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It all begins when an official government
makes a request for a possible Landmine
Survey to the Survey Working Group and the
Survey Action Center.
Before survey teams are dispatched to
mine-affected countries, the United Nations
Mine Action Service (UNMAS) conducts an
assessment to determine the need for a survey
and to gauge local government interest.
Once the need is established, UNMAS formally
requests that the Survey Action Center (SAC)
mobilize an Advance Survey Mission (ASM)
to the target country. These missions work
with local authorities to lay the groundwork
for the Level One Impact Surveys. During
the Advance Survey Mission, feasibility
and cost estimates for level-one efforts
are formulated. Then SAC studies each mission
proposal and works with NGOs and donors
to organize the necessary funds and personnel
for the survey effort.
The full-scale surveys are ground-level,
community-by-community assessments of the
minefield locations and their impacts on
local citizens.
Survey teams canvas communities and interview
local citizens, asking how known or suspected
landmines compromise their daily lives.
Survey teams record how entire portions
of towns - cropland, roads, markets, schools,
cemeteries - effectively disappear owing
to the fear of mines.
Each survey's human impact data
is cross-referenced with the Information
Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA).
The entire process is closely monitored
by the United Nations for quality assurance.
Then UNMAS convenes a Certification
Committee for each survey to review the
entire process from start to finish and
certifies the survey only if the highest
international standards are maintained.
The findings are then presented to the host
country's government
This information is used as a guide
for mine marking and clearing efforts, public
education campaigns, and victim assistance
programs.
To learn more about any Landmine Impact
Survey (LIS) feel free to contact
us.
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