2.2 Liaison with the Mine Action Community in Cambodia

Humanitarian mine action in Cambodia had already been underway for approximately 8 years when this survey was initiated. Large mine clearance programs were being implemented by CMAC, MAG and HALO Trust. In addition, Handicap International (Belgium) had for years been working with the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC) to establish a surveillance capacity for long-term tracking of victim information. The Cambodian Mine/UXO Victim Information System (CMVIS) as the HI/CRC project is called produces monthly and annual statistics that were and still are widely relied on by NGOs, UN and government agencies. In general, the development assistance community was already informed and engaged in collecting and disseminating information or otherwise responding to the problem of mines and UXO.

In light of this established capacity and relatively high level of existing information there were concerns voiced by those within the mine action community that the work undertaken as part of the National Level One Survey would be redundant and wasteful of scarce mine action resources. Consequently, one of the first challenges faced by GeoSpatial was to assist the community to understand the particular goals and outputs of the Survey that would improve general understanding of and long term capacities to systematically respond to the mine/UXO problem.

It this regard it was stressed that the National Level One Survey Project would produce a methodologically consistent, quality assured and controlled 'snapshot' of the location of mine contamination and its socio-economic impact at the village level for the entire country.

The survey would overcome existing problems associated with:

• Methodological Consistency

  Many organizations had or were still collecting mine/UXO data to meet their specific programming needs. As a result, the information available on a country-wide basis was not consistent in either the nature of the information collected or the methods of data collection and the results were therefore not broadly comparable for priority setting purposes.




• Quality Assurance and Quality Control

  Information collecting organizations were utilizing QA/QC checks and controls to various degrees. In particular, CMAC had begun a 'national level one survey' in 1999 but had virtually no controls in place to ensure the quality of the collected data. Consequently information contained within the CMAC data was viewed with skepticism.




• Preconceived Notions

  It was commonly believed that the most high priority contaminated areas in Cambodia had already been identified. In fact, only a relatively small part of the country had been surveyed in detail for evidence of contamination and its socio-economic impact.

Inception Mission Meetings

The inception team met with all major mine action organizations dealing with both clearance and victim assistance with the objectives of:

• Ensuring knowledge and understanding of all relevant existing information.
• Identifying the specific information needs of stakeholders.
• Strengthening data gathering, dissemination and data-use applications where possible.
• Increasing the likelihood of acceptance and use of the final product as a reliable tool for planning future mine action interventions in Cambodia.

In-depth consultations were held with representatives of the following organizations:

• CMAC Management Team and Technical Advisors from UNDP, UNOPS, UNICEF, NPA, Canadian and New Zealand Militaries.



• Other ministries of the Royal Government of Cambodia including:
• Geography Department
• Ministry of Land Management
• Urban Planning and Construction
• Ministry of Public Works and Transport
• National Information Service
• Census Department



• NGOs with special emphasis on mine action operators such as:
• Mines Advisory Group (MAG)
• HALO Trust
• Handicap International (Belgium)
• Cambodian Red Cross and NPA



• Development NGOs with previous experience in implementing surveys in Cambodia:
• CARE
• Health Unlimited
• Oxfam
• Helen Keller International
• Action Hunger Control (ACF)



• United Nations and International Organisations with survey experience and/or mine action-related mandates such as:
• UNICEF
• World Food Programme (WFP)
• UNDP including Carere and UNHCR
• Representatives of the joint USAID/UNICEF
• Demographic Health Service Project were also consulted

The four most active mine clearance organisations and their areas of operation are shown in the following map which was produced from the Level One Survey results.

Location of Operations of Prinicpal Mine Clearance Organisations

Stakeholder Workshop

Initial meetings with these organisations were followed by a workshop held early in the project which brought these groups together towards further eliciting information on past experience and existing requirements with respect to mine action survey work. Particular attention was paid to the information access needs (database query requirements) of these stakeholders.

Promoting ongoing Stakeholder Involvement - Database Presentations and Data Distribution

It was believed highly desirable to maintain the interest of stakeholders throughout the survey process. To this end, where possible, early survey results were shared with requesting organizations as a means of eliciting feedback that more clearly and specifically defined the needs of an ever-expanding stakeholder group[1].

General documentation produced included a monthly 'Progress Update' that provided a statistical overview of the progress of the survey and preliminary findings in terms of the number of contaminated and uncontaminated villages visited. Occasional updates were provided at monthly Mine Action Coordination Committee (MACC) meetings convened under the auspices of the Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA).




Valerie Warmington (foreground) working with sustainable
development NGO's in Rattenak Kiri