range.

Georgia

Georgia inherited large stockpiles of deteriorating legacy Soviet munitions that are now over 30-years-old. It also remains contaminated with landmines and UXO from the conflicts in its South Ossetia (1988–1992) and Abkhazia (1992–1993) regions, and the 2008 conflict with Russia. This is concentrated along the boundary lines between these regions and around former Soviet military bases. In November 2011, HALO declared all 336 known minefields in Abkhazia to be mine free, thanks in large part to U.S. assistance.

From 1998 to 2021, the United States provided more than $45.1 million in CWD programs in Georgia aimed at training, safe disposal of mines and UXO, and destruction of excess and aging conventional weapons and ammunition.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner (with prior year funds):

• ITF worked with Georgia’s Ministry of Defense to improve arms stockpile management standards and destroyed 48.9 metric tons of excess and aging ammunition.

With funding from the Department of Defense, EOD teams from the Minnesota Air National Guard observed a Georgian EOD led IMAS EOD Level 1 course delivered to new Georgian EOD forces. Ammunition subject matter experts from the (U.S) Georgia National Guard completed an International Ammunition Technical Guidelines (IATG) compliant PSSM Explosive Limit Licensing and Site Planning Course and Mentorship with the Georgian Ministry of Defense General Staff. EUCOM also continued infrastructure renovations at the Vartsikhe munitions central storage location. The upgrades include security fencing, equipment, and on the job training to safely transport, store, and inspect munitions. The National Guard also provided mentorship, including skill development, program assessment, and advice on capacity development and on the development of a Class V (Ammunition) automated accounting system. National Guard personnel worked closely with the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior on the initial development of Georgia’s new National Regulations on Ammunition and Explosive Safety to align them with the IATG and best practices.

As part of multi-country funding from USAID, the LWVF supported Results for Development to integrate and strengthen rehabilitation services in existing healthcare systems. With previous year funding, LWVF continued supporting the Emory University School of Medicine to expand civilian access to quality, affordable physical rehabilitation services and assistive technologies, and the WHO to integrate rehabilitation into existing healthcare systems as part of a multi-regional program.

Kosovo

UXO contamination in Kosovo resulted primarily from the conflict between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo Liberation Army in the late 1990s, and later between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO forces in 1999.

From 1996 to 2021, the United States provided more than $44.1 million in CWD assistance to Kosovo for TS, NTS, and BAC.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• HALO released 550,479 square meters (136 acres) of land to local populations by conducting survey and BAC.
• NPA released 438,873 square meters (108 acres) of land to local communities by performing survey and BAC activities.

With funding from the Department of Defense,

• HD R&D, through a partnership with HALO, cleared 515,098 square meters (127 acres) of land and removed 44 landmines since 2016 using HSTAMIDS dual-head mine detectors, the Scorpion UXO Detection System, and newly deployed commercial detectors.
• USAFE completed IMAS EOD Level 2 Phase 3 train-the-trainer instruction with the Kosovo Security Forces. Also, EUCOM and experts from USAFE, Special Operations Command Europe, Golden West, and the GICHD’s Ammunition Management Advisory Team provided a two-day International Armaments and Technical Guide Advisory Panel to Kosovo Security Forces personnel that provided examples, case studies, and options for creating a national ammunition management capacity in Kosovo.

Montenegro

Montenegro’s UXO contamination stems from the conflicts during the breakup of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and from U.S. and NATO air strikes between March and June 1999. It also has substantial stockpiles of aging ammunition that are excess to its defense needs and beyond their useful life.

From 2007 to 2021, the United States invested more than $12.5 million in CWD efforts in Montenegro to support munitions disposal and stockpile security improvements in addition to landmine and UXO clearance programs.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner (with prior year funds):

• ITF continued a PSSM project to reduce national stockpiles of excess and obsolete small arms and ammunition, improve munitions storage facilities, and provide EOD training for Ministry of Interior personnel. In 2021, ITF demilitarized 58.6 metric tons of ammunition.

Serbia

Serbia’s landmine and UXO contamination is the result of the Yugoslav Wars of 1991–2001 and NATO air strikes targeting military sites during the 1999 Kosovo conflict. In addition to UXO, landmine contamination persists along Serbia’s shared border with Kosovo. As of December 2021, 561,800 square meters (138 acres) of land remain as CHAs or SHAs with landmines in the municipality of Bujanovac. Cluster munition contamination remains confirmed or suspected in three municipalities for a total area of 997,622 square meters (246 acres). Serbia also faces additional risks of illicit proliferation and UEMS of the large stockpiles of ammunition it inherited from the former Yugoslav National Army.

From 2007 to 2021, the United States invested more than $24.8 million in CWD efforts in Serbia, supporting SA/LW and ammunition destruction programs and reducing landmine and UXO contamination.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• ITF utilized local, private companies to clear and release more than 1.6 million square meters (395 acres) of land in Bujanovac, Niš, Raška, Sjenica, and Tutin that was formerly contaminated with cluster munitions and landmines.
• NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) utilized the Tehnički Remontni Zavod Kragujevac munitions demilitarization facility to dispose of 52.6 metric tons of surplus ammunition from Serbian Ministry of Defense stockpiles.
• UNDP/SEESAC continued safety and security enhancements of the Ministry of Interior’s Duvanište storage site.

With funding from the Department of Defense, USAFE conducted two pre-deployment site surveys in preparation for an IMAS EOD train-the-trainer event.

Ukraine

Ukraine continues to address the legacy of the massive quantities of conventional arms and ammunition it inherited after the dissolution of the Soviet Union thirty years ago. In 2005, NSPA estimated Ukraine held as many as seven million SA/LW and as much as two million metric tons of ammunition in more than 80 depots. Most of these munitions are excess, aging, potentially unstable, and no longer suitable for use. They represent a significant security and proliferation threat domestically, regionally, and globally. In October 2018, major explosions at the Ichnya ammunition depot in Chernihiv Oblast resulted in mass evacuations and power outages. In September 2019, a fire set off six UEMS in the Vinnytsya region southwest of Kyiv. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

As of the end of 2021, the eight-year-long conflict with Russia-led forces in eastern Ukraine had resulted in a line of contact between the Ukrainian Government and the anti-government forces that Russia arms, trains, leads, and fights alongside. The line of contact running through the Donetsk and Luhansk regions suffers from extensive landmine and ERW contamination. These explosive hazards pose a major threat to thousands of Ukrainians living in the conflict area. In 2021, there were 34 civilian and 51 military explosive hazard-related deaths, and 17 civilian and four military explosive hazard-related injuries in eastern Ukraine.

From 2004 to 2021, the United States provided more than $77.3 million for SA/LW and ammunition destruction, as well as BAC in Ukraine.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• HALO released 680,423 square meters (168 acres) of land to local communities. HALO also conducted eight explosive ordnance risk education sessions in eastern Ukraine.
• Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding (HDP) continued to enhance the capacity of State Emergency Services personnel to conduct IMAS-compliant operations. Standard operating procedures for quality assurance/quality control with an associated training curriculum were developed and validated. HDP also began clearance operations, which released 273,364 square meters (67 acres) of land to local populations in government-controlled areas.
• Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) continued clearance operations, releasing 404,897 square meters (100 acres) of land back to local populations in government-controlled areas, while continuing to train Ukrainian Ministry of Defense personnel in HMA quality management. FSD also provided outreach to populations along the line of control, conducting 671 explosive ordnance risk education sessions to prevent injuries and deaths.
• GICHD continued to assist the Ukrainian Government with the creation of a national mine action authority to coordinate and oversee HMA activities throughout Ukraine. This included deploying an information management technical advisor to build Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) capacity and conduct training on NTS methods, operational efficiency, and IMAS.
• The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Project Coordinator Unit continued advising the Government of Ukraine on the national mine action authority and coordinating with relevant mine action stakeholders.
• The OSCE, with U.S. funding, continued its role in enhancing the SA/LW and EOD capabilities of the Ukrainian National Police.
• The United States funded the destruction and demilitarization of 1,186 metric tons of munitions via the NATO Partnership for Peace Trust Fund, with NSPA as its implementing partner. Through the trust fund, the United States and Germany continued to fund an e-management system for ammunition and SA/LW, which will enhance and modernize the management of the Ministry of Defense’s conventional weapons and ammunition stockpiles. In addition, the United States also funded the modernization of testing laboratories to enhance the lifecycle maintenance for ammunition, as well as procuring machines to organize, classify, and store their conventional munitions. This increased storage facility capacity to implement NATO-standard hazard classification, organization, and munitions storage. The United States is the lead nation for the trust fund, which demilitarizes and destroys obsolete and unstable munitions to lower the risk of UEMS and reduce the security threat they pose.
• HALO continued infrastructure upgrades at a Ministry of Defense munitions storage facility to help Ukraine more safely and securely store their munitions stockpiles to international standards.

