Abbreviation | ITF |
---|---|
Established | 12 March 1998 |
Type | Non-profit |
Headquarters | Ljubljana, Slovenia |
Director | Tomaž Lovrenčič |
Website | www |
ITF Enhancing Human Security is a humanitarian, non-profit organization founded by the Republic of Slovenia., [1] which specializes in land mine clearance and post-conflict reconstruction. It was established on 12 March 1998 with the purpose of helping Bosnia and Herzegovina in its post-conflict rehabilitation, specifically with mine clearance and assistance to mine victims. [2]
The organization focuses on humanitarian de-mining, conventional weapons destruction, policy development, and other forms of post-conflict assistance.
ITF was established under the formal name ‘International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance’ on 12 March 1998. Slovenia allocated 1.3 million US dollars to ITF to begin the processes of de-mining Bosnia and Herzegovina. In December 1998, ITF received a donation from the U.S. Congress in the sum of 28 million U.S. dollars, allowing operational activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to commence. [3]
In 2002, ITF spread its operations beyond the South East European region.
In 2011, the name of the organization was changed to ITF Enhancing Human Security in order to better describe the organization’s mission. [2]
To date, ITF programs and projects have covered seven regions around the world:
- Southeast Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, [4] Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia;
- Eastern Europe: Belarus, Ukraine;
- Central Asia: Afghanistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Regional Activities;
- Middle East: Egypt, Gaza Strip, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank;
- South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia;
- Africa: Cabo Verde, Libya, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS);
- Other Countries: Colombia, Cyprus, Lithuania.
Activities include workshops and lectures that aim to educate the participants and their families on the risks of land mines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW).
ITF focuses on the health and psychosocial well-being of mine/ERW victims through medical rehabilitation and/or socio-economic reintegration. Victim assistance reduces the immediate and long-term medical and psychological effects of their trauma and reintegrates the victims by helping them become active members of the society.
ITF develops national capacities at two levels: community and state. Capacity building focuses around individuals, groups, organizations, institutions and societies. This increases the ability of local authorities to manage and implement their capabilities, while taking ownership of the problem and possible solutions. At the state level, there is promotion of appropriate national laws and standards, improvement of systems of governance, arrangement of equipment and infrastructure, coordination and adequate project management and capacity of national authorities to prepare resources.
ITF defines physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) as the safe storage of weapons and ammunition. Accountable and secure access, paired with professional training on the most modern approaches and appropriate procedures, can result in the effective management of stockpiles.
Surplus of weapons and ammunition, if inappropriately stored or obsolete, can present a constant and direct threat to human security. They can also deteriorate to a state where they present an environmental danger. In order to prevent accidental explosions at storage houses caused by obsolete or inappropriately stored weapons and munitions, it is key to destroy or alter weapons and ammunition into an inert state, disabling their further use. ITF works with local governments in this process.
ITF advocates mine awareness and other human security issues through community outreach, meetings, trainings and workshops. These methods raise awareness about the impact of mines/ERW, the dangers of surplus and deteriorating stockpiles of munitions, and advocate the rights of people with disabilities. On April 4, International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance, ITF runs a campaign in Slovenia called Lend Your Leg, where participants roll up their pant leg in solidarity with those who have lost a limb to land mines [5]
The headquarters of ITF is located in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is responsible for the coordination of all activities and the financial management of donations. Main tasks of the ITF Headquarters include the management and awarding of contracts, project management, reporting and evaluation, implementation of different workshops, conferences and meetings. These tasks are combined with the monitoring and evaluation operations in the field that are conducted by the staff.
ITF also carries out its operations from the Representative Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Implementation Office in Croatia. Temporary Implementation Offices are also established in Libya, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Colombia.
The use of land mines has drawn international attention and condemnation due to their ability to remain primed years after their implantation and that majority hurt civilians rather than combatants. As a result, the Ottawa Treaty was introduced in 1997, which prohibited the use of indiscriminate weapons in wartime. Similar treaties have also been agreed upon by the international community such as The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) which went into effect in 2010. CCM stipulates that countries who ratify it must never 1) use cluster munitions 2) develop produce or otherwise acquire munitions or 3) encourage and assist a third party to violate the two former conditions.
Non-governmental organizations also became involved with the 1992 International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). The campaign aimed to rid the world of landmines and also promote survivors’ rights and ability to re-acclimate into society. ICBL has many prominent partners who represent and advocate for land mine victims such as Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), Halo Trust, the Mine Advisory Group and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).
In order to demine an area, strict regulations must be observed in accordance with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS). IMAS is maintained and developed by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) which provides guidelines, requirements, and updated methods of removal for mine action operations.
Funding of ITF is solely provided by the donor community, which then devotes its funds to the recovery and development of post-conflict affected countries. Since 1998, at least 430 donors have donated funds to ITF. The main source of donations are public donors, who represent around 95 percent of all donations. They include the European Union, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Mine Action Service, OPEC Fund for International Development and other national authorities. The government of the United States of America is ITF’s biggest donor and has contributed over 216 million dollars to its projects and programs. In specific cases, and if donors agree, ITF can provide a Funds Matching Mechanism, where funds of different donors are joined and used together for the same purpose. ITF also receives funds from private donors such as non-governmental and humanitarian organizations, businesses, and individuals.
In addition to providing funds, donors also engage in the sessions of the ITF Board of Advisors as its members. Donors can also identify countries of interest and where they would like the funds allocated.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations whose stated objective is a world free of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, where mine and cluster munitions survivors see their rights respected and can lead fulfilling lives.
