JORDAN'S NEW NATIONAL MINE ACTION PLAN: THE NEW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 005726

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL MARR MASS JO KHPD
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S NEW NATIONAL MINE ACTION PLAN: THE NEW
DEAL?


1. (U) Summary: While the National Committee for Demining
and Rehabilitation (NCDR) has been in existence since 2002,
it was not until last month that NCDR could really claim to
be in charge of demining activities in Jordan. Under Prince
Mired's leadership and with the blessing of the King, NCDR on
June 7 unveiled Jordan's new National Mine Action Plan (NMAP)
that outlines the steps Jordan needs to take to clear its
remaining 203,094 mines (or 314 minefields) before the May 1,
2009, Ottawa Treaty deadline. This comprehensive plan
recognizes that another entity, perhaps a yet to be founded
civilian-run company, needs to be introduced to achieve this
goal. It also recognizes the need for continued mine risk
education and survivor and victim assistance. NCDR's goal in
meeting the 2009 deadline is tied to the GOJ's overall
poverty alleviation efforts, which envisions the turnover of
arable land once it is deemed mine-free. End Summary.

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JORDAN'S DEMINING EFFORTS TO DATE
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2. (U) Jordan, through the Royal Engineering Corps (REC),
has been engaged in demining efforts, mainly along its
western frontier, since 1993. In 1998, the GOJ signed and
ratified the Ottawa Treaty which came into effect May 1999.
This agreement requires each signatory to become "mine free"
within ten years from its signature date of accession. In
accordance with the treaty, Jordan completed the destruction
of its stockpiles of 92,342 antipersonnel landmines in April

2003. The GOJ considers the clearance of landmines to be
essential if development and poverty alleviation are to
accelerate in the border region.


3. (U) These landmines were primarily laid during the 1967
War in the Jordan River Valley and Wadi Araba, and in the
early 1970s along the Syrian border. Basic map records are
available for all laid minefields, including those supplied
by the Government of Israel for the 73,000 Israeli mines
planted in Jordan Territory in wartime. All minefields are
marked and records and sketches are retained to aid in the
REC's mine collection efforts. Fortunately, since the
minefields are marked, civilian accidents and injuries have
been kept low; the majority of the incidents have involved
actual deminers. In the two year period from 2002 to 2004,
there were 25 reported landmine accidents, nearly all of
which involved military deminers. This relatively low
incident rate has earned Jordan recognition as a "mine safe"
country.

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NCDR'S MINE ACTION PLAN IN SIX EASY STEPS
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4. (U) The overall objective of the NMAP is to provide a
multi-year, multi-pronged strategic approach to mine action
in Jordan managed by a sole national mine action authority,
NCDR. REC is no longer in charge of demining actions.
Instead, through REC and the proposed civilian company, NCDR
is implementing one of NMAP's six mine action goals, namely
the physical task of demining.


5. (U) The first goal outlined in the NMAP is to create an
additional, civilian company to assist REC in clearing the
remaining minefields in accordance with international
standards more expeditiously. Presently, the REC is clearing
the remaining fields at two million square meters annually;
however, this must be increased to eight million square
meters for the remaining 35 million square meters to be
cleared by the May 2009 deadline. In order to do this, NMAP
has set the following objectives: 1) creation of National
Mine Action Standards (NMAS) based on the principles of the
International Mine Action Standards (IMAS); 2) develop,
train, and deploy staff capable of applying Total Quality
Management (TQM) principles to mine action (e.g. quality
assurance and quality control) which is presently not
practiced in Jordan as defined by the IMAS; 3) clear the
Israeli mines in the Wadi Araba/Aqaba region. These have not
yet been touched; their presence could prove a serious
complication for development plans, including plans for
improved tourism infrastructure and for the Red-Dead water
conveyance project; and 4) begin/accelerate mine clearance
along the Syrian border and in the Jordan River Valley
through the establishment of a national demining company
capable of clearing five and a half million square meters
annually.


6. (U) This last objective offers the greatest promise for
mine clearance. Through a civilian-managed demining company,
the GOJ will have addressed its two largest problems in
demining operations today: the relatively low rates of
production, and the lack of a national non-military demining
capacity. The creation of a national civilian entity has the
political backing of the GOJ, and pledges of start-up capital
from the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF). Given the large number
of ex-deminers available to work in Jordan, recruitment and
refresher training is not seen as a major obstacle.