With funding from the Department of Defense,

• HD R&D, through a partnership with HALO, deployed the Harrow Magnet area preparation and clearance system. HALO also continued to evaluate the Traxx remote vegetation clearance system, which has cleared 576,318 square meters (142 acres) of land to date.
• U.S. Army Europe and Africa conducted a pre-deployment site survey in preparation for an IMAS EOD Level 3 train-the-trainer event.

As part of multi-regional programs, USAID’s LWVF supported JHU-Bloomberg School of Public Health to develop health systems that are responsive to growing needs for rehabilitation across the lifespan. With prior year funding they continued supporting Momentum for Humanity (formerly United Cerebral Palsy/Wheels for Humanity) to strengthen the delivery of rehabilitation services; and the WHO to integrate and strengthen rehabilitation services in existing healthcare systems.

Europe--Other U.S. Support

With funding from the Department of Defense, the United States provided support for CWD in the following countries,

• Moldova: U.S. forces observed a Moldovan EOD-led IMAS EOD Level 1 course provided to new Moldovan EOD personnel. This is the first IMAS EOD course that Moldova has provided to its HMA personnel. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many planned U.S.-led PSSM courses were postponed, however mentorship, including skill development, program assessment, and advice on capacity development continued. EUCOM also facilitated infrastructure renovations at two ammunition storage facilities in Floresti and Cahul. The upgrades consist of security fencing, renovation of three explosive storehouses, ramp replacements, floor refurbishment, and depot emergency water supply, in addition to supplies, equipment, and on the job mentorship to safely transport, store, and inspect munitions. EUCOM also facilitated an IATG compliant PSSM Explosive Limit Licensing Workshop at the Moldovan Army PSSM Training Center and facilitated a site visit to Floresti and Cahul to assess the current firefighting capabilities, practices, standards, and challenges.
• North Macedonia: The Vermont National Guard conducted a pre-deployment site survey in preparation for an IMAS EOD train-the-trainer event.

Overview

U.S. investments in CWD programs in the Middle East and North Africa enhance stability and improve human security. In Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, and Syria, ISIS-emplaced IEDs and landmines, as well as ERW, threaten displaced families returning to their homes, and impede stabilization efforts and local economic development. In Libya, illicit trafficking of SA/LW fuels both domestic and regional violence, imperiling U.S. national security interests and continuing to generate displacement of civilians. In Yemen, the ongoing conflict is resulting in significant quantities of ERW, and the massive use of landmines and IEDs continues to kill civilians and impede the safe delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance.

Of the 10 countries worldwide with the highest number of casualties from landmines and ERW in 2020, three—Iraq, Syria, and Yemen—are in the Middle East, according to the 2021 Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor. This was due in large part to the ongoing conflicts in these countries.

U.S.-funded survey, marking, and clearance operations enable the safe return of displaced families to their communities, economic development, and the restoration of basic services. U.S. funding also develops strong and capable host country CWD capacities and professional national mine action centers. Explosive ordnance risk education reduces deaths and injuries, and survivor assistance projects provide rehabilitation and reintegration support. Together these programs help lay the groundwork for stability and prosperity across the region.

Iraq | Jordan | Lebanon | Libya | Morocco | Syria | West Bank/Gaza Strip | Yemen

In the year 2021,
> 9 countries or territories in the Middle East and North Africa received assistance
> 4,828,005 square meters of land released square meters of land released
> 496,340 individuals received risk education
> 92,861 explosive hazards destroyed
> 2,122 landmines destroyed
> 2,000 IEDs destroyed
> 354 EOD spot tasks conducted
Total U.S. CWD Funding > $50.1 million in FY2021
Total U.S. CWD Funding > $960 million FY1993-FY2021

Total U.S. CWD Funding FY1993-FY2021

Improving Lives Through U.S. CWD Programs: Marking Hazardous Areas: Making Life and Livestock Safer in Yemen

Fifty-year-old Ghalia lives in in a small settlement of six households in Qabbaytah District of Yemen’s Lahj Governorate. It is a mountainous, rural area, where people have little source of livelihood besides the salaries of serving military personnel, supplemented by some income derived from animal herding.

Ghalia lives with one of her sons, Tawfiq, her daughter-in-law, and six of her grandchildren. Tawfiq, 30, was injured in fighting and is unable to work. Another son, Rashid, was killed in the conflict leaving behind his wife and two children. There are 17 other people, including 11 children, living in the small settlement; most of them are members of Ghalia’s extended family.

While there have not been any recent reports of explosives-related accidents in the area, the presence of explosive hazards poses a continued serious threat to the adults and children living nearby. During a visit in September 2021, HALO’s NTS team discovered several pieces of UXO close to the houses of Ghalia and her neighbors, including two bombs that had been set into concrete to act as fence posts, even though they likely still contained explosives.

Ghalia also owns ten goats that she takes to graze in the surrounding hills. The threat of UXO in the nearby hills poses a risk to both themselves and the animals that provide them with a source of income through the sale of their wool, milk, and other dairy products.

HALO teams have now begun an NTS in the district to locate and mark dangerous areas so the family can graze their goats in the safe areas. They are also providing explosive ordnance risk education to the community, including in the local school attended by Ghalia’s grandchildren. While only clearance can remove the danger of mines and unexploded ordnance, survey and risk education help to keep people safe, and help mine action providers prioritize the areas of greatest need for future clearance.

Iraq

When western and northern Iraq were retaken from ISIS they deliberately left behind an unprecedented level of mass-produced, technologically sophisticated IEDs and other explosive hazards with the deliberate intent of harming civilians, discouraging the return of displaced families, and hindering stabilization efforts. Since 2015, significant progress has been made clearing ISIS IEDs, but much work remains. The United States remains dedicated to supporting the survey and clearance of these explosive hazards from areas that remain heavily impacted as well as delivering explosive ordnance risk education to prevent UXO injuries to those communities, including the ancestral homelands of Iraq’s ethnic and religious minority communities in Ninewa Province. Clearance of areas liberated from ISIS remains a U.S. priority, even as we continue long-standing support for the survey and clearance of legacy contamination in northern and southern Iraq, along with capacity building assistance for Iraq’s Directorate of Mine Action (DMA) and the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Authority.

From 2003 to 2021, the United States invested more than $635 million to support survey and clearance operations, munitions destruction, and explosive ordnance risk education across Iraq. We remain the largest international supporter of HMA activities there.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• Danish Refugee Council (DRC) removed 1,930 explosive hazards in southern Iraq, including U.S.-origin ERW. They assisted in developing the program capacity of the Regional Mine Action Center-South (RMAC-S) in coordination with Iraq’s DMA and delivered explosive ordnance risk education to 435 individuals in southern Iraq.
• FSD cleared approximately 2,000 IEDs and ERW in towns liberated from ISIS between Mosul and Erbil, including areas historically inhabited by Christian, Yezidi, Shabak, Kaka’i, and Turkmen minority communities, thereby increasing civilian security, facilitating the return of displaced families, and enabling the safe resumption of farming and animal husbandry. FSD also established an explosive ordnance risk education campaign in partnership with Facebook that reached close to 3,000 individuals in 2021.
• HALO continued survey and clearance operations in support of stabilization efforts in the Salah Al-Din Governorate, clearing approximately 2,247 explosive hazards and 306,599 square meters (76 acres) of land.
• iMMAP continued to provide operational assistance with information management assistance and strategic planning capacity building support to Iraqi national mine action authorities. They also helped coordinate demining efforts between Iraqi authorities and organizations conducting demining operations in support of broader stabilization efforts and served as third-party monitors for U.S.-funded demining projects.
• MAG cleared 2,195 explosive hazards in Iraqi Kurdistan and areas liberated from ISIS in the Ninewa Plains and Sinjar, increasing security and allowing IDPs, including those from predominantly Christian, Shabak, and Yezidi villages, to safely return home and begin rebuilding their lives. MAG also provided explosive ordnance risk education to 5,525 individuals to increase the safety of civilians living in areas impacted by ISIS and legacy contamination.
• NPA cleared 3,598 explosive hazards in southern Iraq and 107 explosive hazards in Anbar Province. NPA continued to provide technical advisors to strengthen the ability of Iraq’s RMAC-S in its role as the regulatory body for coordinating and monitoring mine action activities in southern Iraq.
• Spirit of Soccer (SoS) held in-person soccer workshops across Iraq and adapted virtual programming that provided more than 39,000 children education and outreach about ERW risks, trauma resilience training for those affected by ISIS-related violence, and a meaningful alternative to joining extremist groups and participating in at-risk behavior.
• In coordination with Iraqi officials at the local, governorate, and national level, UN agencies, and other stakeholders, Tetra Tech surveyed, marked, and cleared close to 2,471 explosive hazards in Ninewa, Anbar, and Kirkuk while delivering a combined total of 1,380 explosive ordnance risk education sessions.

