Landmines: Major Public-Private Partnerships

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
August 2005

Persistent landmines infest over 60 countries around the world. Civilians in many of these countries as well as some countries not affected by landmines are also threatened by other explosive remnants of war, abandoned ordnance caches, poorly secured munitions stockpiles, and small arms/light weapons such as machine guns, light mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). To reinforce official U.S. Government efforts to help make the world safe from all of these threats, the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs encourages non-governmental organizations, civic associations, philanthropic foundations, educational institutions and corporations to lend their creativity, energy and talents to this worthy objective.

The following organizations are working in partnership with the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement to alleviate the harmful impact of persistent landmines, unexploded and abandoned ordnance, and small arms/light weapons.

• The Adopt-A-Minefield (AAM) Campaign of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) has raised more than $23 million, including contributions from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, since March 1999, for mine action in Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Colombia, Croatia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Mozambique, Nepal, and Vietnam. Working with community groups, schools, corporations, and the general public, AAM raises funds to support landmine and UXO clearance; physical, economic, and psychosocial assistance for landmine survivors; and community mine risk education programs. To learn more about AAM and how you can get involved, go to www.landmines.org, email info@landmines.org, telephone (212) 907-1300, or fax (212) 682-9185.

• The Association of Volunteers in International Service (AVSI) is an international not-for-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in Italy in 1972. AVSI’s mission is to support human development in developing countries with special attention to education and the promotion of human values. AVSI carries out its mission through the implementation of medium and long-term emergency relief operations in partnership with local associations, institutions, governments, and international organizations. AVSI is currently operating in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, with projects benefiting approximately 90,000 people. For more information on AVSI, please visit www.avsi-usa.org or contact Jackie Aldrette at jackie.aldrette@avsi.org.

• Austcare is a global humanitarian aid agency based in Sydney, Australia. Austcare’s mission is to work with people affected by conflict and natural disaster to build human security. A core component of Austcare’s work aims to reduce the impact of landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW), including cluster munitions, on displaced and other vulnerable communities. Our mine action program involves mine clearance activities with partner organisations to enhance community resilience, mine risk education (MRE) aimed at reducing the risk of landmines and ERW, and responding to the individual and community needs of survivors. Programmatic focus also involves activities aiming to prevent and reduce armed violence in conflict-affected communities, and to promote recovery. Austcare’s other areas of work include protection, community resilience and capacity development, conflict sensitive development and peacebuilding, disaster management and emergency response, and research, knowledge management and advocacy. Austcare works in the Pacific, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Afghanistan. To learn more, contact James Turton, Mine Action and Small Arms at Austcare, at telephone +612 95659107, email at jturton@austcare.org.au or visit www.austcare.org.au.

• CALM (Coalition Against Landmines), is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization founded in 2006 to serve child landmine survivors and to promote awareness, education and rehabilitation. CALM focuses on facilitating vital rehabilitation services and education to child landmine survivors and also works to raise public mine awareness, particularly of the young people in the United States. To learn more, please visit www.calmint.org or e-mail calm@calmint.org.

• The Center for International Rehabilitation (CIR), with support from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation, is designing low cost artificial limbs and education programs for healthcare workers in mine-affected countries. Through its Physicians Against Land Mines (PALM) program, CIR promotes mine awareness and attention to the needs of mine survivors in low-income countries. For more information, visit www.cirnetwork.org, email info@cirnetwork.org, telephone (312) 229-1359, or fax (312) 229-1370.

• The Center for Teaching International Relations (CTIR) at the University of Denver in Colorado has developed a U.S. standards-based curriculum to make young people aware of the global landmine problem and increase their understanding of geography and international issues. Available to teachers at no cost, these curriculum modules are designed for upper elementary, middle and high school students. They may be downloaded from the Internet. To learn more, telephone Caroline Starbird, Director, at (303) 871-2426, fax (303) 871-2456, email Starbird@du.edu or visit www.ctir.org.

• The Children of Armenia Fund (COAF), founded in 2000, is an independent, nonprofit, non-governmental organization dedicated to the development of children and youth in Armenia. Children have been the principal victims of the misfortunes that have struck Armenia in the past two decades. COAF collaborates with various international and local agencies to alleviate the hardships endured by Armenian children and provides the basic resources to enable them to be productive and contributing members of society. COAF achieves this holistically -- by developing youth through health, educational and economic measures, reinforcing the values that have gifted these ancient peoples, empowering children with life skills to excel in their environments, and supporting humanitarian mine action initiatives that benefit children and adults alike. For more information, telephone (212) 994-8201, fax (212) 994-8299, or visit www.coafkids.org.

• Children's Surgical Centre is a non-governmental organization hospital based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. CSC’s main focus has been to provide free surgery to improve the lives of the disabled. Cambodia has tens of thousands of people who have been crippled each year as a result of trauma caused by unexploded ordnance and burns, infectious disease, and congenital anomalies. Fortunately, the disabled and wounded in Cambodia may turn to CSC. Its mission is simple: to improve the quality of life for the underprivileged through the provision of rehabilitative surgery and other general rehabilitation programs. Intrinsic in its objectives is to provide training to local physicians and surgeons so that the program may be self-sustaining. In October of 2000, CSC, with the help of generous donors and partners, opened the first specialized burn treatment unit in Cambodia, a project that has saved many lives and livelihoods. CSC serves as a model hospital demonstrating that safe, simple surgery can be easy to organize, inexpensive, and self-sustaining. CSC hopes that this model can be replicated in other areas of the world. For more information, please visit www.csc.org/.

