U.S.-China Engagement on Humanitarian Mine Action

We appreciate China’s willingness to hold this important meeting in Kunming, and for inviting mine action experts from around the world.

China has already made a strong contribution to humanitarian demining operations in Eritrea and in Yunnan and Guangxi provinces.

So we believe that this workshop offers both a valuable step forward in dealing with the serious landmine and unexploded ordnance problem in Asia and other regions, as well as an excellent opportunity for China and the United States to work together in the cause of creating a mine safe world.

Today I will briefly explain the new United States landmine policy that was announced on February 27 this year. Then I will describe in some detail the U.S.’s revitalized humanitarian mine action program – specifically my government’s commitments to international cooperation.

On February 27, 2004 the United States announced a new landmine policy that includes four key elements. The first is the President’s firm commitment to a complete and unequivocal ban on the use of persistent landmines after 2010. The second element of the policy is a firm commitment that by the end of this year, the United States will no longer use non-detectable landmines of any type. Third, the President has directed a concerted effort to develop alternatives to persistent landmines, both anti-personnel and anti-vehicle, incorporating enhanced self-destructing/self-deactivating technologies and sophisticated control mechanisms. The fourth major element of this policy is a fifty percent increase in the State Department's budget for worldwide humanitarian mine action programs. Adjusted from the fiscal year 2003 baseline, a total of $70 million will be requested for fiscal year 2005.

As part of this policy process, President Bush directed the U.S. Department of State to develop a strategic plan for the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program, the key features of which I will soon describe in greater detail.

To support this policy, the United States wants to strengthen provisions in existing international arms control mechanisms relating to the use of persistent landmines of all kinds, with the goal of ending the indiscriminate laying of all persistent landmines anywhere in the world. In this regard we look forward to working with China and other countries in the Convention on Conventional Weapons to address issues related to mines other than anti-personnel mines.

The Bureau of Political Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement administers the State Department’s Humanitarian Mine Action Program, a program whose heritage reaches back to 1988 when the United States first began to extend humanitarian demining assistance to Afghanistan.

The United States subsequently widened its demining assistance to Cambodia and some other badly mine affected nations and has since become the largest humanitarian mine action donor nation in the world.

Since 1993, the U.S. has invested over $800 million in mine clearance, mine risk education, mine survivors assistance, and research and development of new clearance technologies, extending our aid to a total 46 countries to date. In 2004 alone, the United States will, counting our mine action efforts in Iraq, spend over $183.2 million on humanitarian mine action.

I mentioned that this is an inter-agency program, meaning that other Federal agencies besides just the U.S. Department of State participate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Agency For International Development (through both its Leahy War Victims Fund and regular Development programs) and the U.S. Department of Defense also have a vital role.

This fiscal year alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contributed $4 million to humanitarian mine action; USAID contributed a total of $40 million; the U.S. Department of State contributed $60 million in regular funds; and our colleagues at the U.S. Department of Defense are contributing $19.2 million.

Permit me to introduce Colonel John Jordan, Director of Humanitarian Mine Action within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Colonel Jordan, please describe the Department of Defense’s major role in humanitarian mine action.

[NOTE: Colonel Jordan then spoke, using 2 Power Point slides to help describe the U.S. Department of Defense’s role in the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program.]

Thank you Colonel Jordan. I will now describe the overall U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Strategic Plan. It is designed to support our broader U.S. foreign policy mission and objectives. More than ever before, it focuses on measurable outputs that enable us to gauge progress – or lack thereof – to rationally prioritize how we allocate our resources for mine action, and places increased emphasis on program planning, sound management and financial transparency.

Our Humanitarian Mine Action Program does not operate in isolation. It complements and serves as a tool to support two major Department of State goals. The first is to advance sustainable development and global interests through humanitarian responses to reduce casualties, protect victims of conflict and improve local capacities. The second goal is to protect America by promoting regional stability. We see humanitarian mine action as a means to promote the stability of mine affected countries as well as the stability of their regional neighbors, encourage international cooperation and friendship, and advance peace.

The United States uses four factors to help determine which countries will receive our humanitarian mine action assistance and the degree of funding for that assistance. We calculate the mine affected country’s humanitarian need, how rendering aid would coincide with our foreign policy interests, the efficiency and transparency of the mine affected country’s national mine action program, and the host nation’s own genuine commitment to helping to rid itself of its landmines and UXO [unexploded ordnance].

