HUMANITARIAN SERVICES
1. HUMAN RIGHTS, PEACE AND SECURITY
A culture of peace cannot be imposed from the outside; it is cultivated in the hearts of peace- loving people and ripples out like a pebble tossed into a lake" Foundation of a culture of peace is laid on;
• Mature character,
• Loving relationships and family
• Contribution to the society.
Therefore Peace is rooted in mature character and deep heart. Culture of peace is shaped by the character of its people. People's thoughts, feelings & actions promote peace. Mature character is morally guided and; Gives strength to make tough choices is necessary to attain goodness and peace.
The origin of peace is family, and family is the school of love. Root of family peace is loving husband and wife. They breed loving and peaceful children. Peaceful families are a basis for empathy with all people and bring harmonious interaction which support peaceful nations.
In respect to its objective of saving life, Pan African Hazards and Mine Action Foundation ( PHAMAF) carries out peace projects peculiar to particular circumstances.
Peace and Reconciliation, and Character Education
The organization has embarked on a peace project in areas that were hit by the 2007 election crisis. The project is intended to build the capacity of both the community and Community Based Organizations on Peace and Reconciliation, and character education.
The project also includes: Providing legal aid and Capacity building through Paralegal training, Human rights awareness raising and education, Human rights campaigning, lobbying and advocacy, Human rights monitoring and documentation
Implementation of community policing strategies is also part of the project.
THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WAS RECOGNIZED AS AN AMBASSADOR OF PEACE BY INTERRELIGIOUS AND INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR WORLD PEACE ON 9 th APRIL 2008 IN NAIROBI KENYA
2. HUMANITARIAN MINE ACTION
Landmines
PHAMA Foundation members, most of whom have carried out Mine Action in landmine contaminated countries, believe that to live in a country like Kenya where one may stroll through a garden, a field or along a path quite simply and without running any risk of loosing a limb, know for sure is real good luck. But those who live in countries like Angola, Afhaganistan, Cambodia, Sudan, Burundi and the like know that there must be better awareness of this plague to afford better means of fighting against it. Landmines have very devastating effect to human life. It is estimated that to clear the mines in already in place, it would cost $30 billion.
Mines currently claim some 2,000 victims a month. These weapons, which were originally conceived to counter the use of tanks and other armoured vehicles, have been increasingly designed to target human beings. Anti-personnel (AP) mines have become the weapons of choice for parties involved in guerilla-type operations and internal conflicts, as they are cheap, easy to lay and highly effective in killing and maiming human beings.
What are Landmines
Landmines or simply mines are explosive traps that are victim-actuated, whether the intended target is a person or a vehicle. A mine comprises a quantity of explosive material contained within some form of casing (typically in metal, plastic or wood) and a fusing mechanism to detonate the explosives. Mines are generally classified into two categories: anti-personnel and anti-tank (or anti-vehicle. Anti-personnel mines are technical divided into four categories: blast, fragmentation, bounding and directional fragmentation, based on their target effect (or primary method of causing injury).
Landmines, which are mostly laid, differ from the other types of ammunition which have to be aimed and fired (or projected from a gun or launcher) Once they have been laid, mines are completely indiscriminate in their action. Unless cleared they continue to have the potential to kill and maim long after the warring parties they targeted have ceased fighting. Mines are at least ten times more likely to kill or injure a civilian after a conflict than a combatant during hostilities. They are also long-lasting. Although no estimate has been given for the shelf life, mines laid during the World War II still injure and kill. Modern plastic-cased mines, which are stable and water-proof, are likely to remain a hazard for many decades.
The main characteristic of a mine is that it is designed to be victim-actuated, which means it will detonate or explode through the presence, proximity, or contact "of its victim (a person or a vehicle) with it or fusing mechanism. The fuse may incorporate a tripwire, an anti-handing device or some form of electronic sensor. This is the main distinction between a mine and classical munition. Some munitions are fused to act as mines, and detonate if touched or moved, but most are fused to explode on impact, usually with a hard target, and are generally less dangerous than mines if they to explode. Most munitions remain on the surface, unless they have enough momentum to penetrate the ground. Munitions can still be lethal if mishandled, and the unfortunate victims of many munition accidents are children, who cannot resist plating with them.