• CIREC, Integral Center of Rehabilitation of Colombia, founded in l976, is a private non-profit rehabilitation center based in Bogota. CIREC provides medical services, physical and occupational therapy, psychological and social support, and manufactures prosthetics and orthotics with an integrated approach to the recovery of survivors of landmine accidents. CIREC aims to rehabilitate Colombia’s disabled population so they can help improve the well-being of the disabled population in regions of the country affected by violence, work against poverty, and work for equal participation of women in society. Working toward the inclusion of people with disabilities is a matter of development, human rights and social justice. To further these goals, CIREC works in health, economic reintegration of survivors, social participation and education and training. For more information, please email fcirec@cirec.org.

• C King Associates Ltd (CKA) specializes in the technical and procedural aspects of mine clearance and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD). The company regularly conducts assessments of national demining programs on behalf of the U.S. Departments of Defense and State. It has also done work for the NATO EOD Working Group. C King Associates develops equipment to assist deminers and to assist field operators in the identification and disposal of unexploded ordnance. Its products are currently in use by research and development agencies throughout the world, including the U.S. Department of Defense (Fort Belvoir), the European Joint Research Center, the Japanese government and the British Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. The company was founded by Colin King, a former British Army Bomb Disposal Officer, who has been engaged in EOD for 19 years. For more information, please contact C King Associates at +44 (0) 1342 826363, or email: info@ckingassociates.co.uk.

• Clear Path International (CPI), based in Dorset, Vermont, is working with landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) survivors in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. Formed in 2000 by Imbert Matthee and Martha and James Hathaway, the organization was originally established as a humanitarian demining organization and cleared more than 1500 pieces of deadly ordnance from Vietnam’s former Demilitarized Zone and also established a pilot, mobile Explosive Ordnance Demolition unit. Since then, CPI has focused exclusively on landmine/UXO survivors’ assistance. CPI has an extensive survivor assistance program in Central Vietnam, a vocational skills training program for landmine/UXO survivors in rural Cambodia and supports refugee camps and clinics on the Thai-Burma border to treat Burmese refugees. To learn more, contact Martha Hathaway, Executive Director, at Martha@cpi.org, telephone (802) 867-4406, or visit www.cpi.org.

• Cranfield University (United Kingdom) created the Cranfield Mine Action Unit (CMA) in March 1999 to support the work of Government Departments and the United Nations in the important field of mine action. CMA's staff includes mine action professionals, management trainers, research officers and administrators. The highly skilled team brings together experience from academia and the mine action world. It also draws on the expertise of mine action practitioners through close links with former students and technical advisors working in the field. The aim of the Cranfield Mine Action Unit is to improve the effectiveness of mine action programs. For more information, visit www.rmcs.cranfield.ac.uk/ddmsa/cma.

• DanChurchAid is an independent ecumenical humanitarian organization based in Copenhagen, Denmark. DanChurchAid works closely with Lutheran World Federation, The World Council of Churches and Action by Churches Together (ACT). The DanChurchAid vision states that "We believe in life before death." Accordingly, it strives to provide humanitarian assistance and advocate for oppressed, neglected and marginalized groups in poor countries and to strengthen their possibilities for a life with dignity. DanChurchAid adheres to a rights-based approach and has humanitarian mine action programs in Albania, Angola, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, and Sudan. These programs combine an integrated approach of mine risk education, mine clearance and strong community development activities. For more information about these programs, visit the DanChurchAid website at www.dca.dk.

• Danish Demining Group (DDG) is a mine action NGO based in Copenhagen, Denmark, operating under the auspices of the Danish Refugee Council. DDG assists individuals and populations hampered by landmines and other Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), ranging from small arms ammunition to large surface-to-air missiles. DDG also conducts mine risk education (MRE) either as an integrated part of a broader mine action mission or as an independent program to provide people with knowledge of safe behavior in ERW-contaminated areas. DDG believes that mine action plays an important role in creating stability in former conflict areas by providing job opportunities and revitalising the local economy. The organization therefore strives to employ as many national staff members as possible in its areas of operation and to procure equipment and supplies from local communities whenever possible. A central tenet of the organization is training and capacity building of local staff in order to secure a viable handover to national ownership as soon as possible. DDG is currently involved in mine action programs in Afghanistan, Ingushetia /Chechnya, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka and Somaliland. Contact information is as follows: www.Danishdemininggroup.dk, e-mail: pmac@drc.dk, phone + 45 3373 5110.

• The Demining Agency for Afghanistan (DAFA) is an Afghan humanitarian mine clearance organization formed in June 1990 in Afghanistan. DAFA’s mission is to clear all hazardous and mine-contaminated areas in Afghanistan. DAFA has continually committed resources to: humanitarian demining, demining for road reconstruction, local government rehabilitation plans, and the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration campaign. DAFA is highly respected in southern Afghanistan, working hard over the past 16 years to become an internationally-accepted NGO. DAFA operates with a complete tool box of Manual Demining Teams, Mechanical Demining Units, Explosives Ordnance Disposal Teams, and Mine Detecting Dog Sets which have attained a very high standard. For more information, please contact the Director of DAFA at +93- 777 302 117, +93- 700 302 894, or via email: sattar_dafa@yahoo.ca and dafafinance@yahoo.com.

• DC Comics has produced regionally-oriented mine awareness Superman/Wonder Woman comic books in local languages for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central America and Kosovo and stands ready to contribute its expertise in popular communications to new mine awareness campaigns as well as other humanitarian endeavors.

