Afghanistan
The proposal for LIS was signed between the EC and UNDP. SAC coordination team ready to go in January.

Angola
A contribution agreement for 485,000 euros was signed by Bob Eaton and Germany’s Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger on November 19th (Click for photo). This grant will fund the start-up of the LIS in Angola. Mike Kendellen visits Luanda in early December to finalize the NGO sub-contracts.

Azerbaijan
The field staff have been trained in the methodology of the community survey process. Expert Opinion Collection is complete and provides the initial tally of communities to be surveyed. The pilot test is scheduled to begin in December.

Bosnia-Herzegovina
The office and administration setup continues. Senior staff training by the SAC team of Saeed Ahmad and Tom Haythornthwaite is scheduled for January. Bob Eaton visits in December for integration planning with BHMAC. Alastair McAslan (CMA) will begin the strategic planning process. Ted Patterson, Sara Sekkenes (NPA) and Greg Wickware (GSI) will join Bob and Alastair for the integration planning.

Eritrea
A Sounding Board Meeting was held on 13 November. Representatives from the ministries, NGOs, and UN agencies attended to review the first questionnaire translation and the survey methodology. The senior staff training by the SAC team of Saeed Ahmad and Tom Haythornthwaite begins December 6th.

Ethiopia
Senior staff training by the SAC team was completed on November 18th. The Ethiopian Mine Action Organization (EMAO) and the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) continue with the rapid appraisal for expert opinion collection.

Somalia
Danish Demining Group (DDG) is proceeding with data collection in the field. To date 170 communities have been surveyed.

SWG Protocols
UNMAS has arranged funding for SAC to edit the SWG Protocols to a common format and consistent with the International Mine Action Standards. Dann Naseemullah has been contracted to complete this task. The edited draft will be presented to the SWG for review and final approval.

Survey Working Group
The Canadian International Demining Corp (CIDC), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), InterSOS (Italy), and the Santa Barbara Foundation (Germany) have joined the Survey Working Group.