Landmines are usually designed to attack either tanks or vehicles (anti-tanks-AT mines) or people (anti-personnel AP mines) AT mines usually contain between 2 and 9 kg of explosive, and their fusing mechanism require a pressure of about 100-300 kg to activate it. AP mines are smaller, with 10-25 g of explosive, and detonate under about 5-50 kg of pressure. They come in two types: blast mines, which are surface or sub-surface laid and explode when trodden on; and fragmentation mines, which are usually activated by tripwires, and on bursting project fragments of metal over a wide area. A variant of fragmentation mine is the "jumping" mine which, when set off by tripwire, is projected upwards by a small explosive charge to about stomach height before the main charge explodes. Newer types of mines can be activated by proximity rather than contact pressure, but the principle of victim activation remains the same.
Conventional mine clearing standards require that a mine should contain some metal to make detection by electronic mine detector easier. But over time the metal casings have been overtaken by the development of stable and durable plastics as casing material. This and the improvement of plastics used in the fusing are making it increasingly difficult for detection, which has led to proposals that a minimum quantity of metal be used in every mine; to make it easier for conventional mine-clearance techniques.
The improvement in technology in the manufacture of mines, the lengthy period mines stay in the ground and sometimes lack of maps for minefields make land mine clearance very difficult. It has been estimated that a mine which costs $3 to purchase and almost nothing to lay costs between $ 200 and $1,000 to clear.
The Land Mine Threat
It is very hard for certain to tell how many mines remain uncleared. The most recent estimates of 100 million mines have been viewed as just speculations. The exact number of victims has also been a difficult issue. But what is certain is that mines continue to claim human life and limb, both during and after conflict, worse still, many of them civilians. The majority of the reported deaths and injuries in 65 countries were at peace not war.
But this threat goes beyond the killing, maiming of thousands of individuals each year as reported by the International Campaign to Ban Landmine (ICBL) for example, a network of more than 1,400 NGOs. The social, economic, and environmental impact of these war remnants is prolonged and often severe. For example rural development has been hampered by lose of fertile agricultural land and access to water points in many rural communities
Unexploded Ordnance
What is Unexploded Ordnance (UXO)?
All ammunition fired from a gun, launched from a launcher, or propelled by hand thus bombs, shells, mortars, grenades, missiles etc which fail to function at the intended target due to either storage conditions, method of use, environmental conditions etc are known as unexploded ordnance. For example a mortar bomb whose safety pin has not been removed before firing is likely not to explode on impact at the target.
UXO is also defined as "explosive ordnance that has been primed fused, armed, or otherwise prepared for use and used in an armed conflict. It may have been fired, dropped, launched or projected and should have exploded but failed to do so" This does not include mines, booby-traps or other devices like Improvised explosive devices (IED)
The UXO Threat
Although it is similarly difficult to tell how many UXOs items remain uncleared, the total number of these items far exceeds the total number of landmines. Very significant numbers of UXOs continue to be uncovered from many battle fields world-wide more than 50-80 years after the munitions were fired. Kenya has had its share of the impact from the World War II to the present training munitions by the Kenya Armed Forces and the British Army trainings in various training locations. most notably is the Samburu British Army range where fatal cases were realized until the local community had to sue the British Ministry of Defense for negligence.