• Freedom Fields USA is a non-profit organization of concerned citizens focused on the humanitarian demining of war-torn countries and returning them to a path of economic development and hope. Freedom Field USA's founders, based in Carmel, California, aim to raise the awareness of Americans at the grassroots level to the magnitude of the landmine plight and the extreme, negative ripple effect created by landmines and other explosive remnants of war. Freedom Fields' current initiative is to help demine and restore valuable land in the border region between Cambodia and Thailand, in the notorious K5 mine belt. To learn more, call (831)644-6154, or fax (831)626-4214, or visit www.freedomfieldsusa.org.

• Global Care Unlimited is a non-profit charity formed by the humanitarian impulses of a group of students at Tenafly Middle School in Tenafly, New Jersey. Their goal: to heighten public awareness about the global landmine threat. They have already funded the clearance of a minefield near the Ale Husidic School in Tenafly's sister village of Podzvizd in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and are encouraging other schools in the U.S. to become involved in mine action. To learn more, email info@globalcareunlimited.org, or telephone (201) 362-9935.

• The Golden West Humanitarian Foundation is a U.S.-based non-profit charitable organization. It conducts surveys and assessments, develops Mine Risk Education (MRE) materials, and landmine/unexploded ordnance (UXO) disposal technologies. Golden West’s "Indicator" Program shows explosive remnants of war (landmines, unexploded ordnance and abandoned unexploded ordnance) in realistic settings and is used to train local people of all ages to recognize early "indicators" of danger. Golden West has successfully introduced indicator packs in Mozambique, Angola and Azerbaijan, and Cambodia, while the Sri Lanka pack is scheduled for release in 2005. For further information, contact Joseph L. Trocino, President, at (818) 703-0024, or visit http://www.goldenwesthf.org/.

• Grapes for Humanity U.S., Inc., a non-governmental charitable foundation with its head office in Toronto, Canada, raises funds and awareness to address humanitarian problems, including war victims and landmine survivors, particularly those who are children. Grapes for Humanity, U.S., Inc. is currently raising funds for Walking Unidos in Leon, Nicaragua; Vida Nueva Prosthetics Outreach Program in Choluteca, Honduras; Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Center in Cambodia; Lavalla School and Orphanage in Cambodia; and clinics in Ethiopia and Angola. To learn more, visit www.grapesforhumanity.com, email lifeiswine@aol.com, or telephone (416) 925-5676.

• The HALO Trust, an American and British not-for-profit charity, specializes in the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance from post-conflict zones. Since it began humanitarian demining in Afghanistan in 1988, it has destroyed almost two million explosive items. HALO is currently conducting humanitarian demining in Abkhazia (Georgia), Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Kosovo, Mozambique, Nagorno-Karabakh, Somaliland and Sri Lanka. HALO has also conducted surveys and limited clearance in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chechnya (now suspended), Ethiopia, Laos, Sudan and Vietnam. Its operations have already saved lives and enabled other agencies to safely render aid. To learn more, telephone Nigel Robinson, Vice President, at (212) 581-0099, email halo.usa@verizon.net; fax (212) 581-2029; or visit www.halousa.org.

• Handicap International France, born of the Cambodian crisis in 1982, is now the largest international NGO of its kind, specializing in providing crucial assistance programs to men, women and children disabled by armed conflict, diseases like polio or HIV/AIDS, natural disaster or poverty. Handicap International France currently implements mine action programs in Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia, Cambodia, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Philippines, Senegal, Serbia-Montenegro, Somaliland, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam – working to clear landmines from civilian areas, providing mine risk education programs aimed at civilians living or traveling through mined regions and providing assistance to those unfortunate enough to have been injured. For more information on Handicap International France, visit www.handicap-international.org or contact Wendy Batson at WendyBatson@msn.com.

• Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) is a private, non-profit, non-sectarian volunteer organization headquartered in Washington, DC. HVO is dedicated to improving the availability and quality of health care in developing countries through training and education. HVO has programs in 25 countries, many of which have suffered strife, resulting in widespread civilian trauma. HVO's programs vary according to a country's needs, but four key principles apply to all of the programs: 1) training focuses on local pathologies and medical problems; 2) practices and procedures taught are both relevant and realistic; 3) trainees are encouraged to make maximum use of locally available equipment and supplies; and 4) the ultimate goal of all HVO programs is to identify and train local personnel to assume the roles of educator and provider, thus sustaining the process. For more information about HVO or to learn how you can help, visit www.hvousa.org, telephone (202) 296-0928, fax (202) 296-8018 or email info@hvousa.org.

• Help Handicapped International (HHI) is a registered charitable trust in Mumbai, India and has recently been accorded Special Consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. HHI works with the victims of landmines by conducting mobility camps and assisting permanent centers for the fitting of prosthetics to landmine and other war victim amputees. HHI distributes wheelchairs, tricycles and crutches to the disabled in order to help them become self-sufficient. For more information on HHI, please visit www.hhiindia.org, or email dlippy@insight.rr.com.

• Humpty Dumpty Institute (HDI) is a results-oriented nonprofit organization forging innovative public-private partnerships designed to solve specific international problems. The worldwide landmine problem is among the Institute’s top priorities. Over the past several years, the founders of HDI, working through and with other organizations, laid the groundwork for a series of public-private partnerships focusing on international mine-clearance activities and generating awareness of the landmine problem among the American public. The Humpty Dumpty Institute has since worked with a wide network of public and private organizations to support mine-clearance projects around the globe. HDI has established unique public-private partnerships to fund projects in Angola, Armenia, Eritrea, Lebanon, Mozambique and Sri Lanka. These partnerships have raised millions of dollars for landmine detection and clearance operations. Most recently, HDI donated more than USD 620,000 from the monetization of surplus dried milk obtained through a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund demining of vital roads in Angola. To learn more, please visit www.thehdi.org or contact Daniela Kempf, HDI’s Director of Mine Action Programs, at Daniela.kempf@thehdi.org or 212-944-7111.