With funding from the Department of Defense, HD R&D partnered with MAG to clear 2,217 mines and UXO from over 284,000 cubic meters (10 million cubic feet) of soil to date using several excavator sifting attachments, a stand-alone orbital sifter, the Rebel Crusher sifter/rock crushing plant, and multiple commercial front-loader attachments. The program also deployed the Wirehound handheld detector to HALO.

Jordan

Although Jordan declared itself “mine-free” in 2012 and made significant progress in reducing the threat of landmines and ERW from the 1948 conflict following the partition of Palestine, the 1967–1969 Arab-Israeli conflict, and the 1970 civil war, residual contamination remains along its northern border and in the Jordan River Valley.

From 1996 to 2021, the United States invested more than $29.7 million in CWD programs in Jordan, to include clearance of mines and ERW, delivery of explosive ordnance risk education, rehabilitation and reintegration support for survivors of landmine and UXO accidents, and destruction of aging and obsolete munitions.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner:

• Polus continued to provide rehabilitative care, vocational training, and prosthetics support to Jordanians affected by contamination, and Syrian refugees who are survivors of mine and UXO accidents due to ISIS-placed IEDs and other ERW.

Lebanon

Lebanon remains contaminated with mines and ERW from the 1975–1990 civil war, the laying of minefields along the Blue Line between 1984–2000, and the Israel-Hizballah conflict of 2006. More recently, ISIS and other extremist groups seeded fertile land in northeastern Lebanon with landmines and IEDs. As of late 2021, over 40 million square meters (9,884 acres) of land remained contaminated with explosive hazards according to the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC).

From 1998 to 2021, the United States invested more than $88.5 million to support landmine and ERW survey and clearance, mine detection dog procurement and training, explosive ordnance risk education, capacity building for the LMAC, and medical assistance and vocational training for landmine survivors, making the United States the largest international donor in Lebanon for these activities. U.S. assistance has also significantly strengthened the Lebanese Armed Forces’ (LAF) capacity to manage its arms and ammunition stockpiles.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• MAG continued its PSSM capacity building engagement with the LAF, providing structural upgrades to ammunition depots, including the completion of four ammunition storage facilities, which are some of the largest U.S.-funded ammunition management projects in the world, and assessing other LAF sites for possible future assistance. MAG continued to conduct explosive hazards survey and clearance in South Lebanon, Nabatieh, and north-east Lebanon, clearing 1,549 landmines, IEDs, and pieces of UXO. Operations in Nabatieh and South Lebanon facilitated access to fertile land that local communities can now use for raising livestock and agricultural development. In the northeast, MAG’s survey and clearance operations allowed local communities to safely tend and harvest cherry trees.
• DanChurchAid (DCA) cleared 531 explosive hazards from the Israeli–Lebanese conflict and the 1975–1990 civil war in Mount Lebanon Governorate. This crucial program will facilitate the return of displaced residents and boost economic development of mine-impacted communities in the Aley and Baabda Districts.
• HI continued to conduct explosive hazards survey and clearance in northern Lebanon, clearing 49 landmines and other explosive hazards from the 1975–1990 civil war in and around Lebanon’s famed cedar forests. HI completed clearance of this area at the end of 2021, and in early December, the LMAC declared the Northern Governorate mine free, a significant achievement. This life-saving work allows local communities to use this land as well as enable visitors from Lebanon and beyond to visit surrounding recreational areas safely.

With funding from the Department of Defense HD R&D program, MAG continued to employ soil excavation, sifting, and grinding attachments on their own armored excavators along with the Terrapin small remote excavator. Since 2011, HD R&D technologies have been used to clear 7,901 mines and ERW from 256,274 square meters (63 acres) of land.

Libya

The full extent of landmine and ERW contamination in Libya remains unknown because many areas of the country are inaccessible due to continuing insecurity in the wake of the 2011 revolution and subsequent fighting. In addition to explosive hazards, illicit small arms proliferation continues to fuel conflict in Libya and its neighbors. The United States is working with allies, international organizations, and implementing partners to mitigate these threats that hinder the peace process, prevent development, impede delivery of humanitarian assistance, and threaten the security of displaced Libyans seeking to return to their homes and communities. Additionally, renewed fighting in western Libya between April 2019 and June 2020 resulted in significant new contamination in and around Tripoli. Libya is also contaminated with IEDs in areas previously occupied by ISIS, particularly Sirte.

From 2011 to 2021, the United States invested more than $53.5 million working with partners and allies to coordinate a CWD response with a focus on ERW clearance.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• DCA continued to conduct survey and clearance in sites of recent battles, emergency callouts in response to reports of discovered explosive hazards, and helped prevent UXO injuries through explosive ordnance risk education in Sirte following its liberation from the Islamic State. In 2021, DCA cleared 573 pieces of UXO and landmines and responded to 354 EOD spot tasks.
• Free Fields Foundation, a local Libyan organization, continued to conduct emergency EOD callouts to safely clear UXO in response to requests received in liberated suburbs of southern Tripoli. These efforts cleared 316 pieces of UXO, one landmine, and 295 pieces of SAA, reducing the potential number of casualties among returning IDPs.
• HALO deployed mechanical assets and multi-task teams to Tripoli to survey and clear ERW and rubble. Clearance enables recovery efforts as HALO removes explosive hazards at priority sites to facilitate stabilization activities.
• ITF continued to sustain the Libya Mine Action Center (LibMAC), support staff and facilities maintenance, and the development of standard operating procedures and national standards while building CWD capacity. With ITF support, nongovernmental demining and UXO explosive ordnance risk education teams accredited by LibMAC issued over 87 task orders and conducted more than 68 quality assurance visits.

West Bank/Gaza Strip

 Landmines and UXO contaminate the West Bank and Gaza Strip after decades of conflict beginning in 1948. The Jordanian military laid 13 of these fields from 1948 to 1967, and the Israeli military laid 77 more following the 1967 war. The Israel Defense Force conducts training exercises in parts of the West Bank resulting in additional UXO contamination, often discovered by the local population while herding and farming.

From 2011 to 2021, the United States invested more than $7.3 million to conduct surveys and clear ERW.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• HALO and ITF restarted humanitarian demining activities in the West Bank focused on clearance of landmines and UXO from privately-owned land that is not subject to disputes between Israelis and Palestinians. Since 2014, this effort is the only one of its kind in the West Bank.
• UNMAS supported ERW emergency response in the Gaza Strip to survey and clear areas contaminated by ERW to pave the way for humanitarian assistance efforts and for civilians to return to their communities. UNMAS fielded two EOD teams and explosive ordnance risk education advisors who are conducting surveys, supporting the removal of ERW, and educating vulnerable communities and emergency personnel about the dangers of explosive hazards.

With funding from the Department of Defense, HD R&D, through a partnership with HALO in the West Bank, evaluated two soil-sifting excavator attachments, a large mine-sifting screener, Ferex 4.034 and Magnex magnetometer systems, and a Target Reacquisition and Positioning System (a low-cost differential global positioning system) that can map humanitarian demining tasks. HD R&D technologies have cleared 464 mines from 194,956 square meters (48 acres) of land in the West Bank since 2018.

Yemen

Landmines, UXO, and IEDs stemming from the ongoing conflict continue to kill Yemenis across the country while simultaneously blocking access to critical infrastructure needed to deliver basic services and obstructing desperately needed humanitarian assistance. Republic of Yemen Government officials estimate that in recent years, Iran-backed Houthi forces have laid over one million landmines, making Yemen one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.

The United States is the largest donor to the UNDP’s demining engagement with the Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC) from 1997 to 2021, having invested more than $51.2 million in CWD programs in Yemen to support ERW survey and clearance, capacity development with the YEMAC, explosive ordnance risk education, and survivor assistance.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• UNDP’s engagement with the YEMAC enabled the clearance of over 3.3 million square meters (815 acres) of contaminated land and removal of approximately 79,000 explosive hazards. More than 447,000 Yemenis benefited from UNDP’s explosive ordnance risk education efforts.
• MLI continued to conduct survivor assistance programs in partnership with the Yemen Association for Landmine and UXO Survivors and YEMAC to provide medical assistance, rehabilitative care, vocational training, and micro-grants to more than 175 landmine survivors.
• HALO continued to provide capacity building training for the YEMAC in Aden that strengthened the Yemeni Government’s capacity to respond to a wide range of explosive hazards nationwide. HALO also deployed survey and clearance teams in Yemen, working closely with the YEMAC and the newly established Yemen Mine Action Coordinating Center to destroy over 523 landmines and UXO and clear over 403,164 square meters (99 acres) of contaminated land.
• HDP conducted capacity building programs with the YEMAC and became the second NGO in Yemen to deploy survey teams in southern Yemen with clearance teams also planned to deploy in early 2022.
• GICHD continued to integrate IMSMA into the Aden-based YEMAC’s operations and trained staff on information management practices and procedures. GICHD also delivered virtual training on how to conduct NTS, worked with YEMAC to develop NTS national standards and helped the YEMAC to systematize their reporting and documentation procedures.

