Iraq is heavily contaminated by explosive remnants of war. Much of the threat comes from landmines laid along the country’s border with Iran in the 1980s, some minefields laid during the military actions of 1990/91 and 2003, unexploded ordnance including cluster munitions, and from discarded stockpiles of weapons and ammunition.

Humanitarian demining in Iraq is reaching an important stage in its development. Considerable investment has been made by the Government of Iraq and the international community since 1997 when the UN Oil for Food Program was established, and more recently following the overthrow of the Saddam regime. Although much progress has been made in northern Iraq, humanitarian demining in central and southern Iraq has failed to meet expectations.

The complex political scene has limited the effectiveness of national governance, and ongoing security problems have hampered the clearance of landmines and unexploded ordnance from villages, towns, agricultural land and oilfields. Notwithstanding these challenges, there is a feeling that more could have been achieved, particularly in conducting field surveys, clearance and the marking of hazardous areas.

The Institute has been invited by the Iraqi Ministry of Environment to assess the educational and training needs of managers in the Directorate of Mine Action in Baghdad and Basra.

The output of the project will be a report with findings and recommendations on training needs and options for the delivery of management training. The intended outcome will be national managers with the knowledge and skills to more effectively manage the national mine action program in central and southern Iraq, which should accelerate the removal of the remaining landmines and unexploded ordnance and its socio-economic impact on Iraqi society.