Lusophone African Humanitarian Deminers in Management Training Course

"Successful mine action encompasses more than clearing landmines or assisting mine survivors. It is also a matter of helping mine affected nations develop a cadre of well-trained managers who can assume full responsibility for operating national mine action programs effectively without being overly dependent on outside assistance," remarked Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr., the Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State for Mine Action. Special Representative Bloomfield also serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs. The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs is responsible for the U.S. Department of State's humanitarian demining programs.

Participants in this Mine Action Managers Middle Management training were identified by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and drawn from mine action programs in Mozambique, Angola and Guinea-Bissau. The curriculum includes subjects such as project management and administration. It was designed by Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, with State Department funding.

In the four two-week courses that have been conducted since last June, 35 African mid-level mine action managers have been trained. The final course ends June 14 culminating in a graduation ceremony in Maputo.

"The State Department has also supported middle management and senior management training for Afghan and Balkan mine action managers, respectively, and we're pleased with the current training now winding up in Maputo," said Donald "Pat" Patierno, Director of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs' humanitarian demining program. "Building on the success of this training and the training now concluding in Maputo, we hope to underwrite similar courses in Cambodia, Thailand and the Horn of Africa and widen our management training efforts in Afghanistan and the Balkans as well."

To learn more about the U.S. Department of State's humanitarian demining activities, visit the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs website at http://www.state.gov/t/pm/. Click on Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs and Office of Mine Action Initiatives and Partnerships.