OSCE helps Ukraine to introduce information management system for mine action

MEREFA, Ukraine, 4 December 2015– A first group of 12 Ukrainian emergency personnel officers completed a four-day training course today on operation of an information management system for mine action (IMSMA), organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine at the State Emergency Service training facility in Kharkiv oblast .

Developed and delivered by the expert hub Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GIHDC), the system helps to systematize and store gathered data on specific geographic areas contaminated by explosive hazards. The IMSMA is used in many post-conflict countries to ensure effective clearance of areas affected by military actions, enabling decision-makers to plan, implement and monitor humanitarian demining operations in line with international standards.

“Ukraine's history demonstrates that explosive remnants of war threaten people's lives even decades after the conflict. You can still discover unexploded mines and shells from the Second World War here,” said Jeffrey Erlich, Deputy Head of OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.  “The introduction of IMSMA will help Ukraine to respond to old challenges and deal with the consequences of the recent hostilities in Donbass.”

Since June 2014, Ukraine's State Emergency Service deminers disposed of 195,000 unexploded munitions, including old ones and those discovered in the conflict-affected areas of Donbass. The OSCE Project Co-ordinator provided equipment and trained personnel to help streamline operations and to introduce IMSMA in four regions of Ukraine, where it was successfully piloted this year. The new target is to expand the use of this system in six more regions, including Donetsk and Luhansk early next year.