Orthoprostetic

THE ROLE OF ORTHO- PROSTHETIC CENTER OF KOSOVA ON TREATMENT OF MINE AND OTHER EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCES INJUREES

Presentation by: Lulzim Geci

INTRODUCTION

During the war in the late 1990s , Kosova became contaminated by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), primarily unexploded ordnance (UXO).  On 13 June, the UK-based HALO Trust (High-risk Area Lifesaving Organization Trust)began a ten-week long minefield survey. The HALO report positively identified 252 areas with mines or unexploded ordnance (many areas containing multiple minefields) as well as 269 villages where it was uncertain (due to lack of information) whether or not they were affected.  About 80% percent of the landmines were concentrated near the southern border, while antipersonnel mines, 10-30,000 unexploded cluster bomblets, were concentrated in the interior part of the country.  Through its concerted efforts the international community quickly gained a remarkably full picture of the extent and variety of the mine/UXO problem in Kosovo

Mine Action Coordination and Planning

 UNMIK was mandated to "establish, as soon as possible, a Mine

Action Center to deal with the threat posted to the returnees and internally displaced persons by landmines and unexploded ordnance. Accordingly, the United Nations Mine Action Service established a Mine Action Coordination Center (KMACC) in Pristina, which became operational on 17 June 1999, five days after the entry of KFOR into the province.  Mine action planning for Kosova, was based on the premise, that problem can be brought under control through a three-year program. In order to achieve this, the program has been divided into three distinct phases:

 Preliminary Phase: mine awareness training to refugees in camps

before they returned to the mine-affected area and rapid assessment of the mine/UXO threat

 Emergency Phase: included mined area verification/survey;

Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) tasks; battle area clearance;...