OSCE provides equipment for humanitarian demining in Ukraine

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine provided the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) with 50 protective vests, 60 ballistic safety helmets and 5 laptops with software, to plan and manage humanitarian demining operations. The handover ceremony took place in the Service’s headquarters in Kyiv on 30 December 2014.

The equipment was purchased at the request of Ukrainian partners to provide additional assistance in view of the need to survey and clear areas affected by the military conflict in Ukraine’s eastern regions. According to the SES, since July 2014 deminers detected and disposed of 31,700 items of explosive ordnance in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including over 750 improvised devices.

The OSCE provided vests and helmets to enhance the safety of the emergency response personnel, as well as laptops with Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) software, which are instrumental for planning, monitoring and quality control of operations in line with international standards and best practices.

In parallel, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator also supported efforts to familiarize civilians, including children, with safety rules related to explosive ordnance. The Co-ordinator issued 50,000 student workbooks for Donbas children displaying a cover image on safety issues; the first 7,000 copies together with mine risk awareness posters and video materials were delivered to schools of Luhansk region in December 2014.

In December 2014 the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, in co-operation with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, conducted a workshop on emergency response to explosive remnants of war contamination for 30 officers from the Ukrainian emergency services and other offices.