UNDP Helps NCDR in Mine Action Goals
April 4 is the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action
Amman, 24 April 2008 – The International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action is an opportunity to raise awareness about landmines and progress toward their eradication.
In Jordan, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been working with the National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation (NCDR) for the past four years in the area of institutional capacity development.
Through an agreement between the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC) and UNDP a capacity development project was launched at the NCDR in May 2004. The focus of this intervention was to strengthen NCDR’s planning, management, and operational capacity.
UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Luc Stevens said that “Under the leadership of H.R.H Prince Mired Bin Raad, the NCDR has made tremendous progress in four short years. Indeed, today, Jordan’s programme is held up as global model.”
UNDP worked closely with NCDR in developing the first ever five-year National Demining Plan which provided a comprehensive road map for how Jordan would dispose of its remaining mine problem. Subsequently, a full survey was undertaken which provided both technical information, and better understanding of the human suffering still caused by landmines more than two decades after they were planted. The suffering is still acute as noted by Mr. Olaf Juergensen, UNDP Chief Technical Advisor “According to the NCDR survey, there is a direct link between the presence of landmines and the geography of the poorest communities in the country that are cut-off from their lands and wells.”
With a healthy blend of former members of the Royal Corps of Engineers and development experts, the NCDR has built up its capacity to the point where with the press of a button it can now provide technical information on all the mine fields in the country.
UNDP has also worked successfully with NCDR in raising funds for demining in Jordan. As a result, joint-proposals funds from Australia, Canada, Germany, European Commission, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have been awarded to Jordan through UNDP.
According to H.R.H Prince Mired, “NCDR’s partnership with UNDP has been terrific. Working closely with UNDP’s Chief Technical Advisor as well as the UN Resident Coordinator in Jordan and all those at UNDP/Amman has been a rich and an enlightening experience. The capacity and knowledge of staff members at NCDR has increased remarkably due to the intense interaction and cooperation with the UNDP. For Jordan’s ‘mine action’ endeavors, working with the UNDP over the last few years has been an indispensable experience”.