The Elusive “Just Enough”: Re-inventing Explosive Hazard Clearance Management in Iraq

The Government of Iraq viewed rehabilitation of infrastructure contaminated with explosives during the conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as a prerequisite to socioeconomic recovery and political stability, which, in turn, established a need for the mine action community to deploy qualified, certified clearance teams as quickly as possible. UNMAS Iraq through its (1) evidence-based analysis and measurement of data and (2) effects-based approach to clearance delivery introduced a low cost, high return business model. This model offered a more efficient approach when compared to previous like-for-like models, in addition to providing useful tool sets applicable for other locations and conditions similar to those found in Iraq.

Publication: The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction. Issue 25.1

Publication date: September 2021

About the author: 

Mark Wilkinson, Ph.D, an UNMAS (Iraq) Senior Operations Manager, has twenty years of professional experience in military and humanitarian mine action. His academic background includes a master’s degree in global security and a Ph.D. in politics and international studies. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the University of Nottingham Centre for Conflict, Security and Terrorism where he maintains an active research agenda.