{"id":4920,"date":"2025-06-25T11:07:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T09:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawai.li\/fsd\/?p=4920"},"modified":"2026-02-26T15:11:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:11:33","slug":"beyond-demining-preparing-to-hand-over-the-reins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/beyond-demining-preparing-to-hand-over-the-reins\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond demining: preparing to hand over the reins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Faced with this reality, FSD \u2014 with the support of Switzerland \u2014 is working on two fronts: clearing land today, while preparing for tomorrow by transferring its expertise to Ukrainians so that they can carry on this work over the long term. The goal is to ensure that local actors are able to carry out demining operations independently, without relying on international operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is with this in mind that FSD is currently supporting a promising Ukrainian NGO: the Ukrainian Center for Humanitarian Protection (UCHP), which emerged from a civil volunteer movement at the onset of the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For my teams and for myself, this is not just a job. It\u2019s a mission\u2014a personal commitment. We want to rid Ukraine of mines and make the country safer for our children.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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\n Anastasiia Korunovad<\/span>\n

UCHP Director<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

For a period of three years, FSD will support UCHP at every level: demining operations, field surveys, risk education, as well as human resources, logistics, finance, and governance. The goal is clear: to enable UCHP to become an independent, fully operational, and internationally recognised organisation, capable of securing its own funding and meeting the rigorous standards of humanitarian demining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A first milestone successfully reached<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In early June, a concrete first step was taken: a mine risk education team trained by FSD officially joined UCHP. Risk education is a key component of mine action \u2014 it helps prevent accidents by teaching communities the behaviours that can save lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newly formed team led its first risk education session for students at the French International School in Pushcha-Vodytsia \u2014 a zone heavily impacted by the 2022 fighting and considered one of the most contaminated areas in the Kyiv region.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWhat struck me most were the joyful reactions of the children \u2014 especially the youngest ones. Of course, the topic is serious, but they were very receptive. I\u2019m convinced that teaching safety knowledge and reflexes from an early age can significantly reduce the number of mine-related accidents,\u201d says Anastasiia Korunova, Director of UCHP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was impressed by the team\u2019s professionalism. Their preparation and commitment are exemplary.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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\n Lucas Chastand<\/span>\n

Programme Manager for FSD<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

Towards fully independent operational capacity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the coming months, FSD will continue this knowledge-sharing effort. Every skill gained today, every locally trained team, represents another step towards a Ukraine capable of sustainably securing its land and protecting its population \u2014 even after international operators have withdrawn. Thanks to the support of Switzerland, which contributes both to demining operations on the ground and to the development of local capacities, Ukraine is gradually building the autonomy it needs to carry this mission forward in the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action\u00a0 – 4 April 2026<\/h3>\n

PDF of complete Joint Statement (March 2026) Invest in Peace; Invest in Mine Action  Geneva, 31 March 2026 The world…<\/p>\n

\n Landmines and explosive remnants<\/span>\n Humanitarian demining<\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/a>\n \n

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FSD’s Mine Action Programme in Ukraine<\/h3>\n

Complete Ukraine brochure (March 2026) \u2013 PDF Our ongoing operations \u2013 March 2026 As of March 2026, more than 450…<\/p>\n

\n Humanitarian demining<\/span>\n Ukraine<\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/a>\n \n

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Interview with Olivier Shu \u2013 La Ligne de c\u0153ur (RTS La Premi\u00e8re)<\/h3>\n

\u25b6\ufe0f Listen now \u00a9 Interview broadcast on RTS La Premi\u00e8re, in the programme La Ligne de c\u0153ur About Olivier A demining expert…<\/p>\n

\n Landmines and explosive remnants<\/span>\n Machines, drones and technology<\/span>\n Humanitarian demining<\/span>\n Ukraine<\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Faced with this reality, FSD \u2014 with the support of Switzerland \u2014 is working on two fronts: clearing land today, while preparing for tomorrow by transferring its expertise to Ukrainians so that they can carry on this work over the long term. The goal is to ensure that local actors are able to carry out demining […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8229,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[101,102],"news_country_category":[91],"custom_post_format":[145],"class_list":["post-4920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanitarian-demining","category-prevention-and-risk-education","news_country_category-ukraine","custom_post_format-news-from-the-field"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4920"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8231,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4920\/revisions\/8231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4920"},{"taxonomy":"news_country_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_country_category?post=4920"},{"taxonomy":"custom_post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fsd.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/custom_post_format?post=4920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}