Our humanitarian mine action program has eight goals. They are to: 1) protect victims of conflict; 2) restore access to land and infrastructure; 3) develop host nation mine action capacity; 4) advance peace and promote conflict resolution; 5) demonstrate support for our friends and allies; 6) improve the global humanitarian mine action response mechanism; and 7) expand the U.S. and international funding base for humanitarian mine action. An 8^th goal, often integral to our efforts in various mine affected countries but not exclusive to mine affected countries, is to facilitate and encourage the destruction of surplus or poorly-secured small arms and light weapons -- including man-portable air defense systems or MANPADS -- and hazardous ordnance in order to prevent these items from destabilizing societies, hampering post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation, or from falling into the hands of terrorists.

These eight goals do not exist in a vacuum. They are supported by specific objectives in each mine and UXO-affected country that we assist. We factor in the host nation’s own plans and how much progress in mine action is being made in each country. To describe these objectives we like to use the acronym SMART -- Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results driven, and Time based -- in order to gauge the objectives.

Each of our Country Support Plans consists of all of the aforementioned factors from the U.S.’s own mission-driven, goal oriented framework, modified to reflect input from the host country, its national mine action plan, and other stakeholders such as the UN or World Bank.

Each country support plan prepared by the United States will have three key components: 1) a country specific “end-state” that describes the exact conditions that will exist within that country for it to be considered “mine safe” or when it has the indigenous capacities to achieve “mine safe” status; 2) one or more goals selected from the eight mine action specific goals presented earlier; and 3) a number of country specific “SMART” objectives that can be used to measure progress and make performance comparisons.

Three levels of priority are used to allocate our resources. Our first priority is to render assistance to countries that have the greatest humanitarian need, including Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Iraq, Laos, and Vietnam. Our second priority is to assist countries that are truly working to become “mine safe” – that is, safe from the humanitarian impact of landmines – not “mine free” since we consider this latter goal economically unachievable and morally questionable considering that at some point continued clearance diverts funds from other more pressing humanitarian or development crises. Our third priority is to invest our mine action funds to improve global response mechanisms and cover necessary administrative costs.

When I described our 8 mine action goals, the 8^th one might have struck some of you as being unusual for mine action. Just as indiscriminately and illicitly used persistent landmines left behind from past conflicts pose a terrible threat to public health, peace and stability, so do small arms and light weapons, hazardous ordnance and MANPADS. We believe that national policies and programs should take a comprehensive approach that extends beyond just anti-personnel landmines and that includes all landmines, UXO, abandoned and hazardous ordnance.

Let me describe the U.S. Government’s Management Practices and Policies with regards to mine action. First of all, the U.S. will try to keep funding generally consistent year-to-year among our top Priority 1 activities – that is, focused mostly on countries for which there is the greatest humanitarian need. But our funding will not be open-ended. If a country is unwilling to create a realistic National Strategic Plan to deal with its landmines, UXO and surplus small arms/light weapons, then U.S. support will be reduced or curtailed.

Furthermore, all countries that receive our mine action assistance will be expected to provide full and complete financial statements describing how our aid has been used. We expect that our aid will be used to advance the host country’s specific objectives as outlined in their own National Strategic Plan.

Twice a year the Department of State’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement will issue a call for grant proposals related to mine action and abatement of unexploded and abandoned ordnance. Non-profit, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and international organizations may apply for these grants. Information has been provided about the current open proposal cycle.

What does the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program expect from the nations to which it provides assistance? We expect those nations to share in a sincere commitment to genuine results – a true partnership. To demonstrate that commitment, they should have clear national mine action/UXO action plans, transparent and accountable management practices, and a willingness to not only address their landmine problem but to also safeguard and even destroy any surplus or poorly secured small arms and light weapons, MANPADS, and abandoned ordnance.

Similarly, for our implementing partners, such as demining NGOs, we expect them to share our commitment to results, to work only on projects that meet the objectives of the host country’s national plans, and to also have transparent and accountable management practices.

In sum, we encourage those who seek United States support to demonstrate results, to make a real “business case” for investment as opposed to a plea for charity, to focus on our common interests, and to provide complete accountability and transparency.

The United States notes and encourages China’s expanding involvement in humanitarian mine action and looks forward to working with China in areas of mutual concern and interest.

China and the United States, as major military powers, have common security concerns and a common interest in increased international cooperation. Our two nations also have unique responsibilities to share our resources and expertise with others in order to eliminate the harmful effects caused by the indiscriminate use of landmines. Therefore we should commit ourselves to not only increasing our cooperation in humanitarian mine action, but to working creatively and in tandem to eliminate the trade in destabilizing conventional munitions, particularly persistent mines of all types.

I would like to thank the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, and the Australian Network of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines for bringing us all together for this important workshop. I leave here optimistic that this conference is a positive step towards practical and meaningful collaboration in ending the threat that landmines pose to the peoples of Asia.

Thank you.