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24 May 2004

CONTENTS

Highlights Updates Mine Accidents Activity Map Mine/UXO of

the Week Capacity Building Staff Profile MACC Staff Agency Contacts

UU pp dd aa tt ee ssOPERATIONS

The MACC Operations Officer and the MACC Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team deployed to Sector East where they conducted a Swiss Munitions EOD training course to five EOD specialists of the Kenyan demining contingent. All participants successfully completed the course and are now qualified in this particular EOD system. As part of the practical training session, five UXO and five landmines were destroyed.

The Regional Liaison Officer (RLO) for Sector West monitored the demining activities of the Kenyan and Bangladeshi demining units in the area. The Kenyan deminers continue to demine ’Area C’ of the Mai Hbey minefield. The Bangladeshi deminers continue to conduct road clearance operations, including the road from May Embesa to Shambiko. The RLO also conducted a reconaissance exercise in search for an adequate helicopter

HH II GG HH LL II GG HH TT SSPlease be advised that there will be no MACC Weekly Updates in this

format during the period 1 June - 5 July 2004. If there are any significant events or activities during this time, the MACC Programme Manager will send out a separate note to inform all relevant partners and interested readers of the event or activity.

One mine/UXO accident was reported. For more information, see page 3, "Mine/UXO Accidents."

The MACC continues to make plans and arrangements to host the MACC UN 21 Award presentation ceremony, which will be conducted by the Special Representative of the Secretary General of UNMEE on 26 May 2004 at the MACC compounds. The MACC looks forward to receiving all invited guests.

landing site in the area, as well as for starting and finishing points for a future mine clearance task in the area of the recent mine accident near the village of Ad Brahim.

MECHEM continued to conduct road clearance operations in Sector Center. In total, MECHEM cleared more than 78 km of roads. The Team will continue to demine in the area of Tserona in Sector Center next week.

A Peacekeeping Force deminer clearing a mine field in the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ).

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INFORMATIONThe virus reported in last week’s update has been eliminated. Currently, there are no

indications of any viruses affecting the MACC server.The Information Section is in the process of transferring a series of data sets from the

Geographical Information System (GIS) into the Garmin GPS system.The Information Section is in its final stages of providing support to the Landmine

Impact Survey (LIS) with survey data entry and quality control. This support will shortly be terminated once the final report of the LIS has been completed.

The Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) Officer continues to provide regular weekly assistance to the Eritrean Demining Authority (EDA) on various issues related to the installation and use of IMSMA. He assists with IMSMA and GIS training and the syncronisation of the EDA and MACC IMSMA data. This cooperation is on going. The IMSMA Officer also conducted various discussions with the Operations Section concerning the various usages of IMSMA.

The Section printed 51 maps for various customers, including the MACC EOD Field Team, the Demining Coordination Center (Shilalo) and UN Military Observers in Senafe.NOTE: Agencies and clients who would like to obtain maps will have their requests fulfilled within 24 hours. Please contact the Chief of Information (Ext.2123) for further information.

MINE RISK EDUCATION (MRE) MM RR EE BB RR II EE FF II NN GG SS

The MACC conducts regular MRE Briefings for all newly arrived UNMEE personnel, including civilians, UNMOs, etc. For time and location, please contact Lt. Col. Suleiman Nyamwaya at the MACC at Ext. 2114. All other newly arrived UN agency and NGO staff in the Mission area must contact UNICEF for MRE Briefings. UNICEF’s MRE Coordinator is Ms Lejla Susic.(Tel 1511 99, Ext 363)

MEDICAL COORDINATION

The MACC Medical Coordinator carried out a Basic Life Support Medical Training Course during the period 18-19 May 2004 (see photo on the right). In total, eight students attended and successfully completed the training course. The course included the following topics: Cardio pulmonary resuscitation, triage, treatment of injuries, fire drill and procedures in case of an accident or emergency.

The two MACC MRE Field Teams continued to conduct MRE activities in various communities in the sub zobas Shambiko and Molki in the Gash-Barka zoba. In total, the Teams provided MRE to more than 2000 people. During their activities, they also distributed seventy sets of MRE games to students of various schools in the region.The Teams continue to

maintain good working relationships with the MACC EOD Team, providing the EOD Team with regulars reports from the local population about the discovery of mines and UXOs.

