Sida's Contributions to Humanitarian Mine Action

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appear to have been doing a good job in situations of political turmoil, while commercial companiesoperate best when there is a certain degree of political stability. In cases where the military of theaffected country is regarded as legitimate, reliable and technically competent for the task, the military isgenerally the best entity to undertake demining. Care should be taken to ensure that governmentagencies invest in impact assessment. A finding in this chapter is that government agencies do notalways possess the knowledge to undertake impact assessments. Consequently, it is suggested that ifgovernments undertake demining, it must occur in conjunction with a capacity for impact assessment.40 Sida’s CONTRIBUTION TO HUMANITARIAN MINE ACTION – Sida EVALUATION 01/06
4 CoordinationWithin the field of humanitarian aid, it has become increasingly evident that in order to effectivelyprovide assistance, there must be a common understanding of the most important goals and the bestway in which to achieve objectives. While such an argument can be sustained for humanitarian anddevelopment assistance in general, it is no less true in the case of mine action. Humanitarian MineAction is a highly specialized field that often includes large numbers of actors. At the same time,it should be considered part of an integrated overall humanitarian effort. If HMA practices are tocontribute to an overall reconstruction and development effort, HMA should also ideally form partof a larger coordination effort. It is therefore frequently argued that coordination is one of the mostcrucial components in ensuring the success of all humanitarian assistance, including mine action.This chapter examines the coordination of HMA and the coordination of mine action with otherhumanitarian assistance. Because they have assumed the central role in the coordination of HMA,the main focus of this chapter is on UN-led Mine Action Centres (MACs), drawing on the cases ofAfghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. A second focus is on coordination between mineaction and other humanitarian assistance. The chapter is structured accordingly. Following a briefconceptualization of the term coordination, we look at Sida’s policy response in the three cases. Next,the discussion turns to an examination of the coordination of HMA and the coordination of HMAand other humanitarian assistance. Before offering our conclusions, we address the role of donors incoordination.Conceptualizing coordinationIn the most basic sense, coordination is a means of organizing two or more actors. As distinguishedfrom cooperation and collaboration, the concept of coordination emphasizes a process whereby twounits are brought together to operate in a more harmonious manner. 1 In comparison with cooperationand collaboration, coordinationfurther implies a greater organizational commitment to joint tasks. In the context of humanitarianassistance, coordination is an arrangement designed to bring together disparate agencies in order toensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Coordination is intended to ensure that priorities are clearlydefined, resources more efficiently utilized and duplication of effort minimized. Ultimately, the goal isto provide coherent, effective and timely assistance to those in need. 2Yet, effective coordination can often prove an elusive and difficult task to achieve. In addition to theproblem of having to bring multiple actors together, donors, governments or other agencies haveinterests that undermine even the best of coordination efforts. Rather than devoting their efforts toeffectively providing assistance, organizations and agencies often compete amongst themselves in orderto establish their legitimacy in relation to donors. Further complicating the task of coordinating is thedifferent levels and types of coordination that may occur. For instance, coordination may take place atthe international, national or local level. At the same time, coordination may take place within theframework of a broader programme or between organizations representing nominally different sectorsof humanitarian assistance.1Bjørn Hvinden, 1994. Divided against Itself: A Study of Integration in Welfare Bureaucracy. Oslo, Scandinavian University Press, p. 5.2See also United Nations General Assembly resolution 46/182: The Strengthening of the Coordination of the Humanitarian EmergencyAssistance of the United Nations.Sida’s CONTRIBUTION TO HUMANITARIAN MINE ACTION – Sida EVALUATION 01/06 41
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Page 32 and 33: Community studiesCommunity studies
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Page 40 and 41: ing that demining has any effect at
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Page 54 and 55: itarian and development effort. Imp
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Page 58 and 59: ased demining of AREA. Another type
Page 60 and 61: The Kosovo UNMACC took a number of
Page 62 and 63: would be accredited and tasked by U
Page 64 and 65: programme. The proposal was backed
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Page 68 and 69: demining purposes. Buoyed by a wave
Page 70 and 71: given that SRSA also recruits perso
Page 72 and 73: teams. The need for a breeding capa
Page 74 and 75: 6 RecommendationsIn the preceding c
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Page 78 and 79: 7 ConclusionIn this report, we have
Page 80: 70Appendix 1
Page 89 and 90: Ziauddin Operations Officer METADup
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Page 93 and 94: Appendix 3BIBLIOGRAPHYAccelerated D
Page 95 and 96: Faulkner, F. & L Pettiford, 1998.
Page 97 and 98: McGrath, Rae, 2000. Landmines and U
Page 99 and 100: Miscellaneous DocumentsBrady, Justi
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Appendix 4Sida’s CONTRIBUTION TO
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Appendix 6• The area must be secu
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Appendix 7Locality identifier: Dist
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Recent Sida Evaluations00/37:1 Asse
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Sida's Contributions to Humanitarian Mine Action

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