Middle East and North Africa--Other U.S. Support

With funding from the Department of Defense,

• Morocco: U.S. Marine Forces Africa and the Utah National Guard continued training with the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces completing EOD Level 2 Iteration 3, and EOD Level 3 Iteration 1. EOD Level 2 Iteration 3 ensures a mastery of specifications and guidelines for the safe conduct of EOD and applies to the disposal of mines and ERW. EOD Level 3 Iteration 1 instructs on the specifications and guidelines for the safe conduct of EOD disposal of mines and ERW, including unexploded sub-munitions. This qualification enables a technician to dispose of larger UXO, such as rocket, tank gun and artillery ammunition up to 240 mm diameter, including high explosive anti-tank munitions.
• Syria: HD R&D, through a partnership with HALO, continued evaluating IP (internet protocol) camera systems on robotic armored demining platforms that allow remote access to structures to search for explosive hazards.

Overview

With U.S. support, South and Central Asian countries are securing weapons and ammunition stockpiles, promoting peace and security, and strengthening economic ties in the region, all of which helps to advance U.S. regional and global security priorities.

HMA operations in Afghanistan continue despite the August 2021 takeover of the country by the Taliban. Afghanistan has one of the most capable mine action programs in the world with significant capacity and decades of experience and mine and UXO clearance operations are ongoing amid continuing uncertainty over its future. Neighboring Tajikistan is also a regional leader in landmine clearance and explosive hazard remediation and is successfully managing its aging munitions stockpiles and clearing explosive hazards along its borders and within the central Rasht Valley region. Kyrgyzstan faces substantial risk from unsecured, deteriorating weapons and ammunition stockpiles that pose a serious threat to local populations. Farther south in the region, Sri Lanka continues to deal with extensive landmine, IED, and UXO contamination that endangers civilian security, inhibits livelihoods, and impedes the resettlement of communities.

Afghanistan | Kazakhstan | Kyrgyzstan | Nepal | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | Tajikistan

In the year 2021,
> 7 countries in South and Central Asia received assistance
> 19,917,753 square meters of land released
> 53,539 pieces of UXO or AXO destroyed
> 14,101 pieces of SAA destroyed
> 6,564 pieces of stockpiled munitions destroyed
> 4,695 anti-personnel landmines destroyed
> 1,682 anti-tank mines destroyed
> 28 munitions storage units built or refurbished
> 28,157 individuals received risk education
> 2,150 risk education sessions held
> 2,846 prosthetics and orthotics beneficiaries
Total U.S. CWD Funding > $36.3 million in FY2021
Total U.S. CWD Funding > $699 million FY1993-FY2021

Total U.S. CWD Funding FY1993-FY2021

*Turkmenistan benefited in FY13 from Defense Threat Reduction Agency programs. The funding does not appear in the chart on page 46 or on the funding charts beginning on page 63 because the Defense Threat Reduction Agency does not assign dollar amounts to countries.

Improving Lives Through U.S. CWD Programs: Securing the Future in Sri Lanka--Launching a Chicken Farming Business

Until 2009, the island nation of Sri Lanka suffered through a brutal conflict that finally ended after 25 years. The civil war between the Sri Lankan Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) left over 100,000 combatants and non-combatant civilians dead, with an estimated one million people displaced.

Now, more than a decade later, the scars of war and conflict linger through the presence of extensive minefields and other explosive hazard contamination left behind by the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE. The contamination prevents safe access to land for housing, sanitation, and agricultural activities, causing many Sri Lankans to struggle to make a living and to feed their families.

Through the Sri Lankan Government’s commitment and support of donors like the United States, Vinittha is no longer one of those struggling to overcome the financial obstacles brought on by the war. In 2020 she was hired by MAG as a deminer, becoming the primary provider for her family. As contamination levels throughout the country are continually reduced through U.S.-funded humanitarian demining, clearance organizations must now prepare for the socioeconomic impact of drawing down thousands of deminers, and their reintegration into local economies. In early 2021, Vinittha was offered an opportunity to participate in a 3-month vocational rehabilitation program teaching financial literacy, funded by PM/WRA. The course consisted of 12 hours of training in concepts such as loans, savings, insurance, and personal finance. The initial course was followed by two individual financial counseling sessions and refresher training several months later.

With the financial skills she learned, Vinittha used some of her MAG salary to begin poultry farming to diversify her income and provide food for her family. Vinittha bought 50 chickens for 7,500 Sri Lankan Rupees (LKR), equal to U.S.$37.04, and raised them on her mother-in-law’s land in Veetapuram. These chickens normally lay one egg per day, which can be sold for LKR 25 (U.S.$0.12). By selling only eggs, Vinittha can earn around LKR 33,600 (U.S.$165.92) per month. Vinittha is planning to reinvest the money to buy more chickens and expand her business. “I never saved a single rupee in my life before – everything went to food and shelter,” she says. “Now I earn enough to pay my day-to-day expenses and even plan for the future.”

Vinittha says starting her own business changed her life and gave her confidence that she will be able to manage her finances and earn enough money to support her family when she is finished with demining.

Afghanistan

To improve the lives of the Afghan people, the United States provides CWD funding and support to help clear legacy landmine and UXO contamination left by the 1979 Soviet invasion, internal armed conflict from 1992 to 2001, and contamination, including IEDs, from fighting between the Afghan Government, the Taliban, Coalition forces, and other armed groups from 2001 to 2021. According to the Mine Action Program of Afghanistan, more than 1,200 civilian casualties were caused by landmines, improvised mines, and other explosive hazards in 2021. Children comprised 45 percent of those casualties. UXO and IEDs caused 98 percent of these incidents, while less than two percent of civilian casualties are attributed to legacy landmine contamination.

From 1993 to 2021, the United States invested more than $558 million for CWD programs in Afghanistan. Since 1997, PM/WRA implementing partners cleared over 323.7 million square meters (79,988 acres) of land and removed or destroyed over 8.4 million mines, UXO, stockpiled munitions, and homemade explosives/IEDs.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• NPA assisted PM/WRA in monitoring and evaluating more than 225 CWD project sites, seven Afghan NGOs, and two international NGOs.
• The Demining Agency for Afghanistan (DAFA) concluded clearance operations in late 2021 in Baghlan, Kandahar, Kapisa, and Paktya Provinces on high-priority tasks. A total of 6.52 million square meters (1,611 acres) of contaminated land were released, with 66 anti-tank mines, 145 anti-personnel landmines, 131 UXO, and 47 SAA found and destroyed. The release of land directly benefitted 57,027 individuals, and indirectly benefitted 85,541 individuals. Also in late 2021, DAFA extended clearance operations of NATO-origin cluster munitions in Paktya, Faryab, and Nangarhar Provinces. However, in November of 2021, clearance operations were slowed and then paused due to challenges with Afghanistan’s banking infrastructure following the Taliban takeover of the country.
• In mid-November 2021, FSD restarted their cross-border clearance operations in northern Badakhshan Province on high-priority tasks after having to pause operations in May 2021 due to poor security and the closure of the Tajik-Afghan border. From November 15 to December 21, 2021, FSD accomplished subsurface clearance of 31,998 square meters (7.9 acres) destroyed 219 anti-personnel landmines, and conducted 276 explosive ordnance risk education sessions, benefitting 1,370 at-risk individuals.
• HALO continued WAD operations and assessments throughout central, western, and northern Afghanistan, conducting surface BAC of 4,500 square meters (1.1 acres), destroyed two anti-personnel landmines, 9,018 AXO, and conducted 161 explosive ordnance risk education sessions, benefitting 3,440 at-risk individuals.
• HALO also deployed eight CWD teams that responded to emergency callouts to identify, secure, and destroy stockpiled munitions throughout central and eastern Afghanistan. They responded to 1,118 EOD callouts, destroyed 16 anti-personnel landmines, 14 anti-tank mines, 39,803 AXO, 11,982 SAA, 31 IED initiators, and conducted 1,152 explosive ordnance risk education sessions benefitting 17,240 at-risk individuals.
• HALO also completed clearance operations in Kabul, Baghlan, Balkh, Laghman, Panjsher, and Samangan Provinces on high-priority tasks clearing 7.32 million square meters (1,808 acres) of contaminated land, destroyed 741 anti-personnel mines, 4,567 UXO, and 2,075 SAA. The release of land directly benefitted 10,105 individuals and indirectly benefitted 27,631 individuals. Prior to August 15, 2021, HALO completed five PSSM tasks to secure excess and poorly protected SAA in Mazar-i-Sharif, and completed the construction and the handover of 10 ammunition and weapons storage armories
• ITF continued their support of the Directorate of Mine Action Coordination with an emphasis on developing host-nation capacity through enhanced IMSMA training and program management skills improvement. This project was suspended in September 2021 due to the Taliban takeover of the country.
• The Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA) continued NTS in 180 impacted communities within 30 UXO-contaminated districts throughout Afghanistan. MCPA resurveyed 117 tasks (23 million square meters or 5,683 acres), cancelled 14 tasks (removing 1.80 million square meters or 444.7 acres) from the national database, identified 1.82 million square meters (450 acres) of new hazard area added to the national database, and conducted 419 explosive ordnance risk education sessions benefitting 3,967 at-risk individuals. Also, MCPA concluded clearance operations in Baghlan and Nimroz Provinces on high-priority tasks clearing 4.6 million square meters (1,137 acres) of contaminated land, performed mechanical ground preparation of 50,950 square meters (12.6 acres), and destroyed 3,572 anti-personnel landmines, 1,599 anti-tank mines, and 20 UXO. The release of land directly benefitted 1,160 families (8,117 individuals), and indirectly benefitted 2,014 families (14,098 individuals).
• DMAC continued their management of the mine action program for Afghanistan, though PM/WRA ended support for this program following the collapse of the Afghan government.
• Afghan Amputee Bicyclists for Rehabilitation and Recreation (AABRAR) concluded their project that supported physical rehabilitation centers in Farah and Paktya Provinces where they provided physiotherapy, orthotics, and prosthetics services. AABRAR conducted 142 explosive ordnance risk education sessions benefitting 2,140 at-risk individuals, and provided physiotherapy, prosthetics and orthotics to 2,846 beneficiaries.
• The Accessibility Organization for Afghan Disabled (AOAD) continued to provide vocational rehabilitation and development training for landmine survivors and their immediate family members living with disabilities. Most of those 200 individuals rejoined the workforce as tailors, electricians, and mobile phone repairers. Additionally, AOAD managed eight physical accessibility measures and renovations that allow persons with disabilities to access and use public facilities and classrooms. After August 2021, operations slowed due to financial restrictions on the banking infrastructure.