The MRE Coordinators of the Force Mine Action Center (FMAC) conducted their regular Mine Awareness Briefings to four newly arrived UN Military Observers and two Military Staff Officers.The FMAC MRE Coordinators also traveled to Sector Center where they carried out a Mine Awareness Refresher Briefing to forty-two UNMOs.

The two teams will continue to carry our MRE tasks in the Gash-Barka region (Sector West) next week.

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Dem in ing St at is t ic s : 1 - 21 May 2004

Mines UXO Area Cleared Road Cleared

Dest royed Dest royed sq. m . k m

FMAC asset s , 18 245 15,550 8inc lud ing t he MACC EOD Team

MECHEM 0 0 0 207 __________________________________________________________________________________TOTAL 18 245 15,550 215 ==============================================================

MINE/UXO ACCIDENTSOn 18 May 2004, an UXO accident was reported in Tserona in Sector Center. Reportedly a nine-year old boy was injured when a UXO exploded, approximately 3km south of Tsorena. MECHEM personnel rendered medical assistance to the boy and transported him to the hospital. A Preliminary Investigation Report is underway.

UNMEE personnel are reminded to report any UXO or mine related incident to the nearest MACC Sector Office, Force Unit or UNMO Team Site.

Capacity exists within these elements to conduct investigations, complete IMSMA report forms and forward these reports to the UNMEE MACC.

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UNDP’s Mine Ac t ion Capac i t y Bu i ld ing Program m eLandm ine Im pac t Survey (L IS)The LIS is in its very final stages.

Remaining senior staff are currently in the process of analyzing all collected data and drafting the final report of the LIS. The intention is to complete the final report by the end of May 2004. The report will then be submitted to the Eritrean Demining Authority (EDA) for their approval.

Mine Ac t ion Capac i t y Bui ld ingThe three demining teams of the

Eritrean Demining Operations (EDO) continue to conduct clearance operations in both the central (Senafe) and western sectors (Shilalo). The teams are making good progress. They have completed their first task and are now well into their second task. The integrated clearance operations with RONCO are also progressing smoothly, with satisfactory clearance rates, in particular in the mine fields in the Shilalo area.Mr Stuart Henley from the CEIA metal

detector company visited the operations of EDO and spent ten days with the teams, conducting both a technical and user training on the CIEA mine detector. In total, 20 participants of EDO and the

Eritrean Demining Authority (EDA) successfully completed the training on the use of this detector, and 4 participants successfully completed the technical training. These candidates are now qualified to act as instructors for future deminer courses that focus on this particular CEIA mine detector.

The six Mine Risk Education (MRE) Teams have re-deployed to their respective areas of operations to provide MRE to the local populations in the various communities. This, after a stand down period as well as an intensive training period.

122 Ar t i l le ry Pro jec t i les & 82 m m Mor t a rs

During a recent Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) task in Sector West, the MACC EOD Team cleared a former Eritrean Defense Force (EDF) ammunition store in the village of Girme. The ammunition was

stored in a bunker (see photo below), which had collapsed. In order to get to the pile of UXO, the Team had to first excavate the bunker.

During this operation, the Team found numerous 122 mm artillery projectiles as well as several 82 mm mortars (see photo on the left). All items found were inspected and declared free from explosives (FFE).

EDO deminers learn how to use a new detector

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St af f Prof i le

Seare Mihret eab

Seare Mihreteab is a Data Entry Clerk at the MACC Information Section.

Seare was born and raised in Asmara. He attended Barka Secondary school, where he graduated in 1995. He then completed his military national service in Sawa before joining the University of Asmara. During his studies, he majored in Geography and minored in Economics, obtaining his Bachelor degree in 2000. Seare speaks Tigrigna, which is his mother tongue, as well as Amharic. Seare also has a very good command of English and knows a little bit of Arabic.

Before entering the world of mine action, Seare did a small stint as a teacher in the Ministry of Education as part of his national service duties. In 2001, he joined, for the first time, a mine action organisation: the HALO Trust, where he worked for three months on a training exercise. Subsequently, Seare found a job with the Danish Demining Group (DDG). There he worked as an Operations Officer for almost one year. In the summer of 2002, DDG left Eritrea, and Seare was forced to find a new assignment. He quickly found a job as an Administrative Assistant with UXB Africa, a civilian demining contractor that, for a time, was working under contract to the MACC.

