Annual Report 2022

In 2022, the GICHD supported 54 countries and territories; contributions from 25 donors supported our commitment. The Centre adapted to the post-pandemic reality and increased the provision of remote support to complement its more traditional modes of intervention. While at times challenging, these adaptations further solidify the Centre’s impact in allowing work in areas difficult to assess and thus strengthening our overall outreach.

Strengthening our partners’ knowledge and skills is one of our fundamental commitments. Our objective is to empower countries and territories to address both new and legacy contamination efficiently and effectively, thus creating safety for affected communities. Supporting national partners towards the fulfilment of convention obligations and completion targets remains the priority for the Centre. Thereby, the Centre constantly deepens collaboration with different humanitarian, development, and peace actors to support sustainable livelihoods.

Our approach is needs-driven and our support builds on detailed assessments, ensuring high quality responses to specific challenges. Moreover, the GICHD invests significant resources in research and development, generating knowledge, good practice guidelines and tools for effective and efficient actions on the ground. 

At the global level, the GICHD continues to support the implementation of international humanitarian law conventions through expert input and by helping to develop globally accepted standards in both mine action and ammunition management. Furthermore, the GICHD promotes dialogue and cooperation at the regional level through its cooperation programmes, which allow a dissemination of good practice, key tools and resources and their adaptation to specific regional realities.  

Mine action is a collective effort; our achievements depend on the support of our donors and the expertise and commitment of our co-workers and partners, whom we thank wholeheartedly. A world in which societies can thrive free from explosive ordnance is possible and remains our goal.

Dr Barbara Haering 
GICHD President 

Ambassador Stefano Toscano
GICHD Director

The GICHD has been working with the authorities in Ukraine to increase national-level capacity since 2012, making it well placed to intensify support after the escalation of the conflict. 

Soon after the escalation of the conflict, and following a rapid assessment, the GICHD engaged in a series of initiatives: in the field of information management, the GICHD focused its efforts on enhancing and maintaining the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA), which continued with almost no interruption due to the conflict. IMSMA, the GICHD’s flagship platform, is a technical solution to aggregate, interpret, and share data across partners and sources, mapping areas where explosive ordnance is identified, which builds the foundation for effective and efficient demining operations. The GICHD also developed an Explosive Ordnance Guide for Ukraine with two editions produced in 2022, which outlines more than 170 types of mines and explosive ordnance found in Ukraine, serving as a practical reference for humanitarian teams working on the ground to identify items they find, especially when online sources are difficult to access. Both editions are available in Ukrainian and English. 

With the ongoing hostilities, increased explosive ordnance contamination is posing a threat to civilians’ lives and livelihoods, highlighting the critical importance of explosive ordnance risk education (EORE). Working via the EORE Advisory Group including experts from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), UN agencies, international organisations and NGOs, the GICHD helped develop and translate a Ukraine-focused EORE Q&A Fact Sheet. The factsheet, published in March 2022, provides guidance on EORE for organisations responding to the crisis in Ukraine.

In consultation with national authorities, the GICHD amended its approach to technical training, ensuring that all thematic courses were delivered on-site in Ukraine, tailored to the context. Towards the end of the year, the GICHD conducted bespoke training courses in quality management and non-technical survey.

In November 2022, the GICHD facilitated a Ukraine mine action donor coordination workshop in Geneva. The event, opened by the Ukrainian Minister of Defence and Chair of the National Mine Action Authority (NMAA), was attended by 76 representatives from the Ukrainian authorities, and donor and partner organisations. The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs was in attendance, as well as high-level representatives from the Ministry of Defence, State Emergency Services and Ministry for Reintegration. The workshop was an incubator for practical solutions, action points and next steps towards addressing key operational challenges in a cooperative manner and based on local needs. It explored new avenues to implement mine action coordination efforts to, eventually, serve as a catalyst to positively impact the lives of Ukrainian communities. The results included an agreed series of operational actions which are being monitored by the GICHD.

The GICHD reaffirms its commitment to working alongside national authorities and the international mine action community in Ukraine – taking urgent action to save lives today and setting the stage for reconstruction and sustainable development in the longer term.