7. (U) The second NMAP goal calls for a Landmine Impact
Survey (LIS) to pinpoint the basic information required to
develop and manage the NMAP. The survey would provide the
data needed to prioritize, plan, and report on progress being
made toward the NMAP milestones. It would gauge the
socio-economic impact the remaining minefields have in each
region and assist in determining a logical mine clearance
prioritization process based on poverty reduction criteria.
To ensure the highest standards for mine action are being
met, NCDR intends to closely work with UNDP, UN Mine Action
Service (UNMAS) and the Survey Action Center (SAC),a
Washington-based NGO specializing in mine clearance LISes.

8. (U) The GOJ recognizes that occurring simultaneously with
mine clearance, it must also further develop a national
Survivor and Victim Assistance (SVA) policy that includes:
disability policy and law; first aid and primary health care
(mainly for on-the-scene incidents); hospital-medical care;
rehabilitation, and social and economic reintegration. NGOs
such as the Landmine Survivors Network, World Health
Organization, National Council for the Welfare of Disabled
Persons, and Hashemite Charitable Society for Soldiers with
Special Needs are expected to take an active role in the
GOJ's initial policy formulation.


9. (U) According to the Ottawa Treaty, the definition of
"survivors" and "victims" consists of not only the person(s)
involved in the mine accident, but also their immediate
families and the communities in which they live. Thus, the
GOJ plans to include in its SVA policy the need for long-term
support and reintegration programs to those adversely
affected by landmines. However, even more critical is to
have the best medical care and facilities possible to ensure
these victims become survivors. In accordance with this
goal, the French-funded National Rehabilitation Center for
Amputees (NRCA) at the King Hussein Medical Center in Amman
will be completed in December 2005. This facility will
provide workshops, rehabilitation equipment, and care to
2,400 Jordanians, of which roughly 320 are landmine survivors.


10. (U) Increased efforts in mine risk education (MRE)
through the launching of a national marketing program is the
focus of goal four. To date, MRE has been carried out
sporadically and under the auspices of many organizations and
ministries. It is NCDR's goal to provide structure to all
MRE activities by first performing a needs assessment and
creating a baseline from which all subsequent messages and
community outreach is tailored. A follow-on to basic MRE
will be to undertake a train-the-trainers program based on
the new MRE policy and messages. Once this corps of trainers
has been educated, they will begin to deliver the MRE program
to all high-risk communities in an effort to reduce the
number of landmine incidents even further.


11. (U) Goal five focuses on Jordan's longer-term desire to
become a regional advocate for globalization and
implementation of the Ottawa Treaty. NCDR will advance this
goal by helping draft Jordanian legislation that fully
implements the Ottawa Treaty. This would firmly cement NCDR
as the head of the GOJ's mine clearance efforts and the law
would place the onus of responsibility on the GOJ to rid
Jordan of mines, rather than on the military, as it is today.
In addition, NCDR also intends to host a Middle East-North
Africa Treaty Conference to encourage the 13 remaining
countries of this region to sign the Treaty. Jordan already
hosted one such conference in April 2004, and hopes that by
hosting another, more countries would become signatories and
move towards demilitarization in the region. The GOJ's other
long-term goal is to turn the national company into a money
generating mine clearance entity after Jordan itself is
mine-free by competing for projects throughout the region.
The sixth and final goal relates to the actual structuring of
NCDR itself and the handling of NCDR's operational costs.

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DONOR ASSISTANCE NEEDED TO MEET FUNDING SHORTFALLS
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12. (U) The NMAP is an ambitious and well-thought out plan to
enable Jordan to become mine free by 2009. But it is not
without cost, which is where donor support becomes crucial.
If this plan were to be implemented as-is, the total
estimated cost from present to 2009 is 47.79 million USD, of
which 33.22 million would come from donors.


13. (U) Prior to the official unveiling of NCDR's national
plan, all the current donors (including Australia, Canada,
European Commission, Great Britain, Japan, Norway, and the
U.S.) met for the first time on June 7 to discuss next steps
in aid and assistance to demining in Jordan. The meeting
provided the opportunity for each participant to share what
it is/is not willing to offer. All the donors agree that
NCDR,s taking the lead for all mine action activities is a
good thing, and even better is the launch of a national
company to assist in mine clearance. The main outcome of the
donors' meeting was the agreement that all the donors, local
representatives would meet on a regular basis to discuss
Jordan's progress in demining and how each donor can most
effectively assist.

HALE