In December 2002, Seare was offered a job with the UNMEE MACC. By then, Seare had already collected some sound knowledge of mine action operations in Eritrea, and knew what the MACC was about. At the time, when he was working for DDG, he often had to visit the MACC Information Section to request maps on behalf of DDG. Indeed, the MACC was a familiar organisation and work place to Seare before joining the MACC as a staff member.

As a Data Entry Clerk of the Information Section, Seare is primarily responsible for data entry of the Geographical Information System (GIS). GIS tasks also include map production and quality control of GIS data. In fact, one of his main duties, as part of the MACC Information Team, is to respond and react to people’s requests for maps. Seare says that "one of his greatest challenges on the work place is to ensure that customers requesting maps are satisfied with what he delivers them at the end of the day." He also notes that "it is important that I deliver the precise products that the customer wishes, because the MACC has a solid reputation for producing the most sophisticated and up-to-date maps of the country, in particular to all those customers who are involved in mine action in Eritrea."

When asked about the MACC work environment, Seare explains that "it is like one big family, which makes it a very pleasant kind of work setting." Seara says "he fully enjoys working for a UN entity because he finds it important to be exposed to different peoples from various professional backgrounds, cultures and customs." He says "there is a lot to learn in this type of multi-cultural setting." Seare’s professional goal is to become a GIS professional and to become more and more experienced in the field of IT.

In his leisure time, Seare likes to play table tennis, watch movies and read magazines as well as different styles of books.

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Produc ed by: Andrea E. Poel l ing, Program m e/Tra in ing Of f ic er , UNMEE MACC, poel l ing@un.org, Tel : 150 411, Ex t . 2119

AGENCY LOCATION AND CAPACITY

RONCO (US Company)

Programme Manager Mr. Will Haynes Tel: (+291 1) 202 091Office in Asmara

Explosive Detection Dogs: 12 dogs and national handlers operational (4 additional dogs are currently being trained)

Demining: Two 60-person integrated EOD/Manual Clearance Teams in Shilalo

MECHEM (South African Company)

Programme Manager Mr. Phil Zaayman Tel: (+291 1) 159 406Office in Asmara

One Mechanical Route Survey TeamTwo Manual Route Clearance Teams comprising manual deminers and explosive detection dog teams.

K e y UNMEE MACC St a f f

UNMEE MACC Te l : 15 0 444 VHF Ch3Program m e Manager Ph i l Lew is Ex t . 2106 C/s K A

Ch ie f o f Opera t ions Dav id Bax Ex t . 2169 C/s K BOpera t ions Of f ic e r Bob K udyba Ex t . 2161 C/s K B-1Sen io r Opera t ons Ass t . Gh i rm ay K i ros Ex t . 2167 C/s K BAEOD Of f ic e r J ohn Radda t z Ex t . 2142 C/s K B4Ch ie f o f In fo rm at ion Gerhard Bec h t o ld Ex t . 2123 C/s K DNet w ork Adm in is t ra t o r So lom on Lebass i Ex t . 2107

Ch ie f o f Adm in /Financ e Venk a t a Ram an Ex t . 2105 C/s K EAdm in is t ra t ion Ass t . Ts igab Beyene Ex t . 2104 C/s K E3MALO Add is Ababa Lt . Co l B .Ngu lu t u Ex t . 7112 K B 16RLO Sec t o r Wes t Ch r is Whak a t ope Ex t . 4060 C/s K B5RLO Sec t o r Eas t /Cen t e r Pie t Br ink Ex t . 5311 C/s K B6Pro jec t Of f ic er Dem in ingfor Dem arc at ion Hak en Aden Ex t . 2155 C/s K B2Fie ld MA L ia ison Off ic er Olek sandr Lobov Ex t . 2155 C/s K B12Logis t ic s Off i c er Chr is Row e Ex t . 2110 C/s K E1Program m e/Tra in ingOf f ic e r Andrea Poe l l ing Ex t . 2119 C/s K A2