With funding from the Department of Defense, HD R&D, in partnership with HALO, evaluated 11 technologies including the Minehound Lite mine detector; the Scorpion UXO detection system; the Storm Steep Slope Excavator; Minehound hand-held detectors for minimum-metal anti-tank mines; the Orbit Screener, which sifts mine-contaminated soil; and a suite of mine action attachments for excavators and loaders. Additionally, HALO evaluated three Raptor armored tractors with two attachments: the Rotary Mine Comb anti-tank mine clearance system and a powered harrow with clutter collection magnet. HD R&D technologies have been used in the clearance of 29.9 million square meters (7,388 acres) of land and over 27,236 mines and UXO to date.

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan faces substantial risk from unsecured, deteriorating arms and ammunition storage sites that threaten civilian safety due to their proximity to populated areas. From 2009 to 2021, the United States invested more than $5.7 million to help Kyrgyzstan refurbish existing explosives storage facilities and segregate, secure, and destroy excess and unserviceable munitions. Such activities improve host-nation capacity to prevent UEMS and catastrophic injuries to civilian populations living near storage depots, as well as reduce the risk of illicit proliferation of munitions pilfered from national stockpiles.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner:

• ITF, in coordination with the Kyrgyz Ministry of Defense, continued the disposal of expired artillery ammunition, renovated artillery ammunition storehouses, and continued national capacity PSSM training and development through deployment of a Slovenian Ministry of Defense expert. Due to these efforts, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Defense completed demilitarization of more than 361 metric tons (more than 12,000 pieces) of large-caliber ammunition.

Sri Lanka

Landmines and UXO still contaminate Sri Lanka over a decade after the end of a 26-year armed conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Contamination remains a critical impediment to the resettlement of displaced families and to other development initiatives. This is particularly true as the government returns land previously controlled by the military. The widespread presence of mines, UXO, and IEDs pose an enduring threat to returnees in those areas. According to the national mine action center, as of October 2021 approximately 11.8 million square meters (2,915 acres) of CHA remained.

From 1995 to 2021, the United States invested more than $86.3 million in CWD funding for survey, clearance, and explosive ordnance risk education to prevent landmine and ERW injuries, PSSM training, and other capacity building efforts.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• HALO deployed 192 mechanical demining teams, 145 manual demining teams, and 12 survey/EOD teams to aid the Government of Sri Lanka’s efforts to return displaced families to their homes in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu Districts by conducting survey, clearance, and explosive ordnance risk education outreach.
• MAG continued to conduct surveys of newly-accessible areas and clear mines and ERW, restoring access to land for resettlement and development in Mannar, Trincomalee, and Vavuniya Districts.
• The Delvon Assistance for Social Harmony (DASH), Sri Lanka’s first indigenous demining NGO, continued to deploy seven manual demining teams to clear mines and ERW to help resettle displaced families in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu Districts.
• MAG continued a project to assist the Sri Lankan Armed Forces Engineer Brigade to better secure and account for their stocks of arms and ammunition by increasing physical security of SA/LW through the construction and upgrade of 18 existing storage facilities. Additionally, MAG provided armory storekeeper and manager training to increase safe handling, management, and storage of national stockpiles.

With funding from the Department of Defense, HD R&D continued to support existing technology, including evaluations of the Rex lightweight armored excavator, the Improved Backhoe system and rake attachments, the Light Soil Sifter, a soil-sifting excavator attachment, and HSTAMIDS detectors. The equipment provided area preparation, area reduction, and mine-clearance capabilities to clear villages and agricultural land. HD R&D technologies were used to clear 25,197 mines and UXO from more than 2.9 million square meters of land (741 acres) to date.

With prior year funds, USAID’s LWVF continued supporting the WHO to integrate and strengthen rehabilitation services in existing healthcare systems as part of multi-regional programs.

Tajikistan

Tajikistan inherited an enormous stockpile of aging munitions, including large-caliber ordnance and other explosives, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Due to Tajikistan’s porous borders with Afghanistan, poorly-secured SA/LW and ammunition present a real threat to national and regional security. Tajikistan also has extensive landmine and cluster munition contamination along its southern, western, and northern borders that stems from its civil war in the 1990s and earlier Soviet attempts to prevent border crossings by Afghan militants and narcotics traffickers. During the civil war (1992–1997), Tajikistan’s Central Rasht Valley region was heavily contaminated with landmines and UXO that continue to impede socioeconomic development of this fertile region. Explosive hazards limit access to valuable agricultural land and endanger border crossings, farming, wood-gathering, and pastoral grazing of livestock.

From 2004 to 2021, the United States invested more than $33.3 million in Tajikistan to support landmine and UXO clearance, destruction of excess and aging munitions, PSSM, survivor assistance, and national capacity building of the Tajikistan National Mine Action Center (TNMAC).

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• FSD deployed one WAD team that responded to 28 EOD callouts and destroyed three anti-tank mines and 8.26 metric tons of stockpiled munitions.
• NPA continued deployment of two mixed-gender clearance teams along the southern Tajik-Afghan border and supported capacity-development activities in coordination with TNMAC.
• In April 2021, OSCE commenced Phase III of the Integrated Cooperation on Explosive Hazards program with emphasis on sharing regional lessons learned. OSCE conducted two EOD Level 2 training courses for 14 students, one EOD Instructor Course for 6 instructors, one Medical Support to EOD Operations Course for 15 medical personnel, and one PSSM Course for 10 students in the newly built Regional Explosive Hazard Training Center.
• TNMAC continued operational control and management of three multi-task humanitarian demining teams, and four NTS teams that deployed throughout the Tajik-Afghan border region. TNMAC continued to develop the capacity and capability of its mine action program with emphasis on information analysis, strategic planning, demining training, project development, quality-assurance, and program management.

With funding from the Department of Defense, USCENTCOM conducted one train-the-trainer course on Level 2 curriculum for Tajik personnel. Training equipment was also provided to the Regional Training Center in Chimteppa, including hook-and-line kits, inert training ordnance and explosive items, X-Ray equipment, and metal detectors.

As part of multi-regional programs, USAID’s LWVF supported the ICRC to strengthen the health rehabilitation sector. With previous year funding they continued supporting the WHO to integrate and strengthen rehabilitation services in existing healthcare, and Momentum for Humanity (formerly United Cerebral Palsy/Wheels for Humanity) to strengthen rehabilitation service delivery systems.

South and Central Asia--Other U.S. Support

Kazakhstan: With funding from the Department of Defense, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) conducted one train-the-trainer course on Level 2 curriculum. Training equipment was also provided to the Demining Center in Kapshagay, including hook-and-line kits, inert training ordnance and explosive items, X-Ray equipment, and metal detectors.

Nepal: With funding from USAID, the LWVF continued to support HI to establish a sustainable, integrated, public-private rehabilitation system to improve the mobility and functional independence of survivors of conflict and others in need of rehabilitation services. With prior year funds they continued helping the WHO to integrate and strengthen rehabilitation services in existing healthcare systems as part of a multi-regional program.

Pakistan: With prior year funds, USAID’s LWVF supported JHU-Bloomberg School of Public Health to develop health systems that are responsive to needs for rehabilitation across the patient lifespan as part of a multi-regional program.

