Mozambique: Developing Government's Mine Action Capacity

Mozambique's landmine problem stems from almost thirty years of anti-colonial and civil wars. The country's first landmine impact survey, published in August 2001, identified 1,374 suspected mine-impacted areas affecting approximately 1.5 million people. The government's limited military budget, however, prevented the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM) from adequately training deminers and increasing operational efficiency to address this problem.

In 2004, HDI raised $250,000 for mine action in Mozambique. This amount included a $100,000 donation from SkyLink, a Canadian aviation firm, as well as matching funds from the U.S. State Department. The funds were donated to the Government of Mozambique and used for a six-week program that provided advanced mine clearance training to 60 deminers and 16 supervisors from the FADM. FADM deminers were trained in accordance with International Mine Action Standards and received the appropriate medical and field training. HDI's donation also allowed the FADM to purchase essential demining equipment and medical supplies.

Fifteen months after completing the HDI-funded training program, the FADM demining unit cleared a total of 119,634 square meters, and found and destroyed 60 AP mines and 17 UXO without incident and in accordance with international standards.