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During the annual Ukraine Mine Action Conference – 2024 (UMAC-2024), the American side announced a new initiative aimed at increasing the capacity of private humanitarian demining operators. They plan to conduct an assessment of the needs of Ukrainian operators and strengthen their knowledge of how international donor organizations work. This will allow operators to attract international support in the future. And the first step in this direction may be to strengthen cooperation between Ukrainian and international operators. More details on the results of the first day of the Conference http://surl.li/ziaudc

Head of the “Return to Life” Foundation Kateryna Skrypnikova: “Our foundation has been operating for 9 years. All this time we have been helping ATO soldiers, in recent years – the Defense Forces of Ukraine, and communities affected by the invaders. Recently, we have expanded our range of activities, becoming a certified mine action operator for all 5 processes of humanitarian demining. I am convinced that in cooperation with UDS we will do even more useful and good deeds.

These processes include: non-technical survey, technical survey, manual demining of the area, BAC and public awareness. The certification was conducted by the State Certification Center of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. These certificates confirm our compliance with the highest standards in the field of demining and allow us to help Ukraine rebuild even more effectively. The rebuilding of Ukraine begins with demining!

At the seminar, participants learned about approaches to employment and workplace organization for people with disabilities in mine action. The event was held in Kyiv on October 29, 2024 with the support of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine within the framework of the project “Mine Action in Ukraine”, which is implemented with the support of the Government of Sweden.

Certification is carried out by the State Certification Center of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. The certification process consists of four stages: application submission, document review, on-site assessment and issuance of certificates. The Fund has now completed stage 3, which consists of on-site compliance assessment. In particular, our sappers demonstrated to the commission 5 humanitarian demining processes: non-technical survey, technical survey, manual demining of the territory, ORDB and population information. The certification procedure will confirm our compliance with the highest standards in the field of demining and will allow us to even more effectively assist in the reconstruction of Ukraine. The reconstruction of Ukraine begins with demining!

In particular, the commission checks the availability of materials, equipment, and the skills and qualifications of our sappers. Humanitarian demining processes for which we are certified: non-technical survey, technical survey, manual demining of the territory, BAC and informing the population. Currently, our Fund has 6 sappers. All of these specialists have experience in humanitarian demining. The Fund plans to start mine action activities in the New Year. The restoration of Ukraine begins with demining!

The main objective of the area clearance process (BAC) is to identify explosive objects by visual inspection of the areas or using specialized search tools. The main components of the BAC process include: ● Maintaining the constant readiness of our personnel and equipment for demining operations; ● Searching and detecting munitions; ● Ensuring transfer to authorized bodies for further destruction of explosive remnants of war; ● Conducting internal quality control of the BAC work performed; ● Implementing occupational safety and health measures; ● Accounting and reporting on the results of the BAC work; ● Conducting external quality control by authorized bodies; ● Transferring land to final beneficiaries.

TS – technical survey of territories is carried out in order to collect evidence of the presence of explosive objects and develop an action plan for their removal so that the territory becomes safe for use. During a technical survey, sappers must adhere to the following basic principles: ● The safety of workers always comes first; ● Systematically collect evidence to accurately determine the condition of the territory; ● Check and clarify previously collected data to determine the level of risk. Sappers equipped with mine detectors, individual sapper kits and other necessary equipment are entitled to conduct a technical survey. The main tasks during a technical survey include: ● Search and detection of explosive objects using specialized technical means; ● Establishment and marking of safe boundaries in the territory; ● Development of an action plan for demining or clearing the territory; ● Assessment of social and economic factors that may affect the priority of our actions; ● Preparation of reporting documentation on the results of the survey.

We would like to tell you more about this process: NTS – non-technical survey of territories that may be potentially contaminated with explosive remnants of war (ERW). NTS is a key stage of humanitarian demining. This is the first step towards freeing Ukrainian lands from explosive remnants of war. This is a very responsible mission, because it is on NTs specialists that the further effective work of sappers depends. The main goal of NTS is to provide recommendations for planning subsequent operations to clear territories or remove them from the list of potentially dangerous areas (PNA) or suspected dangerous areas (SDA). As part of NTS, the following are carried out: ● Assessment of the danger of the presence of ERW in designated territories; ● Removal of territories from the register of contaminated or likely contaminated areas where there is no longer a risk of mines and ERW; ● Identify socio-economic and other factors that may influence prioritization of further actions. Based on the information collected, the main tasks are also: ● Classify areas according to hazard status; ● Identify and mark the boundaries of hazardous areas; ● Collect information on incidents and accidents in the area where the NTO is conducted; ● Develop strategies for effective cleanup of areas contaminated with GNP

American philanthropist Howard Buffett and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair discuss why clearing explosive remnants of war as quickly as possible is important not only for the country’s economy, but also for the food security of the entire world. According to estimates by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, Ukraine loses more than $11.2 billion or 5.6% of pre-war GDP every year due to mine danger. According to estimates by the World Bank, to completely clear Ukraine of mines, $34.6 billion will be needed. And also — a significant breakthrough in innovation, because with existing approaches, demining will take 100 years. The Economist full Article