Mine action is a significant sector within the relief and development community, involving thousands of employees and a large annual expenditure from both commercial and non-governmental operators.
Mine action largely takes place in a labour-intensive and high-risk environment, where insurance is fundamental to the risk management of operators. Insurance in mine action provides a measure of protection against the consequences of an accident.
However, although the many technical aspects of mine action, such as clearance methodologies, mine risk education strategies, international and national mine action standards and programme management have been highly developed, little has been written about insurance.
In May 2004, the first guide to insurance for mine action operators was published by the GICHD, and this was followed in 2011, by a new version, A Guide to Liability and Insurance in Mine Action. This new version covers both liability and insurance in mine action, and the section on liability reviews liability from the perspective of different legal systems in the world. There is also a section of common questions and answers on insurance in mine action.
The GICHD provides liability and insurance training, both as a part of the contracting training course, and as a specific, targeted training course and workshop, where liability and insurance is the main topic. In 2013 there will be a liability and insurance workshop at the GICHD. Liability and insurance training will also be offered to national mine action authorities upon request.
GICHD publications & Tools concerning insurance in mine action