1.2 United Nations Certification and Quality Assurance Monitor

The process of UN certification of completed Global Landmine Impact Surveys is intended to ensure that overall project performance is evaluated on a regular basis thereby providing confidence that the L1S project will meet a high standard of quality. In order to facilitate high standards in the implementation of Global Landmine Impact Surveys, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has worked with other UN agencies and with the Survey Action Center (SAC) to develop a document entitled 'Certification Guidelines and Documentation Requirements'. The guidelines and requirements outlined in this document must be satisfied in order to for a Global Landmine Impact Survey to achieve United Nations certification.

The certification process involves an external quality assurance monitor (QAM) being contracted to work with the survey implementing organization. The QAM oversees the full range of project activities in order to ensure that sound and reliable processes are adopted and adhered to throughout and in all aspects of the survey. The QAM reports to UNMAS on the progress of the survey and particularly with respect to project adherence to UN Certification Guidelines and Documentation Requirements. The decision of whether a Global Landmine Impact Survey will or will not receive UN certification is based on a review by the UN Certification Committee of reports received from the QAM and a comprehensive final report produced by the survey implementing agency. The UN Certification Committee is comprised of representatives of various UN agencies and selected other organisations.

The Cambodia National Level One Survey was planned and implemented with the intension of achieving UN certification. A quality assurance monitor first visited the project for three weeks in February 2001 when operations had been underway for approximately 7 months. He again visited for three weeks in April 2001 and in June 2001. The final visit of the QAM was in March-April of 2002. On this occasion, as he had not visited the project in 7 months, he remained in-country for 6 weeks. On all visits to the project, the QAM divided his time between visits to field operations including a review of internal QA/QC operations, documentation review and meetings with HQ staff in Phnom Penh and meetings with the Cambodia Mine Action Authority (CMAA) and the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) and other potential stakeholders or data end-users.

The QAM is also to provide advice to survey implementers as to the acceptability of project-related decisions vis-a-vis the UNMAS guidelines and requirements and the Certification Committee. Because UN quality assurance visits to the Cambodia Level One Survey began late in the project and were not conducted regularly throughout the survey, less advantage was derived from the quality assurance process than may otherwise have been the case. Nevertheless, the QAM provided significant assistance to the project and was a valuable source of relevant information.

UN Quality Assurance Monitor Alain Dazy
on a field check with Field Manager Tony Schori

See also section 10.1- UN Certification