Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining
The Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining is an international organization committed to the removal of anti-personnel mines and the humanitarian impact of other land mines and explosive remnants of war.
Its legal form is a foundation based in Switzerland. It was founded in April 1998 by Switzerland and other countries and in 2003 concluded a seat agreement with the Swiss government that guaranteed it independence and freedom of action. About 20 states and international organizations fund the center, which has more than 40 employees. The GICHD is committed to the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.
Workspace
The GICHD provides operational support, generates and disseminates specialist knowledge and improves quality management and standards in cooperation with its partners. It promotes instruments under international law with the aim of improving the capacity and professionalism of humanitarian demining.
According to the definition of the United Nations , humanitarian demining is based on five pillars:
- Clearing of mines and explosive remnants of war,
- Education of the population about the danger of mines
- Victim assistance including rehabilitation and reintegration
- Destruction of stocks
- Support for a total ban on anti-personnel mines, development and compliance with instruments relevant to international law .
The GICHD is active in all five points, except in the medical support of the victims. The work area of the center includes anti-personnel mines and all other types of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) in the broadest sense, including booby traps , duds (UXO), abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO) and cluster bombs . The entire spectrum of humanitarian mine clearance, be it a situation of crisis intervention, reconstruction, peacebuilding or development cooperation, is covered by the GICHD. In doing so, the center respects the main responsibility of the states concerned and supports the development of local initiatives and the associated development of competencies and capacities.
The GICHD works primarily with national governments, but also with international and regional organizations, local and international non-governmental organizations, research centers and commercial companies that are active in the field of humanitarian demining and explosive war ammunition residues.
Operational support
The GICHD provides services and products for authorities, non-governmental organizations and affected people. Operational support accounts for more than eighty percent of the centre's activities.
The operational support includes the following aspects:
- Installation and support of the Information Management System for Humanitarian Demining (IMSMA)
- Short missions to national mine clearance agencies and programs to support and advise their activities in the field
- Implementation of training courses and activities for operational support in the field
- Advising national authorities on drafting national legislation
- Advice on setting priorities according to socio-economic principles
- Supporting national authorities in the implementation of contractual obligations
- Assistance and advice to national authorities in the destruction of stocks of anti-personnel mines
Research and studies
- Development of improved methodologies and best practices for manual and mechanical mine clearance and mine detection by animals
- Testing and assessment of new detection techniques with regard to their applicability
- Development of improved risk management methodologies
- Publication of studies and manuals
- Carrying out evaluations to apply lessons learned in humanitarian demining
Improvement of quality management and standards
- Development of the international mine clearance standards (IMAS) on behalf of the United Nations
- Support of national authorities in the development of national standards (NMAS)
- Development of evaluation methodologies and strengthening of evaluation capacities in mine-affected countries
Humanitarian Demining Information Management System (IMSMA)
One of the centre's main products is IMSMA, software that was first used in Kosovo in 1999 . Since then, IMSMA has developed into the world's preferred information management tool in humanitarian demining. IMSMA enables the collection, analysis and processing of data and thus enables the countries to coordinate and prioritize their mine clearance activities in a simplified manner.
Introduction of the system
IMSMA was developed by GICHD and is a ready-to-use computer database that is coupled to a geographic information system (GIS) with extensive mapping capabilities. The system was designed as a management aid for humanitarian deminers and ordnance disposal specialists and simplifies decision-making, coordination and information management tasks in the field for those responsible for humanitarian demining. IMSMA is currently used in over forty demining programs worldwide.
Distribution guidelines
IMSMA is made available to governments of mine-affected countries on request and installed free of charge. The system is licensed and the intellectual property of GICHD. It is neither freeware nor shareware . The distribution of the system is secured by license agreements in order to guarantee that the center can maintain and support the systems in use and that the recorded data is properly secured.
Support of instruments of international law
Anti-Personnel Mine Convention (AP MBC)
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Storage, Manufacture and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and Their Destruction , also known as the Anti-Personnel Mine Convention (AP MBC) or the Ottawa Convention, is the cornerstone of efforts to alleviate the suffering and accidents caused by anti-personnel mines break up. The convention contains a comprehensive ban on anti-personnel mines and provides a framework for managing the humanitarian impact of mines as well as mechanisms to facilitate cooperation to implement the convention. The drafting of the convention was completed on September 18, 1997 and the convention entered into force on March 1, 1999. By September 1, 2007, 155 states had acceded to the convention.
The GICHD has observer status at the conferences of the member states of the AP MBC. Since 1999, the GICHD has supported the implementation of the convention primarily by organizing meetings of the standing committees set up by the member states of the convention. In September 2001, the member states entrusted the GICHD with the task of providing greater support for their efforts by creating an Implementation Support Unit (ISU). The tasks of the ISU include supporting and advising the President of the Conferences of the Member States and the Co-Presidents of the Standing Committees, public relations work for the Convention and its implementation, and the development and maintenance of a documentation center. On behalf of a group of donor countries, the GICHD manages the AP MBC scholarship program. In addition, the GICHD provides the member states with expertise on demining, educating the population about the mine risk and destroying stocks.
Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW)
The Convention on the Prohibition or Restriction of the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons, which may cause undue suffering or act indiscriminately , also known as the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), was concluded on October 10, 1980 and entered into force on December 2, 1983 Force. The convention was revised in 1996, 2001 and 2006. The Secretary-General of the United Nations acts as the depositary of the Convention. On September 1, 2007, 102 states were members of the convention. The GICHD has observer status at the meetings of the contracting states that take place within the framework of the CCW. The CCW is a framework convention of five protocols that prohibit or restrict the use of certain weapons that may or may not cause undue suffering between soldiers or civilians. The weapons covered in the convention include:
- Weapons that leave undetectable fragments in the body (Protocol I - 1980),
- Mines, booby traps and other devices (Protocol II - 1980, amended 1996),
- Incendiary weapons (Protocol III - 1980),
- Blind-making laser weapons (Protocol IV - 1995) and
- Explosive remnants of war (Protocol V - 2003).
Since 1999, the GICHD has supported the Convention by providing expertise and advice to promote development and compliance. Upon request, the Center may at any time assist States parties in their efforts to reduce the human suffering caused by mines, booby traps and other devices, explosive remnants of war and cluster bombs.
Maison de la paix
Together with the Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces and the Geneva Center for Security Policy, the GICHD forms the three Geneva centers . These represent a fundamental part of Swiss security policy. The three Geneva centers have been based together in the Maison de la paix (House of Peace) since 2014 , which was commissioned by the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS).
Web links
- GICHD (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Operational support ( Memento of May 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ International Mine Clearance Standards (IMAS) ( Memento from February 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ National Mine Clearance Standards (NMAS) ( Memento from February 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Training services ( Memento from January 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Overview ( Memento of February 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Information management system for humanitarian demining ( page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ↑ Distribution guidelines ( page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ↑ Anti-Personnel Mine Convention on www.apminebanconvention.org
- ↑ GICHD and the Anti-Personnel Mine Convention ( Memento of November 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ United Nations Office at Geneva
- ^ GICHD and the CCW ( Memento of November 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive )