The National Units for Mine Action and Development Organization – NUMAD (previously National Demining Units Organization – NDUs) was established in 2007 following the signing of Sudan CPA to support peace building process and respond to mines / ERW contamination which resulted from the longest civil war in African history.
NUMAD is a national, non-profit, non-governmental, and neutral humanitarian organization. It is registered at the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) under the Law of Voluntary act 2006 with registration number 3934. NUMAD is a member of Sudan Campaign to Ban Landmine (SCBL) and other national NGOs network. Through responsive, results- based approach and sustainable action, NUMAD is clearing mines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) to build better futures of people and communities affected by conflict (including women, men, children, youth, etc..) to access land for agriculture, water, livelihoods activities and provision of essential services (including health and education services) to vulnerable conflict-affected people. NUMAD contributing to longer-term initiatives to enhance rural development and alleviate economic devastations caused by conflict through delivering of tailored projects aimed to improve health, living conditions, and enabling escape from poverty and sufferings caused by conflict.
Since June 2011, with transition of primary Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) responsibilities from the United Nations Mine Action Office (UNMAO) to the National Mine Action Centre (NMAC), the NUMAD is leading the national response to Landmines / Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) clearance in Sudan, therefore it has become the first national organization assuming full responsibility to manage and conduct mines and Explosive Remnant of War –ERW- clearance operations in accordance with the International Standards.
Our Mission
NUMAD mission is to clear Landmines and ERW in conflict-affected areas, so the affected communities could safely access land for productive use, water, and livelihoods activities, in addition to provision of essential services such as health and education services, and also longer- term initiatives to enhance rural / economic development, and re-integration of landmines / ERW victims into their society.
Our Objectives
To contribute to post conflict recovery and development through responsive, quality- driven and progressive action.
To contribute to human security through landmines / ERW clearance and education, thus removing and reducing physical threat of injuries and death and alleviate devastations caused by conflict.
To enable escape from poverty and improve opportunities for rural and economic development for landmine / ERW victims and conflict affected communities through landmines / ERW clearance and education.
To provide safe environment through collection and dissemination of information on landmines / ERW to the vulnerable people, landmine / ERW impacted communities , and humanitarian aid workers.
To provide environmental protection and preservation through adoption of mine action practices those are friendly to the surrounding environment.
To effectively intervene during emergency situation and natural disaster, recovery and development.
Overview of our Mine Action Interventions
Since its establishment the NUMAD With its rich mixed experiences and knowledge built up through organization’s history, NUMAD mine action programme funded by different donors including (UNMAS, UNDP- Common Humanitarian Fund -CHF, Italian Cooperation Office, DFID- UK) resulted in releasing more than 11,497,787sqm (including manual clearance, Battle Area clearance, and technical survey) back to mine / ERW impacted-communities. Additionally 13,172 items were destroyed including 4,345 landmines. It is worth mentioning that, more than 16 roads / routes have been cleared and /or verified by the NUMAD teams across the whole Sudan (such as Port-Sudan Water pipeline 420 Km, Kassala – Girgir 18 Km, and Kassala – Hamashkorieb 224Km in the Eastern States, and verification and clearance of four major humanitarian roads in Dalami locality in South Kordofan state with total length of 109.4 Kilometres (including; Kadbar Village – Dalami Town Road_ 16.9Km, Dalami – Hilat Gasim-Allah_ 55Km, Dalami – Kokaya Village Road_ 15Km, and Al Gardoud – Kurtala Village Road_ 22.5Km ).
Eastern States- Kassala State:
Localities of Talkuk, Hamashkorieb, Rural Kassala, and Wad El-hellew, in villages of (Karakon, Eid-emir, Eid glob, Togan Alnogta, Hamdayeet, etc…)
Blue Nile State:
Localities of Bau, Damazin, and El-Rosaries in villages of (Fadimiah, Diarang, Bagas, village 1, 2, etc…).
South Kordofan State:
Localities of Dalami, Kadugli, and El-Rashad in villages of (Kokaya, Kurtala, El Rousaires, Daldaku, etc…).
Darfur Region:
All five Darfur states; including West, Central, North, South and East Darfur States, and Displaced Camps in Darfur Region.
NUMAD’s Mine Action Capacity
NUMAD’s clearance capacity consists of ten Manual Clearance teams, three MDD teams, four Mechanical Demining teams utilizing mechanical machines such as (MH05, Mine Wolf, Armtrac, and MV4 machines), in addition to these clearance capacity the NUMAD have also survey and community liaison capacities.
NUMAD’s Development Capacity
NUMAD’s clearance capacity consists of ten Manual Clearance teams, three MDD teams, four Mechanical Demining teams utilizing mechanical machines such as (MH05, Mine Wolf, Armtrac, and MV4 machines), in addition to these clearance capacity the NUMAD have also survey and community liaison capacities.
Development interventions bring about the synergies and complementarities between the two aspects of NUMAD work. This could also be considered as strategic move towards emphasizing the development mandate of the organization. It built on the legacy of the Mine Action Department (MAD), through capitalizing on existing initiatives (ongoing MAD projects). This is in addition to development of new projects for pipelining.
The important part of the Development Department intervention is embedded in the programmatic mission of the department. The Development Department will lead expanding the program portfolio through initiating number of projects. Although the range of project topics for development within NUMAD are various, the following are some strategic areas of focus:
– Livelihoods for mine affected populations (vocational training, agricultural productivity, business development, etc.)
– Health, water and sanitation
– Education – Protection and women empowerment
NUMAD’s Currently Implemented Mine Action Projects
NUMAD currently implementing a number of projects for different donors (such as UNOPS – UNAMID, Ordnance Disposal Office, and UNDP, Common Humanitarian Fund – CHF) in Darfur Region and Blue Nile state, which as follows:
Project ‘Land Release in Sudan in South Kordofan and Blue Nile States’
Project ‘Road/ Route Verification and Clearance in Sudan in South Kordofan and Blue Nile States’
Project ‘National Multi- Tasking Teams for ERW clearance in Darfur in Sudan’
Project ‘ERW Clearance Capacity in Darfur Region in Sudan’
Organizational Structure
It is designed in a way to allow for expansion and development as the situation dictates, however the NUMAD maintained an organisation core body at Khartoum Head Quarters with sub-offices in Kassala, Kadugli, Damazin, El Fasher, Nyala, El Geniena, El Daein and Zalengi as the focal point for all NUMAD operations, administration and logistics activities.