Danish demining group
Danish Demining Group is the Human Security Unit under the Danish Refugee Council, specialised in clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance and reducing armed violence.
DDG’s mission is to recreate a safe environment where one can live without the threat of landmines, unexploded ordnance and small arms and light weapons.
DDG operates with three strategic objectives that define the fundamental and specific aims of operations:
- Enhance human security by clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance, reduce the threat from small arms & light weapons and by providing risk education and raising awareness
- Provide impact oriented, cost effective and innovative solutions in close cooperation with relevant stakeholders such as local communities, government institutions and international collaborative partners
- Support local structures and institutions in finding sustainable solutions to residual problems in a manner that enables economic and social development.
DDG currently operates Mine Action programmes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, and Armed Violence Reduction programmes in Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda and Yemen. In Liberia DDG has been involved in the development of legislation on small arms and light weapons in cooperation with local authorities.
DDG is a founding member of the Global Alliance on Armed Violence.
DDG and mine action
DDG's Mine Action operations are based on the Ottawa Convention’s Five Pillars of Mine Action, namely:- Clearance of mines and unexploded ordnance
- Mine Risk Education
- Victim assistance
- Advocacy
- Stockpile destruction
DDG employs a wide range of approaches to release safe land, including manual and mechanical demining. An example of DDG approaches is the Village-by-Village Clearance that integrates community liaison, education and clearance and is successfully implemented in several countries where the organisation works.
As part of DDG’s mission to ensure that mine action efficiency results in impact effectiveness DDG has developed an for mine action which is available for all interested.
DDG and armed violence reduction (AVR)
DDG’s AVR operations are based on the Armed Violence Lens developed by OECD. The lens captures the main elements of armed violence at different levels of intervention:- The people that are affected by armed violence – both the direct victims and the broader society that also suffers the consequences
- The perpetrators of armed violence
- The instruments of armed violence
- The wider institutional/cultural environment that enables, or protects against, armed violence
In line with the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, DDG and DRC have a joint strategy for stabilisation of fragile areas through community-driven safety planning and socio-economic recovery.