The usually slow summer months were not.
SAC field training of senior staff took place in Somalia, contracts were signed and work began in
Azerbaijan and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Plans were finalized for Afghanistan and funding secured to begin a survey in Angola.
Afghanistan
Executive Director, Bob Eaton
completed the Advance Survey Mission and a complete proposal was sent to the UN and the EU in August for their review.
Angola
Mike Kendellen, Director for Survey, and Bob Eaton will conduct an Advance Survey Mission
from October 1-9. They will be joined by two representatives from the U.S. Department of State Office for Humanitarian Demining,
one representative each from UNMAS and the Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy.
Azerbaijan
SAC signed an agreement with the UNDP country office to initiate a survey with funding from the EC. SAC has recruited a
team leader, admin/finance officer, and a GIS mapping officer for the survey (click to view their photograph).
The three staff will be in Washington for orientation from September 3-9 before leaving for Baku on September 9. SAC training for
the 8-month survey is scheduled to begin September 23 in Baku.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
The Survey Working Group Nominating Committee selected Handicap International as the implementing partner in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
HI will begin to deploy staff on 1 October. Click here to meet the survey team leader and national operations
coordinator. SAC field training is scheduled to begin 1 December. Funding is provided by the
European Commission (EC) and the U.S. Department of State through the International Trust Fund.
Eritrea
The Landmine Impact Survey is on hold.
Ethiopia
The MOU between SAC, NPA and EMAO was signed in July.
The MOU will enable the survey to proceed in terms of staff recruitment, expert opinion collection and procurement. SAC senior
staff training is scheduled to begin the third week in October.
Somalia
SAC completed senior staff training on July 15.
Photographs are on the SAC website (click here to view).
At the end of August the Danish Demining Group (DDG) completed two pretests and the expert
opinion collection (EOC). Next month DDG will train the interviewers, followed by a pilot test.
Quality Assurance Monitors
On August 27 SAC hosted UNMAS/UNOPS Quality Assurance Monitors with a dinner and a briefing on SAC history
and the current surveys. VVAF provided technical training.
Personnel
Dr. Rune Engeset has joined the SAC Consultant Panel as a Survey Special Advisor
(click to meet Rune). Rune is a GIS/Mapping specialist
and worked in Thailand for Norwegian People’s Aid on the Thai Landmine Impact Survey. Before that he worked on NPA survey activities
in Angola.
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