South East Europe

Clearing unexploded remnants of war

A team of Handicap International deminers clearing land, Kosovo
A Handicap International demning team clearing an area of farmland in Kosovo.
^{_{© Lance Malin / Handicap International}}

South Eastern Europe is on the path towards stability and progress. Nevertheless, Handicap International is maintaining its commitment to the region with a demining programme and also a project supporting people with disabilities.

As part of a regional program, our team continues its efforts to reduce the risks of mines and cluster munitions and minimise their impact on civilian populations, in close collaboration with local partners and regional authorities. Handicap International also works to ensure that the rights of people with disabilities and people living with HIV/AIDS are ensured and that they have access to affordable and quality medical and social services.

Nearly 250 000 people were killed during the Balkans wars in the early 1990s, 3 million people were displaced, hundreds of thousands of people were injured and 10,000 individuals were victims of mines. In this region, the area polluted by bombs and unexploded devices is estimated to be 1,500km².

Regional projects

	Mine action As part of the demining operation in the region, a mobile team capable of tackling all the technical difficulties encountered, continues to offer services wherever necessary. Training to build local capacity for mine clearance continues in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where large zones are still contaminated by anti-personnel landmines, preventing the return or populations displaced by the war. The removal of mines from 35 hectares of land is expected to take three years and should allow 6,000 people to rebuild the social and economic life in their villages. > Newsletter Mine Action and Development in Focus (pdf, 3.47mb)
	Preventing mine-related accidents Mine risk prevention activities continue in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We provide technical support to the Ministry of Education to formalise a prevention curriculum in schools nationwide, and provide technical support to civil society groups involved in prevention activities. The programme seeks to meet the needs and request for support made by the Bosnian authorities in community risk management.
	Regional observation of disability A platform for the exchange and production of information on disability through the creation of a website, www.disabilitymonitor-see.org, and the publication of surveys and thematic reports. This project will enable governments and international institutions such as the European Union and the World Bank to better collect field experiences so that their policies reflect the rights of persons with disabilities.
	Programme to support the creation of alternative services A program to support the creation of alternative services such as day care centres, counselling, access to personal care assistants, etc. The programme focuses on a group of six pilots projects such as Aurora in Romania, Karindom in Bulgaria or the Centre for Independent Living in Serbia. The objective is to support and document these pilot projects in order to influence the authorities to pledge support for them, and also to encourage the development of similar initiatives in areas disadvantaged in terms of services (e.g. in northern Albania or Montenegro).
	Strengthening the movement of civil society Establishment of a large regional project, Share-SEE (Self-Help and Advocacy for Rights and Equal Oportunities - South East Europe. The project aims to provide members of civil society with the means to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities, to strenghten the capacities of associations of people with disabilities and to create a relationships between them. In the first two years of the project, more than 250 associations have been supported regionally and more than 70 local initiatives were funded and monitored.