• International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF) was established in 1992 and duly registered at the Ministry of Justice of the Azerbaijan Republic as an independent, non-profit NGO. The IEPF commenced humanitarian mine action by undertaking the "Landmine Level One Survey" project implemented by the UNDP and the Azerbaijan Government in 2000-2001. The IEPF continued to work on the "Landmine Impact Survey" under a contract signed between Survey Action Centre (SAC), USA and "Mine Victims' Needs Assessment" with the financial support of the European Commission. In 2002 the Community Mine Action Team at the IEPF was established within the Program "Grass Roots." With financial support from the U.S. Department of State's Office of Weapons, Removal and Abatement in 2006, IEPF established the first Mine Victims Association in Tartar District.  The Team, employing highly trained and qualified deminers, continues its clearance activity in the Tartar District of Azerbaijan.  The IEPF is one of the closest partners of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), which is the leading governmental demining institution in the Republic. The IEPF has regional offices in the Tartar District and the Horadiz settlement of Fizuly District of Azerbaijan. For more information, contact Rahman Mammadov, Head of IEPF Program Department. Telephone (+994 12) 439 76 97. Fax: (+994 12) 439 49 15; e-mail: office@iepf-ngo.org.

• The Iraq Mine and UXO Clearance Organization (IMCO) is an Iraqi non-governmental demining organization established with the support of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in September, 2003. IMCO is fully trained and equipped to international humanitarian mine action standards to perform manual and mine detection dog-supported demining operations, battle area clearance, reconnaissance of suspected hazardous areas, and UXO/landmine survey and technical site survey missions. IMCO has performed a variety of humanitarian and reconstruction and economic development clearance projects throughout central and southern Iraq, as well as UXO destruction projects to reduce threats to all sectors of society in Iraq from improvised explosive devices. IMCO plans to expand its operational capabilities in 2008 to include the safe destruction of small arms and light weapons. With this conventional weapons destruction capability, IMCO can make an additional contribution to the internal security posture of Iraq as the reduction of the thousands of weapons available in the civilian community also reduces the potential for violence due to general crime and lawlessness, sectarian strife and clan/tribal warfare. The men and women of IMCO work daily to eliminate the threats to the lives of the citizens of Iraq posed by the "hidden killers"--the landmines and explosive remnants of war that litter the countryside. By doing so, IMCO employees dedicate their lives to providing a safe environment where their children can freely play and their countrymen can live in peace and harmony. For additional information, please contact the IMCO Director, Zahim Jihad Mutar, at zahimmutar@yahoo.com.

• The Julia Burke Foundation was established in 1998 to support causes of interest to Julia, who was lost at the age of 16 in an automobile accident. Her extensive debate research fostered an abiding interest in international policy and in the well-being of those left behind by their economic and political systems. In that spirit, the Foundation is pleased to sponsor projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Cambodia, and to assist survivors of landmine accidents in Honduras. Visit www.JuliaBurkeFoundation.com or email info@juliaburkefoundation.com for more information.

• Kids First Vietnam was founded in 1996 as a non-profit humanitarian organization. Kids First creates and improves services for disadvantaged young people, some with disabilities, in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, so that they may mature into adults with equal opportunities, full community inclusion, self-reliance and economic self-sufficiency. Kids First is building a Rehabilitation Village in Dong Ha, Quang Tri to provide treatment, education and career training for disadvantaged young people in the central Vietnam region. Kids First has a scholarship fund that currently supports 272 disadvantaged children, many with physical disabilities, and a vocational training program, which teaches young women sewing skills. Kids First built the best equipped and first handicapped-accessible elementary school in Vietnam. Without the removal of the landmines in Dong Ha, Quang Tri Province, Kids First would not have been able to build the school, the Kids First Rehabilitation Career and Technical Education Village, or Pig Farm to help the youth in Quang Tri becoming self-sustaining members of their communities. Visit www.kidsfirstvietnam.org, telephone (206) 780-2721; fax (206) 780-2717, or email kidsfirst@kidsfirstvietnam.org to learn more.

• Landmines Blow! educates people of all ages about the dangers of these indiscriminate weapons of destruction, inspires and motivates individuals throughout the world to engage in dialogue about landmine issues, raises funds and provides landmine survivors the tools and devices they need to rebuild their lives, and restores communities on cleared minefields so that people of all cultures and countries may live and play without trepidation. Contact Alison Bock, President, Landmines Blow! at 630-308-0131, fax 630-424-1892, info@landminesblow.org or visit http://www.landminesblow.org.

• Lipscomb University and itsCenter for International Peace and Justice aims to promote awareness and understanding of international issues, particularly as they relate to questions of peace, security, justice, and human suffering. For the past several years, the Center has made a concerted effort in the Nashville (Tennessee) area to raise the visibility of the humanitarian problem posed by landmines. The student affiliate of the Center -- Students for International Peace and Justice (SIPJ) -- has staged a number of concerts to raise money to address the landmine problem, one of which featured Pat Boone. In 2004, SIPJ presented a check for $10,000 to the Marshall Legacy Institute to be used toward the training of a landmine-detecting dog. For more information, email Don.Cole@lipscomb.edu.

