MINE ACTION

Clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war
FSD clears explosive remnants of war so that people can again live in safety. Landmines are not the only explosive threats to civilian populations once a war ends. Often, bombs, artillery shells, mortars, rockets and grenades, or cluster munitions that did not explode when they were employed, still pose a risk of detonation, sometimes many decades after they were used or discarded. Also, many post-modernist conflicts have seen the wide-spread use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). These are devices that can use conventional explosive charges or improvised home-made explosives; in addition to this they may utilise improvised switching mechanisms using simple or complex electronics, radios and remote triggers, long command wires, trip wires or “booby trap” pressure, or pressure release, type switches.  The multitude of improvised mechanisms that may be adopted, combined with unpredictable and inherently improvised construction methods, present an entirely new and dangerous threat to humanitarian operators.
Operations:  Iraq, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Colombia, Ukraine, Philippines

Destruction of landmines, weapons and ammunition stockpiles
FSD collects, secures and destroys stocks of landmines, weapons and munitions to reduce the risk to civilian populations. Many countries maintain obsolete stocks of munitions that might pose a risk of explosion due to poor storage standards and unpredictable characteristics of shelf-life expired explosive components. Once a conflict ends, disarmament campaigns may produce stockpiles of weapons that must be destroyed to protect against mass explosions at storage facilities, to prevent accidents in the use of expired ordnance and also so as to defend against obsolete bulk explosives and weapons falling into the wrong hands.
Operations: Tajikistan

Mine-risk education
Children are amongst the first innocent victims of unexploded ordnance, landmines and explosive remnants of war in a post-conflict environment. In the absence of clearance, one of the best ways to prevent mine and explosive accidents is to mark dangerous areas and to educate the people living near-by in order to raise awareness and change behaviours around such hazards. While Mine-risk education does not eradicate the danger, it reduces the likelihood of accidents. FSD educates children, youths and adults in contaminated regions; often, mine-risk education is combined with community liaison and engagement, data collection, victim support, survey and clearance activities.
Operations: Afghanistan, Ukraine, Philippines

Victim Assistance
Victim assistance is a core component of mine action and an obligation of State Parties under the Antipersonnel Mine Ban Treaty.  FSD provides for the care and rehabilitation, and the social and economic reintegration of mine victims in concert with its mine action operations worldwide.

Victim assistance is a set of concrete actions to meet the immediate and long-term needs of mine/ERW victims, their families, mine-affected communities and persons with disabilities. Victim assistance includes, but is not limited to, information management systems; emergency and continuing medical care; physical rehabilitation; psychosocial support and social inclusion; economic reintegration; and laws and public policies that promote effective treatment, care and protection for all disabled citizens, including landmine victims, with a human rights perspective.
Operations: Afghanistan