* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Libya face a significant threat from explosive remnants of the recent conflict. The Libyans are rising to the challenge with the help of the Deming Unit of the Danish Refugee Council, Danish Deming Group.
The conflict in Libya is over, but families are still suffering from its effects. The Danish Demining Group, DDG, has worked in and around Sirte since November 2011. The main focus of the operation has been to capacity build national staff as well as conducting impact survey and emergency clearance of explosive remnants of war.
“Libya and not least the city of Sirte face a significant threat from explosive remnants of war. Unexploded and abandoned ordnances, ammunition, cluster munitions pose a high risk to the safety of the population. The high number of small arms and light weapons further adds to the problems,” says Rasmus Stuhr Jakobsen, head of DDG.
So far DDG has successfully completed more than 1.000 emergency spot tasks and cleared more than 50% of the schools in Sirte. In addition more than 50 houses have been cleared from unexploded ordnances.
“Our goal is to build a national mine clearance structure and expertise that on the short term will be able to clear the immediate threat from unexploded ordnances and in the longer run support the reconstruction work in the country,” says Rasmus Stuhr Jakobsen.
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and DDG are to continue implementing emergency tasks at its current locations as well as support the Libyan Mine Action Centre in coordinating the mine action activities in other parts of Libya. In addition DDG/DRC will look at addressing the problem caused by the high number of small arms weapons and unemployment following the fighting in 2011.
DDG in Libya is funded by European Commission’s Department of Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), DANIDA and G. & E. Honorés Fond.