The HALO Trust is a humanitarian non-government organisation which primarily works to clear landmines and other explosive devices left behind by conflicts. With over 10,000 staff worldwide, HALO has operations in 28 countries. Its largest operation is in Afghanistan, where the organization continues to operate under the Taliban regime that took power in August 2021.
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction of 1997, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty, the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or often simply the Mine Ban Treaty, aims at eliminating anti-personnel landmines (APLs) around the world.
Survivor Corps, formerly known as the Landmine Survivors Network, was a global network of survivors helping survivors to recover from war, rebuild their communities, and break cycles of violence. The organization operated programs in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, Colombia, Croatia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Jordan, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Uganda, Rwanda, the United States and Vietnam.
The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) is an international civil society movement, which campaigns against the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster munitions. Cluster munitions, a type of munition stockpiled by more than 80 states, are documented to have caused significant civilian deaths and injuries and have frequently caused indiscriminate effects in both conflict and peace times. Their use is prohibited under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, a convention formally endorsed on May 30, 2008, in Dublin, Ireland, and was signed by 94 countries in Oslo on December 3-4, 2008. The Convention entered into force, becoming binding upon state parties to the convention on August 1, 2010, after 30 countries formally ratified it. As of January 4, 2012, it had been signed by 111 countries, of which 77 have ratified.
FSD is a Swiss non-governmental organisation specialising in mine action. Since its creation in 1997, FSD has carried out operations in some 30 countries on four continents. Its programmes include the following four components: humanitarian demining, explosive ordnance risk education, victim assistance, and stockpile destruction and management. In 26 years, more than 1.4 million items of explosive ordnance have been neutralised by FSD.
A mine clearance organization, or demining organization, is an organization involved in the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) for military, humanitarian, or commercial reasons. Demining includes mine clearance, as well as surveying, mapping and marking of hazardous areas.
The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining is an international organisation working in mine action and explosive ordnance risk reduction, with a focus on landmines, cluster munitions and ammunition stockpiles. Based in the Maison de la paix in Geneva, it is legally a non-profit foundation in Switzerland.
Kenneth R. Rutherford is the co-founder of the Survivor Corps, a group that helps the victims of war, and an American researcher in the field of political science. He is also a member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which was the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. Rutherford has served as the Director of the James Madison University Center for International Stabilization and Recovery, a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania (1987-1989), a UNHCR Emergency Refugee Coordinator in Senegal (1989), and a humanitarian emergency relief officer in northern Kenya and Somalia (1993). In 2024, Rutherford taught at Hue University in Vietnam as a Fulbright Scholar Fellow.
Mine action is a combination of humanitarian aid and development studies that aims to remove landmines and reduce the social, economic and environmental impact of them and the explosive remnants of war (ERW).
The Swiss Campaign to Ban Landmines is a member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). It is an umbrella organisation composed of about 50 Swiss NGOs gathered around the common objective of banning antipersonnel landmines and similar indiscriminate weapons. At the national level, the Swiss Campaign to Ban Landmines successfully advocated in favor of a national ban of antipersonnel landmines and of Switzerland’s signature and ratification of the Ottawa Treaty in 1995-1997. Within the ICBL, the Swiss Campaign was a member of the Non State Actors Working Group, which it co-chaired until the end of 2004.
The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is a non-governmental organization that assists people affected by landmines, unexploded ordnance, and small arms and light weapons.
Land mine contamination in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a serious aftereffect of the Bosnian War, which took place from 1992 until 1995. During this time period, all 3 conflicting factions planted land mines near the current-day political entity borders. As a result, the country has had the most severe land mine problems in the world. Although landmine removal efforts have made progress throughout the country and the landmine-related deaths have steadily decreased each year, many people are still killed or suffer injuries caused by unexploded munitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite the threat of landmines, people enter contaminated areas out of economic necessity.
The Uganda Landmine Survivors Association (ULSA) is a non-governmental organization, focused primarily on advocacy and victim assistance throughout Uganda. The organization was founded in April 2005 in order to campaign against the use, production and transfer of landmines, cluster munitions and explosive remnants of war (ERWs). ULSA also serves as a peer to peer support network for survivors, providing them with training in vocational, leadership and advocacy skills in partnership with other organizations throughout Northern and Western Uganda.
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is a service located within the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations that specializes in coordinating and implementing activities to limit the threat posed by mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices.
Golden West Humanitarian Foundation is an American Non-profit (501C3) organisation that develops technology to address the technical limitations of humanitarian mine clearance. The Golden West Humanitarian Foundation is based in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.
The Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR), formerly the Mine Action Information Center (MAIC), is a public policy center at James Madison University that manages information, conducts training, holds conferences and workshops, and performs research relevant to humanitarian mine clearance, victim assistance, mine risk reduction and other explosive remnants of war (ERW).
Gender mainstreaming in mine action is the application of gender mainstreaming to mine action. It is increasingly being adopted by international and state mine action organizations.
The Organization of Amputees Republike Srpske (UDAS) is registered as a nonprofit organization and non-governmental organization based in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), founded by amputees which are mostly landmine victims in order to provides support for victims of landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), cluster munition and other persons with disabilities and their families to integrate them back into the community, thus enabling them to live normal lives.
Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) is a mine action agency and executive body under State Commission for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of War-Affected Areas of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The agency is accountable for implementing all necessary procedures corresponding to Azerbaijan Mine Action Program in order to decontaminate mines within the territory of Azerbaijan. Donors of the agency are government of Azerbaijan ($2,400,000) and UNDP ($160,000).