A new report has highlighted the impact of humanitarian mine action in enabling the recovery of communities in northern Iraq that were devastated by the conflict with ISIS.
The research, compiled by MAG with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, identifies the critical role of mine action and identifies areas that can and should be improved upon.
It is published ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Sinjar massacre so comes a decade after ISIS initiated its genocidal campaign against Iraq’s Yezidi ethnoreligious minority.
The report provides clear evidence of the importance and impact of mine action in enabling stabilisation, recovery and development activities in two regions of Iraq, Sinjar and Tel Afar districts.
Writing in its Foreword, MAG Chief executive Darren Cormack says: “Lives have been saved, casualties reduced, suffering has been alleviated and livelihoods restored. Mine action interventions have been crucial for reconstruction and the establishment of durable solutions which delivered socio-economic improvements.”
In the last four years alone, MAG has released almost 24 square kilometres of contaminated land and removed almost 6,000 items of explosive ordnance in Sinjar and Tel Afar. Some 9,500 risk education sessions have also been conducted, benefitting almost 67,000 people.
But the report identifies areas for improvement and says stakeholders must work together to ensure an efficient and effective response to the remaining explosive ordnance contamination.
It acknowledges that while national coping mechanisms are not yet sufficiently established to ensure the job can be done without the contribution of international actors, the only stable response is one that is “as local as possible, as international as necessary”.
The evaluation also identifies important lessons and steps that should be considered in relation to urban contamination, a timely contribution to this issue considering current events elsewhere in the Middle East.
Iraq Country Director Lisa Jean said: “The report should foster further debate about how these challenges are collectively addressed by the Iraq mine action community in support of its National Mine Action Strategy.
“It is also important that the international mine action community takes on board the learning from this research when considering the proliferation of challenges in contexts such as Gaza and Ukraine.
“I would like to thank our staff in Iraq, our partners in the Iraqi government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, whose funding supported this report, for their unswerving commitment and support.”
Read the full report - 'Evaluation of MAG's Mine Action Responses in Sinjar and Tel Afar district, Ninewa Governate, Republic of Iraq' at the link below.
