Willing to Listen: An Evaluation of the United Nations Mine Action Programme in Kosovo 1999-2001

This report on the mine action programme in Kosovo has been commissioned by the United Nations Mine Action Service in accordance with its strategic objective to conduct "at least one external evaluation in all UN-supported programmes". The evaluation covers the period from early 1999, when it first became apparent that there might be a serious threat from mines and unexploded ordnance in Kosovo as a result of the violent conflict that had erupted, until the end of 2001, when the United Nations’ mine action programme had reduced this threat to a merely vestigial level. The report addresses the initial threat assessment and response of the UN as well as the first steps taken by various donors, the establishment of a United Nations mine action coordination capability within the framework of UNMIK, the implementation and the effectiveness of the resulting mine action programme, the nature and scope of donor support to - and participation in - the programme, and the handover of expertise and responsibilities to the new governance structures in Kosovo.

Considerable attention has been paid to the perceptions and perspectives of the numerous stakeholders in the programme: United Nations system organisations, mine action operators, donors, funding agencies, and most importantly the people and institutions of Kosovo. The argument could be made that there are few lessons to be learned from the Kosovo programme, given the short duration of the conflict that caused the problem, the relatively limited and well defined scope of the threat, and the unusually high level of donor support for Kosovo’s reconstruction. Nothing is further from the truth: the Kosovo mine action programme pioneered approaches that deserve to be examined in depth, and it brought systemic issues to light that, if resolved, can contribute to the successful design of future activities.