In response to contamination from landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), and at the request of the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), a cross line demining programme was established in 2002 through a tripartite agreement among authorities in the north and south and United Nation Mine Action Service (UNMAS).
In 2005, with the adoption of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and Security Council Resolution 1590 establishing the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), the UN Mine Action Office (UNMAO) was set up as an integral part of UNMIS with regional offices in the North, South and Darfur, which later became an integrated part of the UN/AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). While UNMAS represented the core of UNMAO, other agencies such as UNDP, UNICEF, WFP and UNHCR all provided capacity to the effort.
Since early 2008, a strategic goal of the UN has been to work with national authorities to support the development of the National Mine Action Center (NMAC), which now has responsibility for the coordination of all mine action activities in Sudan.
Following the end of the UNMIS mandate as per UN Security Council Resolution 1997 in July 2011, the UNMAO concluded its activities in Sudan. At the request of the Government of Sudan, the UNMAS continued providing assistance to mine action in Sudan through technical support to the National Mine Action Center.
The main activity of the UNMAS in Sudan (UNMAS-S) is to continue assisting the National Mine Action Center in the implementation of Mine Action activities in Sudan to promote humanitarian and developmental goals of the government.
The current areas of assistance are in line with the Sudan Mine Action Programme Multi-Year Work Plan and the Transition Plan. The NMAC and Humanitarian Affairs Commission (HAC) have identified, through the transition planning process initiated in 2008 that the main competencies where the NMAC would like continued UN support are: Operations and Quality Assurance, IMSMA, Mine Risk Education and Resource Mobilisation. Support will continue based on a regular monitoring and evaluation system agreed upon with NMAC.
The UNMAS-S looks forward to continuing its collaboration with the National Authority to assist Sudan in implementation of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and related instruments to reduce the humanitarian and socio-economic impact of landmines and ERW.