• MAG (Mines Advisory Group), working in association with its U.S. partner MAG America, is one of the world's leading humanitarian organizations providing conflict-affected countries with a real chance for a better future. Since it began operations in Afghanistan in 1989 clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance, MAG has worked on a variety of conflict recovery projects in around 35 countries around the world. MAG is currently providing clearance of landmines, unexploded ordnance, and small arms/light weapons, mine risk education, and capacity building support in Angola, Cambodia, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Vietnam. To learn more about MAG, please visit www.maginternational.org, or contact Jennifer Lachman at jennifer.lachman@magamerica.org; telephone (202) 250-3914.

• The Marshall Legacy Institute is a non-profit organization founded to help restore hope, alleviate suffering and nurture stability in war-torn countries.  Major projects include the Mine Detection Dog Partnership Program (MDDPP), the CHildren Against Mines Program (CHAMPS), CHAMPS International, and Survivor’s Assistance Programs.  The MDDPP has provided over 100 mine detection dogs to Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Eritrea, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka and Thailand through the generosity of caring citizens as well as major partners (the Humane Society and the U.S. Department of State). CHAMPS fosters a spirit of global citizenship by teaching students how people and dogs work together to make a better world and by providing students an opportunity to help others in mine-affected countries. The CHAMPS International and Survivors’ Assistance programs focus on giving landmine survivors, particularly children, the opportunity to thrive and lead productive lives by providing them with prosthetics, rehabilitative training and vocational training. In 2008-2009, MLI plans to expand indigenous mine detection dog programs in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Lebanon, and introduce MDDs to northern Iraq.  MLI will also expand CHAMPS International to Afghanistan and Lebanon and initiate Survivors’ Assistance programs in Azerbaijan and Armenia. To discover more, visit www.marshall-legacy.org, telephone (703) 243-9200, or fax (703) 243-9701.

• Medical Care Development International is a division of Medical Care Development (MCD), Inc., a health planning, management research and training organization chartered in Augusta, Maine, in 1966. Originally the purpose of MCD was to provide health services to underserved rural communities in the U.S. However, due to its national success, an international division was established in 1977 with support from the federally-funded Regional Medical Program to adapt MCD's approach to health program development in the U.S. to meet the needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable population groups in developing countries. To date, MCDI has provided technical assistance in over 40 countries in Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and the Middle East. For more information, please visit http://mcdi.mcd.org/.

• The Messiah College Landmine Action Project (MCLAP) is a student group at Messiah College dedicated to helping those whose lives are affected by landmines. This mission is carried out in three areas: (1) Raising awareness and educating the Messiah College campus and surrounding community through public events such as Mine Awareness Week and a minefield simulation; (2) Basic research and development projects carried out by Messiah College Engineering students pertaining to the detection and removal of landmines and the remediation of minefields; and (3) Current projects involving prosthetic design and construction. For more information, please contact Donald Pratt at dpratt@messiah.edu.

• The Mine Action Information Center (MAIC) at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia serves as an information "switchboard," directing and coordinating the collection, analysis, processing, and dissemination of landmine information. Among its many mine action responsibilities, the MAIC offers its interns to help staff specific mine-related projects in foreign countries. It also produces the respected "The Journal of Mine Action," available at no cost in hard copy or online at http://maic.jmu.edu. To learn more, email maic@jmu.edu, telephone (540) 568-2718, or fax (540) 568-8176.

• Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA), an Afghanistan-based NGO, was founded in 1990. MCPA specializes in humanitarian mine action, including general, impact, and post-clearance surveys, technical and battle area surveys, mine-detecting dogs, manual and mechanical mine clearance, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Mine Risk Education and mine clearance training. In addition, MCPA focuses on the development and maintenance of information management systems for mine action. MCPA aims to contribute to humanitarian mine clearance activities worldwide, and in Afghanistan, in particular. For more information please contact Haji Attiqullah at hajiattiqullah@hotmail.com.

• The Mine Detection Center (MDC) was established in 1989 with the goal to make Afghanistan mine- and explosive remnant of war-impact free, where individuals and communities can have a safe environment conducive to national development. From 1994 to 2006, MDC cleared over 169 million square meters of minefields, about half of what the Afghan Mine Action Program has achieved. Thanks to the support of international donors such as USAID, European Commission, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Thailand, UK, the United Nations and others, MDC now has about 1500 qualified technical field personnel and support staff, along with 270 dogs and six demining machines. It can breed dogs and provide veterinarian and medical services. MDC has 10 Mine Dog Groups, 24 Demining Teams, 46 Mine Dog Sets, 6 Mine Dog Groups, 6 Mechanical Demining Units and 2 EOD teams. At its training school in Kabul, MDC trains mine-detecting dogs, dog handlers, mine dog supervisors and mine dog trainers. MDC is proud of its role in clearing a tremendous amount of mined land in Afghanistan and especially proud of its ability to export its expertise by helping establish the MDD capacity in Yemen and Tajikistan. For more information, contact Mohammad Shohab Hakimi at mdcafghan@hotmail.com or mdcafghan@yahoo.com or by telephone at 07-07-858-908, 07-00-034-035, or 07-99-876-445.

• Missouri State University (MSU) in Springfield, Missouri has a Landmine Studies program headed by Dr. Ken Rutherford, a landmine survivor and co-founder of the Landmine Survivors Network, within the Department of Political Science. Launched in 2000, Landmine Studies provides comprehensive hands-on, practical, and academic training for students interested in mine action and policy.  MSU students involved in Landmine Studies work extensively on the landmine issue to generate public awareness and to encourage involvement among their peers. Some intern with mine action organizations and arrange for guest speakers to address landmine matters on campus. Landmine studies has also developed a productive working relationship between its students and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Training Center at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. To learn more about the Landmine Studies program, visit  http://www.missouristate.edu/ , email kenrutherford@missouristate.edu, telephone (417) 836-6428, or fax (417) 836-6655.