The threat by UXOs has always been overshadowed by the internal concern about the humanitarian impact of landmines, especially anti-personnel mines, but is now receiving the attention it deserves. It is now entrenched in the mine action as one of the activities. In developing economies, civilians have valued UXOs as scrap metal, and children have been killed while plying with them. In Isiolo, Mulima Mutunye area in Isiolo, Kasigao and other military training grounds, the consequences of its collection and accidental contact have all too often been fatal.
a. Mine Risk Education (MRE)
According to International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) MRE (which used to be known as "Mine Awareness" is a process that is aimed at promoting the adoption of safer behaviors by at-risk groups and which provides the links between affected communities, other mine action components and other sectors It has also been referred to as 'programmes that, relying on information sharing, teaching and identifying ways to avoid the need to traverse mined areas, seek to shield populations from accidents involving landmines, UXO or booby-traps left behind by warring parties'. It is an essential component of mine action.
MRE has two related and mutually reinforcing components;
Community liaison and Public education
Community Liaison:
This is the establishment of mutually relationship between the programme implementers and the community effected by mine/UXO problem. It enables the community accept and own the project. Community liaison teams work with mine/UXO affected community to identify appropriate, sustainable ways to reduce the impact of contamination to the community. the information exchange must be two-way and should lead to prudent benefits to the community. For example amputees should be given the information they require like being told the availability of prosthetic services and helping to arrange for their treatment in the nearest amputee centre.
Communication Strategy:
One of the fundamental tools in enabling safer behaviors for at-risk community is by having a clear communication strategy. Communication is the process of sharing the information and understanding it. It is used to inform people of the dangers of mines and UXO, to demonstrate safe behavior and to teach mine-safe skills. It is also applied to back support for mine-safe behaviors among the communities and leaders. MRE has variety of communication channels and techniques and in most cases adapted peculiarly to different cultures. Communication channels can be divided into four major categories:
. Person-to-person or interpersonal communication- thus, face to face communication.
. Small media- this include posters, brochures, cassettes, leaflets, slide sets, video flip charts, T-shirts, badges and the use of loudspeakers.
. Traditional media- these are performance arts that are used to illustrate and convey information in an entertaining way.
. Mass media- Known as one-way communication this includes radio, television, newspapers, magazines, comic books, cinema or other situations where a large number of people can be reached with information without personal contact. However access to mass media may be limited in rural developing communities.
Providing Effective MRE
The key to providing effective MRE lies in a well thought out while all the above mentioned approaches may save lives and limbs in the very short term, a more systematic approach is required. A good MRE programme should;
. Identify clearly the needs of at-risk population,
. Set clear objectives for the programme,
. plans, consultatively with the affected community, an appropriate strategy to respond to their needs.
. recruits and trains the necessary local staff and deploys them efficiently
. works in collaboration with others, and
. monitors and evaluates its programme to ensure the objectives are achieved and are relevant.
The approach is collectively known as the programme cycle;
The programme cycle
Stage One: Deciding on the need for a programme
Relevant factors
. Increase in incidents involving mines and UXO
. Return of refugees and internally displaced persons
. Threat of conflict
This is when a decision is made whether to have emergency are long-term intervention.
Stage Two: Information requirements
Needs and capacity assessment should be carried out to determine;
. What is the context for MRE?
. What is the nature and extent of the problem?
. Who is at risk?
. What is the risky behavior?
This is also known as level one survey.
The result must be shared by other actors.
Stage Three: Programme planning
This involves a very thoughtful planning of the programme thus;
. Setting program objectives and indicators
. developing a program strategy
. Developing a communication strategy
. Designing methods and materials
. Field-testing of messages and approach
Stage Four: Implementation
Once the programme strategy is in place, then this is the time to get out with a qualified staff and communicate.
. Getting out and communicating
. Community liaison
. Staff selection and training
. Cooperation with other actors and mine action centre.
Stage Five: Monitoring, Evaluation and reorientation
Monitoring of activities- which should have been detailed at the planning stage of the programme-takes place here. Evidence of behavioral change (impact) and not programme output, is what is looked for. This is achieved by;
. Ongoing data gathering and reporting
. External evaluation
. Adapt ion and orientation
It should be noted that information gathering, monitoring and training are ongoing as from stage two.
