The 'Mine Action for Peace' Programme Afghanistan: Workshop Report Kabul, 29 April 2004

‘Peacebuilding’ is understood as a transitional activity designed to prevent the recurrence of past violent conflict and to lay the foundation for (re)building political, economic and social systems that in the longer run will prevent new wars. Afghanistan’s wider peace process includes Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR), and Japan is the major financial contributor and lead nation in this process. As part of DDR, the Mine Action for Peace (MAFP) programme seeks to recruit demobilized Afghan soldiers for training and employment as community-based deminers.

 

A pilot phase began in 3 locations (Kunduz, Parwan, Kabul) and approximately 138 of the 1,000 combatants planned to be reintegrated will be deminers. The main country-wide phase includes cities such as Mazar, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Herat. Of the 100,000 demobilized soldiers, as many as 8,000 could become deminers. The workshop report shares experiences from community-based peacebuilding in Afghanistan, preliminary findings and observations from MAFP as well as workshop discussions. The concluding comments refer to the positive learning experiences of the MAFP programme as well as the willingness of both staff and organizations to develop the programme further. Annex I includes a background on the Afghan mine problem and mine action. Annex II lists the workshop participants.