• The One Sri Lanka Foundation is committed to developing and implementing humanitarian projects in Sri Lanka that will transform the seeds of devastation into seeds of restoration, strengthening community values and rehabilitating families and victims of the conflict that has plagued Sri Lanka for the past nineteen years. The Foundation was created in late 2002 with the objective of raising funds to clear mine affected areas in Sri Lanka's north and eastern provinces. The foundation began its humanitarian activities in the summer of 2002, when it delivered 240 wheelchairs to landmine survivors in partnership with Rotary International and the Wheelchair Foundation. In September of 2003, the Foundation funded a project to clear 20 square kilometers of landmines in partnership with the HALO Trust and led a team of delegates from all of its partners to Sri Lanka that included visits to several mine affected areas in order to generate additional support for humanitarian mine clearance activities. To learn more, please contact Mr. Chris Gnanakone at +1 (925) 932-2413.

• The Organization for Mine clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR) was established in 1990 to teach Afghan refugees and internally displaced Afghans about the dangers of landmines and UXO left behind by the Soviet and Afghan Communist Armies, and by Afghan insurgents. Based in Kabul, Afghanistan, OMAR has field offices in Afghanistan’s major cities. From its initial focus on women and children since they were the prime victims of landmines and UXO, OMAR continues to deploy community-based teams, both male and female, to deliver Mine Risk Education to all genders and ages. This has contributed to decreasing landmines and UXO-related casualties. In 1992, OMAR also started a demining program, hiring and training more than 1500 deminers in manual and mechanical demining, battle area clearance, EOD and Emergency Response Teams, and working with mine-detecting dogs. OMAR continues to support and work with donors to achieve its goals and objectives. During the past 17 years, OMAR has successfully progressed in working with the Afghan Government in the areas of: campaigning for democracy, women’s rights, children’s rights, and drug awareness, among other things. For further information, please contact Mr. Fazel Karim Fazel, CEO, at +0093 700 275793, via e-mail at fazel02@hotmail.com, or visit their website at www.omar.org.af.

• PeaceTrees Vietnam was founded in 1995 as a grassroots effort to bring peace, friendship and renewal to the people of Quang Tri Province, one of the most war-torn provinces of Vietnam. PeaceTrees Vietnam’s vision of working alongside the Vietnamese people to build the capacity for a safe and healthy future for the children of Quang Tri Province includes: sponsorship of clearing landmines and unexploded ordinance; promoting landmine awareness and accident prevention programs for children through the Danaan Parry Landmine Education Center; engaging in citizen diplomacy, community service, tree-planting programs for environmental restoration and friendship building for American and international volunteers; offering survivor/victim assistance in the form of emergency medical treatment, long-term medical or healthcare, nutritional support, household economic support, and scholarships to landmine survivors and their families; and sponsoring economic and social development, community restoration and relocation projects through the PeaceTrees Friendship Village. To learn more, telephone (206) 842-7986, Fax (206) 842-8918, or visit www.peacetreesvietnam.org.

• People to People International (PTPI) was founded in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to enhance international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences directly among people of different countries and diverse cultures. PTPI is a not-for-profit organization that operates a variety of educational and cultural exchange programs. Through its School and Classroom Program, Committee on Disabilities, and a network of adult and student chapters around the globe, PTPI is committed to educating people about the threat of landmines, supporting efforts to eradicate their existence, and assisting survivors. PTPI’s International Friendship Fund benefits humanitarian efforts worldwide. For further information, please contact Marc Bright, Vice President of Special Programs, at (816) 531-4701 (telephone); (816) 561-7502 (fax); marcb@ptpi.org (email); or visit PTPI’s website at www.ptpi.org.

• The Polus Center for Social and Economic Development is a Massachusetts-based, non-profit human services organization that supports a number of community-based rehabilitative initiatives in Central America. The Polus Center has been serving people with disabilities both within and outside of the United States since 1979. It supports the following programs in Leon, Nicaragua: Walking Unidos, a prosthetic outreach program; the Access Project, which addresses attitudinal and architectural barriers to access; and the Ben Linder Cyber Café, an economic development and skills-training initiative. It opened the New Life (Vida Nueva) prosthetic outreach program in Choluteca, Honduras and is working to bring its holistic approach to disabilities to Africa in a new initiative in Ethiopia. The Polus Center programs benefit a wide range of persons with mobility disabilities, including those who have experienced limb loss as a result of landmines. The Center receives support from the USAID Leahy War Victims Fund. To learn more, email MLundquist@poluscenter.org, telephone (508) 752-3271, or visit www.poluscenter.org.

• Positive Play is a grassroots non-governmental organization whose mission is to protect young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina by providing risk education and promoting positive expression through sport and culture. With exposure to illegal weapons, landmines, illicit drugs, ethnic division and intolerance, young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina face far graver threats to their physical and emotional wellbeing than other European youngsters. By organizing specialized youth events, distributing educational materials, donating equipment and training youth to be advocates, Positive Play presents sport, culture, tolerance, healthy behavior and teamwork as positive challenges to the intellect, physiology and emotions of young people while treating mines, weapons, substance abuse, ethnic and gender intolerance as negative challenges or risks that are simply not worth taking. Positive Play's programming targets over 20,000 direct and 200,000 indirect beneficiaries per year. For more information on Positive Play's programming, contact Emina Curic (+38761472996) or Jim Marshall (+38761517882), e-mail us at info@positiveplay.info, or visit www.positiveplay.info.

