Overview

House in the village of Joab in Bani Bahlool District of Sana'a Governorate, Yemen. The photo was taken on 9th May 2006. The head of the household used to collect live mines from the field and sell them to others as a security deterrent for the qat fields (high value narcotic that is chewed locally). Unfortunately an accident happened and they blew up, killing 4 members of the family. Picture courtesy of Barry Pound.

In many mine-affected countries, landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination negatively impacts on post-conflict reconstruction and development, making it essential that mine action and development interventions are effectively coordinated at all levels – by donors, UN agencies, and development banks; by national and local governments in mine-affected states; and at the level of mine-affected communities. Better coordination and linkages would result in: 

• Greater recognition that landmine and UXO contamination is not just a humanitarian concern, but also an important constraint on post-conflict reconstruction and longer-term development;
  
  
• The alignment of mine action with national and local development priorities;
  
  
• Incorporation of mine action within national development plans, frameworks (e.g. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and sector strategies) and budgets;
  
  
• Greater stability for mine action funding by expanding funding channels from earmarked mine action funds and humanitarian funding to include reconstruction and development funds from bilateral donors, multilateral agencies, and national resources;
  
  
• Better coordinated, more responsive and, ultimately, more effective mine action and development interventions, based on the actual security and development needs of mine-affected communities.