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Syria

IMPACT

 

UNMAS Syria Response represents humanitarian mine action within the wider humanitarian response and ensures that it is well-integrated as a critical component of the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Syria, which includes all mine action activities.

 

In the third quarter of 2022 (July - September):

 

  • More than 741,190 beneficiaries were reached with risk education sessions by UNMAS, humanitarian partners and public service providers across Syria.

 

  • More than 500 risk education facilitators and public service providers were trained to deliver explosive ordnance risk education sessions. UNMAS and partners also provided briefing to more than 1,300 humanitarian workers on explosive ordnance risk awareness in support of safe humanitarian access.

 

  • Surveys and -where possible- marking of hazardous areas continuous to be carried out by mine action actors across Syria. Since December 2021, UNMAS-supported clearance teams cleared more than 1,7 million sqm by surface and more than 1 sqm million by subsurface [O1] of land, which was deemed safe to access for communities. In April 2022, UNMAS- supported clearance teams conducted the first demolition of explosive ordnance identified during clearance work in Darayya, Rural Damascus. During demolitions conducted between July to September, the teams destroyed 147 explosive ordnance.

 

  • UNMAS and humanitarian mine action partners provided victim assistance (VA) services to 3,600 people in need across Syria. More than 19,900 services, including medical referrals, provision of prosthetics and rehabilitation support were delivered. Resources to provide assistance to survivors of explosive ordnance still remain limited and insufficient to meet needs.

 

ABOUT

 

Mine action is a humanitarian need in Syria. The scale, severity, and complexity of the explosive ordnance threat in Syria remains a major protection concern, compounding the humanitarian crisis and the vulnerability of civilians in affected areas. The UN Mine Action Service estimates that since 2013, an average of four people per day have been killed or injured by explosive ordnance.

 

According to the 2022 Humanitarian Needs Overview, 10.2 million men, women, and children are at risk from explosive contamination including items such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs), landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW). Approximately one third of communities are estimated to be potentially contaminated.

 

The destruction and contamination of residential areas and critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, schools and roads, hinders civilian access to basic services and the safe return of displaced persons. Explosive ordnance is a lethal barrier to movement, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and endangers those seeking refuge from violence.

 

In July 2018, UNMAS signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Syrian Arab Republic. With its deployment in October 2018, UNMAS started positive engagement toward the expansion of humanitarian mine action activities across all of Syria, prioritizing the communities most in need.

 

UNMAS aims to minimise the threat of explosive ordnance for communities most at risk. UNMAS also coordinates the mine action area of responsibility across Syria to deliver a coherent humanitarian response to at-risk communities.

 

In line with the humanitarian response, UNMAS provides financial and technical support for survey, risk education and victim assistance activities and projects. UNMAS further supports the overall humanitarian sectors through technical advice and the provision of safety training to humanitarian workers.

 

ACTIVITIES


Coordination

As the mine action sector lead, UNMAS coordinates humanitarian mine action response in Syria. Through collection of information on the achievements, challenges, and gaps, UNMAS works with the humanitarian mine action sector partners to establish prioritisation frameworks and understanding that enhance the outreach and the targeting of people in greatest need. UNMAS hosts monthly coordination meetings and provides technical advice, such as helping find alternative solutions to implement and manage humanitarian mine action activities in the context of Syria where access is restricted. Information management is central to UNMAS coordination as it facilitates needs-based prioritisation, tailoring the response to specific needs, increasing the effectiveness of the sector response, and laying the foundations for future activities.


Explosive Ordnance Risk Education

Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) is an essential component of the humanitarian response in Syria and the first step to guide people in need on mitigating the risk of explosive ordnance. UNMAS uses tailored RE materials for identified at-risk groups, such as children, displaced people, farmers, and is currently developing new materials in consultation with other sectors such as Education, Food Security and Livelihoods, Shelter and Non-Food Items throughout Syria to integrate RE into their activities to mainstream RE into the wider humanitarian response and reach communities most in need.


Survey, Marking and Clearance

Thanks to UNMAS advocacy efforts, surveying, marking and clearance of explosive ordnance are identified as priorities in the 2022-23 draft Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). Survey of residential areas and key infrastructure enables safe delivery of basic services by humanitarian actors and safe access to basic services and livelihood activities in areas impacted by explosive ordnance for at-risk civilians. Identifying the scale and scope of contamination through recording, mapping, and marking for future clearance, will reduce the likelihood of exposure in the interim. Clearance of explosive ordnance is the only means to remove explosive ordnance threats for good. Clearance activities provide the basis for early recovery efforts through safe rehabilitation and safe use of agricultural land, supporting communities’ socio-economic independence and reducing harmful coping strategies.


Victim Assistance

Under the general direction that survivors and victims of explosive incidents obtain assistance for recovery and reintegration, UNMAS delivers with its partners targeted assistance and other victim assistance services, as a provider of last resort. These services include emergency medical care to increase the rate of survival, trauma surgery and pain management, as well as physical rehabilitation, prostheses and orthotics to reduce the rate of impairment. Yet the current capacity remains limited in meeting the ever increasing demand in Syria. Explosive ordnance related casualties contribute to increased needs from the health sector, including in the longer term, with a large proportion of survivors sustaining permanent impairment and requiring long term psychosocial and socio-economic integration support.

 

FUNDING

 

The Syria Response Programme currently seeks USD 25 million to implement its 2023 planned humanitarian mine action interventions, support the humanitarian response and early recovery initiatives across Syria, and reach the people most in need. Out of the USD 25 million, 20 million is needed to expand the survey and clearance work in priority humanitarian locations, including high-risk search and clearance at residential areas requiring armored mechanical capacity.

 

UNMAS 'most urgent requirement is $2 million to launch the first non-technical survey in government controlled areas, and USD 12 million to complete phase 1 and launch phase 2 of the pilot clearance project in Rural Damascus, including clearance of urban areas requiring mechanical assets.

 

Data as of September 2022