• Prestige Health Care Technologies, Ltd. in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, is a research, design and manufacturing company whose primary focus is amputee care. Prestige Health Care has an associated company, Fashion Magic Apparel, that specializes in adaptive clothing for people who must use wheelchairs and scooters, to include outerwear that enables them to comfortably move outdoors in inclement weather. For additional information, telephone 1-866-366-8366 (U.S.) or (250) 314-1849 (Canada), or visit http://www.czbiomed.md, or e-mail info@czbiomed.md.

• The Prosthetics Outreach Foundation (POF) is an international nonprofit organization headquartered in Seattle, Washington. POF seeks to restore mobility and independence to disadvantaged amputees worldwide whose limbs have been taken by war, landmines and other tragedies. POF emphasizes local capacity building through: (1) technology transfer; (2) training of local practitioners in the fabrication and fitting of quality prostheses; and (3) manufacturing of prosthetic components (artificial feet, knee joints, etc.) in developing countries with locally available materials. Additionally, POF has developed a strong mobile outreach program that connects amputees in rural, remote areas with vital prosthetic services. To learn more about POF and its worldwide programs visit www.pofsea.org, send an email to info@pofsea.org, call (206) 726-1636 or write to the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, 400 East Pine Street, Suite 225, Seattle, WA 98122.

• Roots of Peace is a California-based, nonprofit organization dedicated to removing landmines and restoring demined lands to productive use. Roots of Peace’s innovative demine-replant-rebuild model offers a unique, holistic approach to restoring agricultural communities to vitality and self-sufficiency. Through its unique capabilities and partnerships to link members of the mine action and development communities, Roots of Peace has implemented programs in Afghanistan, Croatia, and Cambodia to rapidly and comprehensively restore agricultural communities to stability and prosperity. For example, in the fall of 2005, Roots of peace literally transformed "mines to vines" by harvesting 800 tons of fresh grapes on former minefields of Afghanistan. Root of Peace has also recently launched programs in Angola for access & agriculture, and elephant migration & ecotourism. The Roots of Peace student-based initiative, Making Change Work, encourages participating students to explore the landmine issue in post-conflict countries such as Afghanistan, while collecting pennies to help restore safe schools and playing fields on former minefields. For more information about Roots of Peace, please visit www.rootsofpeace.org or call (415) 455-8008.

• Save the Children knows that children in mine-affected countries are particularly vulnerable to injury or death from landmines given their natural curiosity and spirit of adventure. Save the Children is incorporating mine awareness, mine education, and mine clearance in a number of war-affected countries where it provides relief and assistance to children and their families. To learn more, telephone (202) 293-4170, fax (202) 293-4167, or visit www.savethechildren.org/landmines.

• Schonstedt Instrument Company manufactures magnetic locators used in the detection of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO).  The Company has teamed with the United Nations and the U.S. Department of State to make its demining tools available, at no cost, to world populations for which UXO clearance would not otherwise be possible.  The United Nations Mine Action Service, the operational arm of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, will see that the units are placed where they are most urgently needed.  The donated tools are made possible by – and in the name of – Schonstedt customers as well as individual donors.  The initiative represents an open-ended commitment by Schonstedt to humanitarian demining efforts in underserved areas around the world.  To learn more, contact Bob Ebberson at bebberson@schonstedt.com, tel: (304) 724-4754, or visit www.schonstedt.com.

• The South Florida Landmine Action Group (SFLAG), established in March 2003, is a group of motivated volunteers committed to raising landmine awareness among the general public. SFLAG seeks to encourage South Florida’s diverse population to focus on the plight of people in neighboring countries who are victims of this tragic after-effect of war. By collaborating with major Southeast Florida cultural events, SFLAG will create opportunities for event participants to better understand the global landmine problem, decide how they may help, and direct their assistance to established non-governmental organizations that can carry out humanitarian mine action in Central and South America with SFLAG’s reinforcement. To learn more, visit SFLAG’s website at www.sflag.org or email info@sflag.org.

• Spirit of Soccer uses soccer/football skills clinics to educate children about the dangers posed by landmines and ERW (Explosive Remnants of War) in post-conflict regions of the world. Since 1996 over 75,000 children have received MRE (Mine Risk Education) through soccer-based activities in Bosnia, Kosovo and Cambodia. Spirit of Soccer works closely with local football associations and Ministries of Education and Sport to ensure that social education and development messages are integrated into local sporting programs. Its holistic and innovative approach delivers:
  * Coach education and qualification
  * Mine Risk Education
  * Drug and Alcohol Awareness
  * Anti-discrimination and child rights awareness
  The U.S. Department of State, the British Foreign Office, Honda Racing F1 and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation fund these efforts. Spirit of Soccer also gets support for its Cambodia program from the Football for Hope initiative, backed by FIFA and Streetfootballworld in support of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Spirit of Soccer plans to expand its successful MRE program into Angola and Iraq in 2009. For more information, log on to www.spiritofsoccer.net.

• Students Partnership Worldwide is an international development charity that recruits and trains young adults (aged 18-28) as volunteer peer educators to lead programs that address urgent health and environmental issues in Africa and Asia. Volunteers are recruited from both the African and Asian countries SPW works in, and from North America, Europe and Australia. Through the work of these trained peer educators, SPW’s mission is to empower youth to take control of their lives and to shape the future of their communities. For more information, visit www.spw.org.