Overview

In Latin America and the Caribbean, U.S. CWD programs strengthen civilian safety by improving security and management of munitions stockpiles, disrupting the diversion and illicit trafficking of SA/LW, and reducing the risk of catastrophic UEMS. CWD assistance makes it more difficult for drug traffickers, criminal gangs, and terrorists to obtain weapons from poorly-secured stockpiles and bolsters the integrity of the U.S. southern border. The United States currently supports PSSM initiatives in Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru.

In addition to addressing the illicit proliferation of weapons throughout the region, the United States provides humanitarian demining assistance to Colombia, which remains the most landmine contaminated country in the Americas. Explosive hazards continue to threaten the livelihood of Colombians, making it difficult for families to safely return to their homes and disrupting the restoration of local economies. In 2016, the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace accord, enabling an increase in demining operations in previously inaccessible locations. The United States, in coordination with the Government of Colombia and other donors, continues to support the clearance of Colombia’s remaining contamination and the return of land to productive use.

Colombia | Ecuador | El Salvador | Guatemala | Honduras | Peru

In the year 2021,
> 6 countries in the Western Hemisphere received assistance
> 271,440 square meters of land released
> 232,796 pieces of SAA destroyed
> 5,138 individuals received risk education
> 2,567 individuals benefitted from released land
> 539.61 metric tons of munitions destroyed
Total U.S. CWD Funding > $30.2 million in FY2021
Total U.S. CWD Funding > $259 million FY1993-FY2021

Total U.S. CWD Funding FY1993-FY2021

1. The Caribbean Region includes The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Grenada,
   Jamaica, Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago.
2. El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala were combined to receive regional funding in FY19.

Improving Lives Through U.S. CWD Programs: Julián Returns Home to Farm... Cautiously

Julián, 52, was born and raised in Campamento, Antioquia, Colombia. Campamento is in a strategic corridor for drug trafficking and illegal gold mining and the municipality has seen continued conflict since the 1980s. National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas and paramilitary groups constantly fought for control of the area, bringing years of violence, and leaving ERW at Julián’s front door.

“During the 2000’s my house was hit with more than 15 bullets during a shoot-out. Later, an armed group placed a pipe bomb at my house and killed my brother. It was a very difficult time for us.”

After his brother died, Julián decided to move to the neighboring El Bagre municipality with his family. However, life wasn’t much better there, and after nine years, the violence forced him to flee again, this time to Medellin.

The war not only displaced Julián and his family, but also forced them and many other families to abandon their livelihoods in order to seek refuge. In 2002 alone, more than 220 people fled Campamento after a paramilitary group took over the area.

Fifteen years after leaving Campamento, the peace process allowed Julián to return to his home and recover the land he had lost. “Four years ago, I came back. I was able to grow coffee again and plant some sugar cane fields. Now everything is calmer, at least you don’t see so much conflict and you don’t see so many outsiders, because that was our main concern back then.”

As Julián started to rebuild his life, he feared that a large portion of his land might be contaminated by ERW, eventually seeing what looked like an IED sticking out of the ground. This fear limited Julián’s ability to farm his land to its fullest and rebuild his life after so many hard years.

Thanks to U.S. CWD funding, NTS teams from HALO identified four minefields in Campamento, including one on Julian’s land. “I have a large piece of land that I can’t use because I know that armed groups used to camp there, and there was also a lot of fighting. I have to be very careful, as I’m afraid I could become a victim,” Julián said to HALO.

HALO expects to begin clearance in the areas identified in Campamento in early 2022. “Once it’s safe, I would like to plant bananas and more coffee. This would help me a lot. My coffee harvest earns me nearly two million pesos (USD $499) and there is room for more.” said Julián.

“I am very grateful to the people who do the demining and help make this happen, because we are not trained for that. After this, the land will be cleared so we will be able to walk around peacefully, grow food and earn a living. That will really change my life, and I will finally feel at peace. Thanks to those who are making this possible.”

Colombia

In 2016, following more than 50 years of conflict between the Government of Colombia, guerilla movements, and other non-state actors, the Government of Colombia committed significant resources to address the widespread improvised landmine contamination throughout the country, including 5,200 humanitarian deminers from its military. The Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (OACP) reports that Colombia has suffered more than 12,000 mine incidents since 1990, the highest number of recorded casualties in the Western Hemisphere. Its most heavily affected departments are Antioquia, Caquetá, Cauca, Meta, Nariño, and Norte de Santander.

The United States has invested more than $181 million since 2001 to support Colombia’s mine action sector. In addition to helping Colombia to build its substantial national demining capacity, this assistance has facilitated the survey of priority municipalities and clearance of high-impact minefields, with an increased focus on areas where such efforts coincide with planned development and stabilization projects. Additionally, the Department of State’s assistance is embedding technical advisors within the OACP to strengthen its capacity and support a country-wide quality management program to ensure land is cleared in accordance with international and national standards.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• Colombian Campaign Against Landmines continued to conduct survey and clearance in the Putumayo and Antioquia Departments and released 41,787 square meters (10.3 acres) of land, directly benefitting 1,998 individuals.
• HDP continued to conduct survey and clearance in San Jose del Fragua and expanded operations into Curillo, Milan, and Solano Municipalities within Caquetá Department. In 2021, HDP successfully released 11,197 square meters (2.7 acres) of land.
• FSD continued to strengthen the OACP’s capacity by embedding technical advisors to support operations and share knowledge. FSD continued to update existing national standards and prepare new standards, including a review of the technical norms, which should improve efforts in Colombia.
• GICHD continued a third-party review and assessment of the quality management system in Colombia. GICHD will provide recommendations to the OACP, the OAS, and the Department of State, which will improve the overall efficiency of the quality management program and assist in the transition of responsibility of the program back to the Government of Colombia.
• HALO continued to conduct survey, clearance, and explosive ordnance risk education in Antioquia, Cauca, Meta, and Norte de Santander Departments. HALO cleared 106,754 square meters (26.4 acres) of hazardous land, directly benefitting 569 individuals.
• HI continued to implement survey and clearance in Cauca and Meta Departments and expanded operations into Chocó Department, successfully releasing 111,702 square meters (27.6 acres) of land.
• OAS continued to implement the country-wide quality management program, including accreditation and quality assurance/quality control of civilian and military humanitarian demining organizations and personnel, and provided technical expertise and advice to the OACP. The OAS also collaborated with the Government of Colombia to begin transitioning oversight of the quality management program to the government in 2023. Additionally, the OAS continued to provide equipment and support to the Colombian Marines’ humanitarian demining teams conducting survey and clearance in Bolívar and Sucre Departments.
• SoS continued to disseminate explosive ordnance risk education messages through community and school events in locations where broader security considerations currently preclude clearance, and safely delivered explosive ordnance risk education to more than 5,138 individuals living in or near suspected minefields and other explosive risks.

With funding from the Department of Defense,

• HD R&D, through a partnership with HALO, concluded evaluating the Bearcat vegetation clearance system.

With funding from USAID, the LWVF supported Arcangeles Foundation to develop inclusive sport activities and physical rehabilitation services in conflict affected communities. With prior year funds, they continued supporting the International Organization for Migration to strengthen functional rehabilitation services in Colombia. As part of multi-regional programs, the LWVF also supported the WHO to integrate and strengthen rehabilitation services in existing healthcare systems with prior year funds.

Ecuador

Since a border conflict with Peru in 1995, Ecuador has invested significant resources to responsibly store and manage its national munitions stockpiles. Following President Moreno’s visit to the White House in February 2020, Ecuador hosted a senior Department of State official to coordinate and plan a new CWD program.

From 2001 to 2021, the United States has invested more than $12.5 million to support Ecuador’s efforts to improve management and security at priority munitions depots, facilitate the destruction of obsolete ordnance, and assist in the alignment of its EOD curriculum with international standards.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner:

• MAG facilitated the destruction of obsolete munitions, including 232,796 pieces of SAA, and provided ammunition management courses to Ecuador’s armed forces. Additionally, MAG supported the destruction of 61 MANPADS in coordination with the Ecuadorian Army. The program also supported physical security and infrastructure upgrades to priority weapons facilities to better protect and safely manage stored munitions.

With funding from the Department of Defense, USSOUTHCOM and HDTC, with the assistance of Security Cooperation Organization-Ecuador and MAG, conducted a pre-deployment site survey of the army’s 68th Engineering Battalion, which houses the EOD component of the Ecuadorian military engaged in BAC and IED operations, to identify landmine clearance and HMA Casualty Care requirements for future train-the-trainer events.

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras

Central America’s porous borders and illegal armed groups facilitate and sustain illicit proliferation of SA/LW that threatens civilians and host nation security forces. Additionally, the significant number of confiscated and stored weapons remain a major proliferation risk as they are often highly vulnerable to theft. Many of the weapons confiscated from criminal organizations are military-grade.

