Suchergebnisse

The mine action programme in Yemen is showing a depth of maturity that is comparable to the best mine action programmes in the world. Since the first convening of the high-level National Mine Action Committee in June 1998 and the establishment of the Yemeni Executive Mine Action Centre in January 1999, the programme has evolved in all directions, and shows results at the outcome level that reveal focus and clarity of purpose. The fundamental reason for the progress achieved is, without any doubt, the strong commitment of the Government. This commitment is not only revealed through the establishment of a legal, policy and management structure, but can also be judged from the substantial funds contributed from the national budget, amounting to some US$3.5 million annually.

AbstractA recent cost‐benefit analysis of landmine clearance in Cambodia (Harris, JID 12(2), 2000) reported a net present value (NPV) of minus $3,434 million, and concluded landmine clearance using existing technologies is not economically justified for Cambodia. Professor Harris suggested higher returns would accrue to investments in de‐mining technology, while aid funds for landmine clearance should be reallocated to meet other development objectives. However, the methodology used massively overstates the present value of de‐mining costs while the estimated benefits are far too low. More fundamentally, the specification of the model makes it suitable only for an 'all‐or‐nothing' decision whether to rid Cambodia entirely of landmine contamination, and does not allow the analysis of targeted clearance of priority land. With appropriate adjustments, the economics of landmine clearance in Cambodia are not bleak, and may well yield positive rates of return in NPV terms. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In 2001 the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament adopted two Regulations on the reinforcement of the EU response against Antipersonnel Landmines (APL). These (referred to collectively as "the Regulation") laid the foundation of an integrated European policy. The Regulation states the need to regularly assess operations financed by the Community and that the European Commission (EC) shall submit to the European Parliament an overall assessment of all Community mine action. To implement these provisions, the EC commissioned a global assessment of EC mine policy and actions over the period 2002-2004 and entered into an agreement with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) to, inter alia, manage the programme of regional evaluations to identify lessons learned within EC-funded mine action projects in the six regions, one of which is Asia-Pacific. The regional evaluations complement the Global Assessment by focusing on relevant conclusions and recommendations from the Global Assessment, and EC mine action strategy and programming issues at the country level. The evaluation does not assess the efficiency, effectiveness, and impact of individual projects, except to illustrate changes since the Global Assessment or critical programming issues.

The main purposes of this report are to (i) advise CIDA/ATF on what it should expect from the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in terms of reporting on development results, and (ii) assess feasible timelines and approaches for the transfer of UN responsibilities for mine action in Afghanistan to national organs, capable of addressing the country's future problems stemming from explosives contamination. The specific objectives of the assessment relate to: 1. Donor coordination, particularly as this relates to the UNMAS/MACA exit strategy and the emergence of national ownership; 2. Nationalisation, particularly with respect to the transition to full national ownership; 3. Mainstreaming components of mine action in support of reconstruction and development; 4. MACA capacity for monitoring and evaluation of development results, including gender. The report is organised as follows: Chapter 1 provides a background on Afghanistan, the nature and extent of its explosives contamination problem, and a brief history of the Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan (MAPA). Chapter 2 outlines the current status of the MAPA, the MACA, Government of Afghanistan (GoA) units involved in mine action, and government-donor coordination mechanisms for mine action. Chapter 3 provides the assessment team's analysis vis-à-vis MACA and MAPA more broadly, donor coordination, nationalisation, mainstreaming, and monitoring and evaluation. Chapter 4 provides our principal conclusions and recommendations.

This report presents the findings, conclusions, and recommendations from a study on the need for a new national mine action strategy for Cambodia. The study entailed a document review; the preparation and distribution of a stakeholder questionnaire and the analysis of responses; and interviews with representatives from a number of mine action and disability assistance organisations, government ministries, etc.

Mine action started in Afghanistan and, globally, has grown into a billion-dollar endeavour. On most measures, Afghanistan remains the world's largest mine action programme, which has performed admirably in terms of delivering outputs such as square metres cleared and devices destroyed. But less is known about when and how mine action enhances the well-being of people in mine-affected communities. This article outlines how the Sustainable Livelihoods approach has been used to provide a better understanding of the benefits of mine action, and how capacities have been developed to conduct future evaluations without dependence on international specialists, reducing both costs and risks.

Positive psychological capital (PsyCap) is a key measure of workplace positivity, yet its organizational impact may be somewhat limited by current measurement practices. Given its state-like and malleable nature, organizations need accurate yet brief measures to allow for repeated measurement of PsyCap. A very short PsyCap instrument could be used in various ways by organizations to measure and track employee positivity, thus enabling management to make decisions with more insight. Similarly, for researchers, a much shorter scale could dramatically improve research efficiency and response rate, opening up new perspectives in PsyCap research. In this paper, initial evidence is provided for the validity of a short PsyCap measure across multiple samples of working adult populations ( N = 1331 in total) from four different countries (United States, China, Germany, and Hungary). Consistent with prior research, we propose a five-item PsyCap measure, the PCQ-5, consisting of one item from the dimensions of self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism and one item for each facet of the hope dimension (agency and pathways). The proposed PCQ-5 shows internal consistency reliability and good fit for a single factor global PsyCap model across all samples. Moreover, like the PCQ-24, the PCQ-5 is associated with meaningful workplace outcomes such as job performance, job satisfaction, OCBs, voice, and helping behaviors, and it is negatively related to deviant behaviors like CWBs.

On 31 August 2007 the Netherlands Government (NG) decided to fund the Danish Demining Group (DDG) mine action activities in Somaliland, Sudan, and Afghanistan. The funding agreement runs from January 2008 to December 2011 and NG and DDG had preliminary discussions on the continuation of the project. The NG Decision of 31 August 2007 foresees an external evaluation initiated by the grant recipient. The purpose of this evaluation is two-fold: (1) to evaluate progress towards objectives, thus contributing to improving the programme through documenting lessons learned and providing recommendations; and (2) to evaluate and inform NG and DDG on project relevance, and give recommendations regarding a continuation of the project. The specific objectives of the valuation are to ascertain results (outputs and outcomes) and assess the efficiency, effectiveness and relevance of the following projects: 1. Survey, Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Mine Risk Education, in Southern Sudan 2. Mechanical Support to Mine Action, in Afghanistan 3. Support to Ammunition Disposal and Community Liaison/Education Teams, in Somaliland The evaluation of the Sudan project was a desk review, based largely on an evaluation of DDG operations conducted earlier in 2010 by the GICHD on behalf of DDG and Sida. The evaluations in both Afghanistan and Somaliland entailed field missions.