Afghanistan
Field operations commenced with teams being deployed in the north, north-east, and central districts. The early arrival of winter is hampering travel to the more remote communities.

Angola
SAC trainer, Tom Haythornthwaite, arrived in Luanda on 6 November. Training was conducted in Huambo for HALO Trust LIS senior staff from 10-25 November and followed by in-field pre-testing of the survey instruments. The SAC Field Coordinator, Alberto Alface, arrived on 20 November to complete the coordination team. The German government contributed 262K euros to the Landmine Impact Survey in Angola on 24 November. Click here to view a photograph of the German Ambassador to the US, Wolfgang Ischinger, at the signing ceremony.

Azerbaijan
The final report is being prepared for publication.

Bosnia-Herzegovina
Data analysis and report writing began with SAC consultants, Aldo Benini and Rune Engeset, joining the Handicap International team in Sarajevo. The first draft is near completion for submission to SAC for review.

Eritrea
The October newsletter incorrectly reported the LIS progress in Eritrea. The correct statement should have read: “Data collection continues with approximately 90% of the surveys completed.”
 
Through November, the survey data collection is 94% complete. In addition, data processing of the community documents is 53% complete and the data validation process is 16% complete.

Ethiopia
Data collection continues with completion rates of 100% (Tigray area), 75% (Afar Area), 50% (Somali area), 71% (Oromiya area), and 91% (rest of country).

Global Landmine Survey Evaluation
Scanteam submitted a draft final report to SAC and the SWG Evaluation Steering Committee incorporating suggestions and ideas from the Survey Working Group meeting in Copenhagen in October.

SAC Board of Directors
The SAC Board met in Lyon from 20-21 November. Participating were HI, DDG, NPA and SAC. MCPA was not able to attend at the last minute. The main agenda item was to develop a plan of action based on the recent evaluation of the Global Landmine Survey. SAC will present the Plan of Action to the next meeting of the SWG in February for discussion.