From 2019 to 2021, the United States invested $2.5 million in regional funds to support CWD in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. These projects are designed to better secure vulnerable depots through PSSM enhancements and provide specialized training to develop national capacity within the military and national police forces. In coordination with local authorities, confiscated firearms and small arms ammunition as well as government-held obsolete munitions were destroyed. These objectives contribute to Pillar IV of the White House Strategy to Address the Root Causes of Migration in Central America, which is to “Counter and prevent violence, extortion, and other crimes perpetrated by criminal gangs, trafficking networks, and other organized criminal organizations.” The Department of State consolidated the El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras projects into one regional project in 2020 (with FY19 funds).

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partner (with prior year funds):

• HALO destroyed 7.91 metric tons of obsolete munitions and continued to strengthen the national military and police PSSM capacities by providing training for 86 security forces personnel, installing physical upgrades to weapons storage facilities, and reducing easy access to government weapons. This project also includes a research-based assessment that will highlight effective approaches to combat armed violence.

Peru

Peru’s military stockpiles contain a significant amount of excess and obsolete weapons and ammunition stemming from a border conflict with Ecuador in 1995. CWD initiatives address the vulnerabilities of munitions stockpiles located in both remote and urban areas throughout the country by providing physical security upgrades to the depots and facilitating the training of security personnel to ensure the safe management of these aging munitions. Better management and the eventual destruction of excess munitions reduces the risk of illicit proliferation and unplanned depot explosions.

From 1999 to 2021, the United States contributed more than $33.6 million to first support HMA activities and, more recently, to implement a SA/LW disposal project. Previous assistance to Peru’s mine action sector strengthened its national mine action authority and ensured the country was sufficiently equipped to reduce its landmine contamination on its own. Currently, the Department of State’s assistance helps mitigate the risk of unplanned explosions of obsolete ammunition and strengthen Peru’s capacity to efficiently manage its munitions stockpiles.

In 2021, the Department of State supported the following implementing partners:

• MAG continued to support Peru’s army in addressing its excess and obsolete munitions at priority depots, resulting in the destruction of more than 369.8 metric tons of munitions. In addition, MAG expanded its partnership with the Peruvian National Superintendence for the Control of Security Services, Arms, Ammunition and Explosives for Civilian Use, which will expand the scope of the project in coming years.
• NPA continued to support Peru’s air force in destroying obsolete and at-risk ammunition in the districts of Ica and Pucusana, resulting in the destruction of 161.9 metric tons of munitions. In addition, NPA provided Peru’s air force with specialized PSSM and EOD training.

With funding from the Department of Defense, Equipment for EOD Level 1 training was procured through the Defense Logistics Agency with a Shoulder 2 Shoulder contract encompassing equipment procurement and logistics services.

Nongovernmental Organizations Headquartered in the United States

Catholic Relief Services (CRS), established in 1943, is the official overseas relief and development agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. For more than a decade, CRS has worked to reduce the risk of injury or death from UXO in Vietnam and trained children, teachers, parents, and community members in explosive ordnance risk education. http://crs.org 

Development Alternatives Inc. is a U.S. based NGO that works with national and local governments, bilateral and multilateral donors, private corporations, and philanthropies around the world to address fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability. https://www.dai.com/ 

The Golden West Humanitarian Foundation (Golden West) The Golden West Humanitarian Foundation is a United States-based nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to innovation in training and technology, and overcoming limitations in HMA operations. Golden West provides expert EOD and PSSM consulting, IMAS and IATG compliant training, and technology making HMA safer, faster, and more cost effective. http://goldenwesthf.org 

The Landmine Relief Fund, a California-based nonprofit, was created in 2004 to support the work of an all-Cambodian demining NGO, Cambodian Self Help Demining (CSHD). http://landmine-relief-fund.com 

The Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI) is a Virginia-based nonprofit organization founded to help restore hope, alleviate suffering, and nurture stability in war-torn countries. MLI has established indigenous programs in 15 mine-affected countries that help rid them of landmines and their lasting impact. http://marshall-legacy.org 

Momentum for Humanity (formerly United Cerebral Palsy/Wheels for Humanity) is a California nonprofit founded in 2007 that helps people with mobility impairments maximize their independence and quality of life by building and strengthening rehabilitation services, including assistive technologies. https://momentum4humanity.org/ 

PeaceTrees Vietnam is a Seattle-based NGO founded in 1995 as a grassroots effort to bring peace, friendship, and renewal to the people of Quang Tri, one of the most war-torn provinces of Vietnam. PeaceTrees’ work includes mine and UXO clearance, explosive ordnance risk education, survivor assistance, scholarships to landmine survivors and their families, and community restoration projects. http://peacetreesvietnam.org 

The Polus Center for Social and Economic Development (Polus), established in 1979, is a Massachusetts-based nonprofit NGO. The organization partners with public and private foundations to address the impact of mines and UXO on communities around the world. http://poluscenter.org 

World Education, Inc., a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization, was founded in 1951 to meet the needs of the educationally disadvantaged and provides training and technical assistance in nonformal education across a wide array of sectors. World Education has worked to support survivor assistance, MRE, and disability inclusion. http://worlded.org 

International and Foreign Nongovernmental Organizations

Accessibility Organization for Afghan Disabled (AOAD) is a nonprofit and nonpolitical NGO working for persons with disabilities along with their immediate family members as a peer-support, advocate organization founded in 2007 in Kabul, Afghanistan. https://aoad-af.page.tl/Home.htm 

Afghan Amputee Bicyclists for Rehabilitation and Recreation (AABRAR) is an Afghan NGO concerned with the rehabilitation and socioeconomic integration of disabled people and other vulnerable groups. In 1992, AABRAR began a bicycle-training program for amputees to improve mobility and increase their independence, enabling them to travel to and from work, and save on transportation costs. Since then, AABRAR has expanded its activities. https://tinyurl.com/22pbr5fu 

Afghan Technical Consultants (ATC), established in 1989, was the first humanitarian demining NGO in Afghanistan endorsed by the United Nations. ATC works to reduce civilian casualties and enable land release through detection, clearance, and explosive ordnance risk education. http://atc-wlfhdngo.org.af 

APOPO, established in 1995, is a registered Belgian NGO and U.S. non-profit that trains sub-Saharan African pouched rats and MDDs to help detect landmines, returning safe land back to communities for development so they can proceed with their lives. https://www.apopo.org/en 

Arcangeles Foundation is a nonprofit working to improve the living conditions of vulnerable populations in Colombia. Its main objective is to achieve social inclusion and to ensure for future generations an inclusive and sustainable world. https://arcangeles.org/ 

The Colombian Campaign Against Landmines (CCCM) monitors fulfillment of the Ottawa Convention on behalf of the Colombian Government, compiles reports each year for the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, and supports survivor assistance and explosive ordnance risk education. https://colombiasinminas.org/ 

DanChurchAid (DCA) is an independent ecumenical humanitarian organization based in Copenhagen, Denmark, that provides humanitarian assistance and mine action programs combining explosive ordnance risk education, mine clearance, and community-development activities. http://dca.dk 

Delvon Assistance for Social Harmony (DASH) is a Sri Lankan humanitarian demining organization founded in 2010 to increase the safety and security of people living in mine-affected areas through the removal and destruction of mines and UXO. To support sustainable post-conflict recovery, DASH strives to employ displaced persons, especially widows and female heads of households. http://slnmac.gov.lk/services/de-mining/current-demining/dash.html 

The Demining Agency for Afghanistan (DAFA), formed in 1990, is an Afghan humanitarian mine clearance organization. DAFA’s mission is to clear all hazardous and mine-contaminated areas in Afghanistan by committing resources to humanitarian demining, clearance for road reconstruction, local government-sponsored construction plans, and disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration. sattar_dafa@yahoo.ca or dafafinance@yahoo.com

The Free Fields Foundation (3F) is a neutral, nonprofit, HMA organization founded in 2012 and based in Tripoli, Libya. 3F is accredited by the Libyan Mine Action Centre to conduct explosive ordnance risk education, NTS, EOD and BAC. https://freefields.org 

The HALO Trust (HALO) is the world’s largest humanitarian landmine removal organization. Its mission is to protect lives and restore livelihoods for those affected by conflict. HALO employs more than 8,600 staff and operates in over 25 countries and territories. HALO’s work, clearing landmines and other debris of war, creates safe and secure environments in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. https://www.halotrust.org/ 

Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding (HDP), formerly Danish Demining Group (DDG) is an HMA and Armed Violence Reduction unit within the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), a non-profit and NGO working to protect and provide long-lasting solutions to communities affected by war and armed conflict. https://drc.ngo/our-work/what-we-do/core-sectors/humanitarian-disarmament-and-peacebuilding/ 

Humanity and Inclusion (HI) works with persons with disabilities and other vulnerable populations in situations of conflict, natural disaster, exclusion, and extreme poverty. HI implements mine action programs, working to clear mines and UXO from civilian areas, providing explosive ordnance risk education programs, and rendering assistance to those who have been injured. https://www.hi-us.org/ 