• The Survey Action Center seeks to improve the planning and resource allocation processes within the international mine action community by providing timely, accurate and complete mine impact survey information to key decision makers. Their vision is best advanced through creative partnerships with national authorities, NGOs, commercial firms, UN agencies, and donors. To learn more, telephone (301) 891-9192, fax (301) 891-9193, or visit www.sac-na.org.

• Survivor Corps, formerly Landmine Survivors Network, is a global network of people helping each other recover from war and rebuild community to break cycles of victimization and violence. Survivor Corps works in the United States, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans and South East Asia. To learn more, visit www.survivorcorps.org, email info@survivorcorps.org, telephone (202) 464-0007, or fax (202) 464-0011.

• The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) is an international NGO based in Geneva, Switzerland created in 1997. Since then, FSD has implemented mine clearance projects in 18 different countries. FSD's focus is on locating and destroying landmines and unexploded ordnance on the ground and under water in order to prevent accidents. FSD is also engaging in operations aiming at cleaning war-affected territories from any sort of physical and chemical pollution, to collection and destruction of small arms and light weapons as well as the destruction and recycling of any types of arms and ammunition. FSD aims to alleviate and diminish the social, economic and environmental impacts of landmines and other damaging remnants of war, thus creating favorable conditions for the reconstruction and development of war-torn countries. FSD currently operates in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Laos, Lebanon, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan. FSD's overarching principle of intervention is to transfer its know-how to the concerned population in order to empower the local capacities to solve their national problems, stabilize the political situation and initiate economic and social development. For more information, call Hansjörg Eberle, Director General, FSD Geneva: Telephone +41 79 333 00 72 or visit the web site at www.fsd.ch.

• United for Colombia (UFC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Colombian civilians and servicemen who have suffered the consequences of the war by acquiring funds to address their needs. UFC provides assistance to seriously injured war victims, mainly from landmines, requiring specialized medical treatment and rehabilitation. UFC also promotes landmine risk awareness campaigns for parents, teachers and children, especially those living in rural areas. To learn more about UFC and how you can get involved, go to www.unitedforcolombia.org, email contactus@unitedforcolombia.org, telephone (202) 536-5625, or fax (202) 370-6473.

• The United Nations Foundation (UNF) was created in 1998 to administer Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift in support of UN causes. The UN Foundation supports international efforts to address the global landmine crisis through, for example, partnering with the UN Development Program and the World Rehabilitation Fund to provide job training and placement to landmine survivors in Cambodia, Lebanon and Mozambique. The UN Foundation is also an active partner of Adopt-A-Minefield, helping raise awareness and resources for the campaign. To learn more about the UN Foundation’s landmine work, visit the UN Foundation website at www.unfoundation.org, or call (202) 887-9040.

• Veterans for America (VFA), formerly the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, is an international humanitarian organization that addresses the causes, conduct and consequences of war through programs of advocacy and service for victims of conflict around the world. In collaboration with Information Management & Mine Action Programs (iMMAP), VFA coordinates, supports and implements humanitarian information management activities and landmine/unexploded ordnance impact surveys in Vietnam. Additionally, VFA’s Post-Conflict Rehabilitation (PCR) programs support rehabilitation and disability projects for landmine survivors and persons with disabilities though a wide range of physical and social services. VFA currently operates rehabilitation programs in Cambodia and Vietnam and provides technical support to rehabilitation centers in Central America. Over the last 25 years, VFA has provided both humanitarian information management and rehabilitation services to countries around the world including Angola, Armenia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, DRC, and Thailand. For more information about VFA, visit www.veteransforamerica.org or call (202) 483-9222, fax (202) 483-9312, or e-mail akeller@vi.org.

• The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is the non-profit organization authorized by Congress to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which was dedicated in 1982 and is the most visited monument in Washington, D.C. Through a series of outreach programs, the organization works to preserve the legacy of The Wall, to promote healing and to educate about the impact of the Vietnam War. Among its many programs is Project RENEW™, a landmine removal and public awareness program in Vietnam. The Memorial Fund also hosts a website where family, friends and others can post remembrances on its Virtual Wall. For more information, please visit www.vvmf.org.

• World Education is dedicated to improving the lives of the poor through economic and social development programs. World Education is well known for its work around the globe in environmental education, community development, maternal and child health, school governance, integrated literacy, small enterprise development, HIV/AIDS education and prevention and care, and refugee training. World education also works to strengthen literacy and adult basic education programs in the United States. Projects are designed to contribute to individual growth, as well as to community and national development. For more information, please visit www.worlded.org.

• The World Rehabilitation Fund (WRF), founded in 1955, is devoted to the development and implementation of rehabilitation programs for people with disabilities throughout the world. WRF’s core staff and field representatives work closely with a team of consultants to develop culturally appropriate initiatives that address all aspects of rehabilitation, from incident through reintegration. For more information, please visit www.worldrehabfund.org.

For more information about the Public-Private Partnership program, please contact:

James F. Lawrence, Director, Public-Private Partnership Program
Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement
U.S. Department of State
State Annex 3 – Suite 6100
Washington, DC 20522
Telephone: (202) 663-0088; fax: (202) 663-0090
Email: lawrencejf@state.gov; or visit www.state.gov/t/pm/wra

Stacy Bernard Davis, Foreign Affairs Officer
NGO Outreach
Telephone: (202) 663-0081
Email: davissb@state.gov

John Stevens, Foreign Affairs Officer
Public Affairs
Telephone: (202) 663-0083
Email: steveje@state.gov

Dan Hutchens, Foreign Service Officer
Telephone: (202) 663-0085
Email: HutchensD@state.gov