Radio Miraya
2689: Mine Action Awareness: The Danish Refugee Council's Focus on Land Release for Productivity
This week, of course, yesterday, humankind marked the international mine awareness day and assistance to mine action. The very day, however, we at Regimere have been consistently speaking to representatives from the mine action or en masse to tell us more about their activities, but today in the studio we are joined by John Sorbo, head of mine action with the Danish refugee council. John, good morning, and welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. Right, so as head of the mine action with the Danish refugee council, would you share with us the significance of this international mine awareness day? Yeah, be happy. So, in the RC, we call it human-term disarmament and peace-pilling program, which is a demand action complement, come in one of the four core sectors of the organization. It's profound significance for us, as it reminds us of the devastating impact of landmines, explosive remnants of war worldwide, and more specifically in South Sudan. It raised awareness about ongoing threat posed by these remnants and how that importance of our efforts to mitigate this threat. And it also advocated for the rights of mine victims, promote expilance risk education and support initiatives aimed at clearance of land release, victim assistance and risk reduction, and also celebrate the progress made globally, acknowledging also that challenges still remains, and additionally, it honors the courage of survivors and the dedication of money action professionals, and also underscores the need to continue national cooperation to address the humanitarian impact of landmines, move forward towards a world free of these weapons. Right, well yesterday in Juba there was an event where was the organization part of it? Absolutely, we understand and we took part as we do every year. Yeah, so what were some of the some of the things that were discussed in that event, that stood out for you? Yeah, so protecting lives and building peace was the team for this year's event. And very importantly, the strategy for the next four years was also launched on this event. So this is a very crucial document for what the sector will be doing in the years to come. And it's also an important document with regards to raising funds from international donors to continue there for the releasing land for productive use, and also ensuring that people can turn home. Right, now considering the theme for this year, just as you earlier alluded, how does a mine action with the Danish refugee can so contribute to promoting in line with a theme building resilience through mine action? Yes, so we emphasized on the vital role that management efforts have in saving lives and fostering peace, particularly in affected communities, the data reminds us of the destructive impact of land mines and explores remnants of war, urging collective action to address this massive challenge. And to clearance or land release, as we call it, risk education and victim assistance, we contribute to community rehabilitation and socioeconomic development. Right, I'm at 2024, and this course is important. So continue support is also done, and also addressing the global landmine crisis, if you like, and uniting governments in the process. Right, so we earlier had from the office in charge of on-house you in mine action service, and he said that more awareness is required for people to be aware about these. So why are mine action and mine awareness crucial, especially in South Sudan? Well, we are mitigating the landmine express remnants of war impact in particular conflict affected the areas. And for us, the objectives include humanitarian mining or land release. I do focus on land release because that is really the key point. We are returning land for productive use and allowing people to return home. And we also focus on hazardous awareness. We are aiding victim assist organization to support victims, and we do capacity billing of our local partners, you know, community need aid. And we continue to advocate for resources and support. And also, of course, community engagement for inclusive interventions. And this is, again, the key is a world free of landmine threat and insurance safety and dignity for everyone. Right. So could you just elaborate on the long-term impacts of landmines and unexploded ordinances on the communities, their livelihood, and also the development in areas where these are still prevalent? Yeah. So, yeah, for South Sudan, I mean, these, on an every post-conflict or conflict context, it endages civilians in development and impact the return of displaced people. And giving the South Sudan's history of conflict address the assessor is crucial for community safety and humanitarian access and peace billing. And also, monarchs initiatives mitigate accidents and protect vulnerable population and also enable safe land use. So investment in monarchs and promoting awareness is essential for South Sudan's recovery and stability. Right. So what role do local communities play? Do they even have a part in my interaction efforts? Well, definitely. Definitely. I mean, one action on awareness is critical due to the widespread contamination and the fact that in dangerous civilians and in the development. Right. So addressing these assets is crucial for safety, it's crucial for humanitarian access and certainly peace billing and conflict mitigation. And it also is an important initiative to mitigate that risk and protect the population and enable safe land use, especially for recovery and stability. Right. So how can the people's involvement be enhanced or supported for them to be able to collaborate more or report efficiently? Yes. So, so we would engage community with decision-making from the start, which means that we will look at where we're going to start our operation and what is that involved for doing that in certain areas. We would employ leaders to take charge of an issue, particularly local leadership in the communities we work. We would share knowledge and try to capacity build on various levels. Risk education is important to mitigate for the risk, but also to obtain information from the communities and continue to network through our community intervention, explain to communities what we're there to do and what we're not there to do. And we're also trying to first the partnership with our stakeholders, local organizations, knowledge exchange and sustainable livelihood support. That's another thing DRC is doing in South Sudan. And economic initiatives, we're also trying to support income generating activities and we link in victims up to victim assistance organizations like ICCO. For instance, we continue to obtain that information through our operations. And the more risk education we carry out, the more information we also get, because when we indicate on pictures, for instance, certain items, very often we get from the communities that I've seen this item over there by the tree and then that engages to carry out survey activities and then start, let's say, technically interventions. And through this type of community engagement, we've been assured that stakeholders can feel safer and more resilient through the absence of explosive remnants in the communities. Right. Now, beyond immediate clearance efforts, how does mine action contribute to border peace building, reconciliation and stability in South Sudan? Well, we will say that the humanitarian disarmament or mine action has referring to promote peace building reconciliation and stability through the fact that we as a international organization, it's a way of obtaining trust and cooperation. It forces dialogue and it also laying the groundwork for a broader peace effort. And it also creates a safer environment through clearance or land release, which then returns, rebuild and access essential services. And also socioeconomic development. John, sorry about that. Thank you so much for making our time to speak to us this morning. I know you have so many success stories to share with us, but what is that one success story that stands out for you that you'd like to share with our audience? So we are current operational in Corbo, in Melbourne and Mugby. And I can say one story would be from the communities in Mugby how eager they are to return to the land release. So we can actually see that farmers are ready to move in as soon as we're finished to keep asking us when you'll be completing the task and what we do then as we get in closer to that, we interact with our community members and they communicate with the communities. And then we say, and this day we're going to hand over the land to you guys through the National Authority and also the National Management Authority. And as soon one or two days after that, we start seeing cultivation. And that is fantastic. And that is the feeling that this is really worthwhile and this is actually what we're here to do. We're releasing down back to the communities for productive use and research. Fantastic indeed, John. Thank you so much. Thank you, Marina. Yes, thank you very much. Indeed. Yes, inspiring story there and good work from the Danish refugee council and the tireless work that they do in South Sudan and trying to clear the the lands of South Sudan and giving back to the people, lands that are safe for settlement and development. Well, you're listening to the Miraya breakfast show. This is where the nations big conversations begin every morning. John Sorbo is a head of mine action with a Danish refugee council.