Information Management and Mine Action Programs (iMMAP) is an international nonprofit NGO that provides targeted information management support to partners responding to complex humanitarian and development challenges. iMMAP’s expertise in data collection, analysis, and presentation supports the decision-making process for its diverse, multi-sector partners. http://immap.org 

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is a coalition of NGOs whose stated objective is a world free of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, where mine and cluster munitions survivors see their rights respected and can lead fulfilling lives. http://www.icbl.org/en-gb/home.aspx 

ITF Enhancing Human Security (ITF) is a humanitarian nonprofit organization established by the Republic of Slovenia Government in March 1998. ITF focuses on humanitarian demining, conventional weapons destruction, and other forms of post-conflict assistance and continues to expand its thematic and geographic scope of activities globally. http://itf.si 

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) began operations in Afghanistan in 1989 clearing mines and UXO. In association with its U.S. partner MAG America, UK-based MAG is a humanitarian organization working in countries affected by conflict and insecurity to clear mines and UXO, implement conventional weapons stockpile management and destruction programs, provide explosive ordnance risk education, and offer capacity-building support. http://maginternational.org 

The Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA) is an Afghan NGO founded in 1990 specializing in landmine impact and post-clearance surveys, TS and BAC, polygon surveys, and mine- and UXO-impact free community surveys. MCPA provides manual, mechanical, and MDD clearance, EOD, explosive ordnance risk education, mine action training, and management information systems for mine action programs. hajiattqullah@gmail.com

The Mine Detection Center (MDC) was established in 1989 with the goal to free Afghanistan from the impacts of mines and UXO so that individuals and communities can live in a safe environment conducive to national development. MDC clears contaminated land and safely destroys mines and UXO using a variety of assets and techniques. https://mdcafghan.org/ 

The Mine Detection Dog Center (MDDC) in Bosnia and Herzegovina trains dogs to detect landmines, explosives, narcotics, and to conduct search and rescue operations. It also trains dog handlers and trainers. More than 450 dogs for various purposes have been trained by MDDC so far and deployed in dozens of countries. MDDC is involved in demining projects, explosive ordnance risk education and mine survivor assistance. http://www.mddc.ba/ 

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), a Norwegian NGO, was founded in 1939 on the principles of solidarity, dignity, peace, and freedom. For more than 20 years, NPA has implemented mine action programs in more than 40 countries and territories. http://npaid.org 

The Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR) was established in 1990 to teach Afghan refugees and internally displaced Afghans about the dangers of mines and UXO. In 1992, OMAR expanded its operations to mine clearance, hiring and training more than 1,500 deminers in manual and mechanical demining, BAC, EOD, and working with MDDs.

Results for Development (R4D) is a global nonprofit founded in 2008 that supports local change agents—government officials, civil society leaders, and social innovators—to drive reforms and engage in continuous improvement. https://r4d.org/ 

Spirit of Soccer (SOS), founded in 1996, is a UK- and U.S.-registered nonprofit that uses soccer/football skills clinics and tournaments to educate children about the dangers posed by mines and UXO in conflict and post-conflict regions. SOS has created risk education courses in more than 10 current or post-conflict countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Colombia, Iraq, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Laos, Sri Lanka, and Moldova. http://spiritofsoccer.org 

The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) was established in 1997 and has worked in over 30 countries worldwide for the last 23 years. The overall objective of FSD is to clear contaminated land of explosive contamination and to promote mine action in general; FSD aims to mitigate the social, economic, and environmental impacts of landmines and environmental contamination worldwide. https://fsd.ch/en 

Government and International Organizations

The Directorate of Mine Action Coordination (DMAC) of the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority is a regulatory body for the Humanitarian Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan. DMAC manages, coordinates, and oversees the HMA activities implemented by national and international NGO and commercial companies. https://dmac.gov.af/ 

The International Committee of the Red Cross/MoveAbility (ICRC/MoveAbility) was established in 1983 under the ICRC and aims to improve physical rehabilitation capacities in low- and middle-income countries by maintaining and increasing access to quality and sustainable services. https://www.icrc.org/en/document/moveability-liquidation 

International Organization for Migration (IOM), founded in 1951, helps ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, and provides humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, be they refugees, displaced persons, or other uprooted people. http://www.iom.int/ 

NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), NATO’s integrated logistics and services provider agency, implements the NATO Partnership for Peace Trust Fund in Ukraine. In addition to Ukraine, NSPA has worked on PSSM and CWD programs in several countries including Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Jordan, Mauritania, and Serbia. https://www.nspa.nato.int/ 

The Organization of American States (OAS) was established in 1948 with the goal of encouraging sustainable peace, justice, solidarity, collaboration, integrity, and independence among the nations of the Americas. The OAS supports a regional approach to demining programs in the Western Hemisphere and executes CWD programs. http://oas.org 

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world’s largest regional security organization with 57 participating states in Europe, Central Asia, and North America. The OSCE offers a forum for political dialogue and decision-making in the fields of early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management, and post-conflict rehabilitation. http://osce.org 

The Regional Centre on Small Arms in the Great Lakes Region, Horn of Africa, and Bordering States (RECSA), established in June 2005, helps build the capacity of its 15 African member countries, and coordinates and monitors the implementation of the Nairobi Protocol signed in April 2004. Its mission is to coordinate action against SA/LW proliferation in the Great Lakes region, Horn of Africa, and bordering states. RECSA’s vision is a safe and secure sub-region in a peaceful continent, free from arms proliferation. http://recsasec.org 

The Tajikistan National Mine Action Center (TNMAC) is a state institution under the government of the Republic of Tajikistan established in January 2014 to coordinate all mine action-related projects. muhabbat.ibrohimzoda@tnmac.gov.tj

The United Nations Development Program/Southeastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (UNDP/SEESAC) works to strengthen the capacities of national and regional stakeholders to control and reduce the proliferation and misuse of SA/LW, advance gender equality, facilitate regional cooperation and thus contribute to enhanced stability, security, and development. https://www.seesac.org 

The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), established in 1997 by the UN General Assembly, is housed in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions. It is the coordinator for the Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Mine Action, which brings together working-level representatives of 12 UN organizations involved in mine action to set priorities among UN participants and share information. UNMAS sets up and manages mine action coordination centers in countries and territories as part of peacekeeping operations. http://www.mineaction.org/unmas 

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), established in 1973, helps advance sustainable implementation practices in development, humanitarian, and peacebuilding contexts in some of the world’s most challenging environments. UNOPS concentrates its support in areas where it has a clear mandate and expertise: infrastructure, procurement, project management, human resources, and financial management services. https://www.unops.org/ 

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO’s broad mandate includes advocating for universal healthcare, monitoring public health risks, coordinating responses to health emergencies, and promoting human health and well-being. https://www.who.int/ 

Academic Institutions

The Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR), was established at James Madison University in 1996. Through its publications, training courses, fellowships, and web tools, CISR supports information exchange within the HMA and CWD communities. CISR produces To Walk the Earth in Safety, and publishes The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction, which was first published in 1997 and is the longest-running source of information on CWD in the world. http://jmu.edu/cisr 

The Emory University School of Medicine, based in Atlanta, is a leading institution with the highest standards in education, bio-medical research, and patient care committed to recruiting and developing a diverse group of students and innovative leaders in biomedical science, public health, medical education, and clinical care. https://www.med.emory.edu/ 

The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), formed in 1998, supports the ongoing improvement of mine action performance. The center enables national authorities, mine action organizations, and other partners to do their jobs better by furthering knowledge, promoting norms and standards, and developing capacity. http://gichd.org 

Johns Hopkins University (JHU)-Bloomberg School of Public Health, based in Baltimore and founded in 1916, works with communities and populations to identify the causes of disease and disability, and implement large-scale solutions. https://www.jhsph.edu/ 

Small Arms Survey (SAS), based at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, serves as the principal international source of public information on all aspects of small arms and armed violence, providing a valuable resource for governments, policymakers, researchers, and civil society. http://smallarmssurvey.org 

Contractors

Tetra Tech is a leading provider of consulting and engineering services for projects worldwide. With 20,000 associates working together, Tetra Tech delivers clear solutions to complex problems in water, environment, infrastructure, resource management, energy, international development, and munitions response. tetratech.com/munitionsresponse 

Conventional Weapons Destruction Funding

From 1993 through 2021, the United States contributed more than $4.2 billion for CWD programs in more than 100 countries. The following charts provide a consolidated view of the United States’ funding for CWD globally. Budget figures for fiscal year 2020 (October 1, 2019–September 30, 2020) in this edition reflect actual allocations, while budget figures for fiscal year 2021 (October 1, 2020–September 30, 2021) reflect, with a few exceptions, initial planned allocations. The 22nd edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety will include updated figures for fiscal year 2021 that reflect the final allocations.

U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction Program Funding History

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