US embassy cable - 05AMMAN5726

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 005726 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, MASS, JO, KHPD 
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S NEW NATIONAL MINE ACTION PLAN: THE NEW 
DEAL? 
 
1. (U)  Summary:  While the National Committee for Demining 
and Rehabilitation (NCDR) has been in existence since 2002, 
it was not until last month that NCDR could really claim to 
be in charge of demining activities in Jordan.  Under Prince 
Mired's leadership and with the blessing of the King, NCDR on 
June 7 unveiled Jordan's new National Mine Action Plan (NMAP) 
that outlines the steps Jordan needs to take to clear its 
remaining 203,094 mines (or 314 minefields) before the May 1, 
2009, Ottawa Treaty deadline.  This comprehensive plan 
recognizes that another entity, perhaps a yet to be founded 
civilian-run company, needs to be introduced to achieve this 
goal.  It also recognizes the need for continued mine risk 
education and survivor and victim assistance. NCDR's goal in 
meeting the 2009 deadline is tied to the GOJ's overall 
poverty alleviation efforts, which envisions the turnover of 
arable land once it is deemed mine-free.  End Summary. 
 
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JORDAN'S DEMINING EFFORTS TO DATE 
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2. (U)  Jordan, through the Royal Engineering Corps (REC), 
has been engaged in demining efforts, mainly along its 
western frontier, since 1993.  In 1998, the GOJ signed and 
ratified the Ottawa Treaty which came into effect May 1999. 
This agreement requires each signatory to become "mine free" 
within ten years from its signature date of accession.  In 
accordance with the treaty, Jordan completed the destruction 
of its stockpiles of 92,342 antipersonnel landmines in April 
2003.  The GOJ considers the clearance of landmines to be 
essential if development and poverty alleviation are to 
accelerate in the border region. 
 
3. (U)  These landmines were primarily laid during the 1967 
War in the Jordan River Valley and Wadi Araba, and in the 
early 1970s along the Syrian border.  Basic map records are 
available for all laid minefields, including those supplied 
by the Government of Israel for the 73,000 Israeli mines 
planted in Jordan Territory in wartime.  All minefields are 
marked and records and sketches are retained to aid in the 
REC's mine collection efforts.  Fortunately, since the 
minefields are marked, civilian accidents and injuries have 
been kept low; the majority of the incidents have involved 
actual deminers.  In the two year period from 2002 to 2004, 
there were 25 reported landmine accidents, nearly all of 
which involved military deminers. This relatively low 
incident rate has earned Jordan recognition as a "mine safe" 
country. 
 
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NCDR'S MINE ACTION PLAN IN SIX EASY STEPS 
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4. (U)  The overall objective of the NMAP is to provide a 
multi-year, multi-pronged strategic approach to mine action 
in Jordan managed by a sole national mine action authority, 
NCDR.  REC is no longer in charge of demining actions. 
Instead, through REC and the proposed civilian company, NCDR 
is implementing one of NMAP's six mine action goals, namely 
the physical task of demining. 
 
5. (U)  The first goal outlined in the NMAP is to create an 
additional, civilian company to assist REC in clearing the 
remaining minefields in accordance with international 
standards more expeditiously.  Presently, the REC is clearing 
the remaining fields at two million square meters annually; 
however, this must be increased to eight million square 
meters for the remaining 35 million square meters to be 
cleared by the May 2009 deadline.  In order to do this, NMAP 
has set the following objectives: 1) creation of National 
Mine Action Standards (NMAS) based on the principles of the 
International Mine Action Standards (IMAS); 2) develop, 
train, and deploy staff capable of applying Total Quality 
Management (TQM) principles to mine action (e.g. quality 
assurance and quality control) which is presently not 
practiced in Jordan as defined by the IMAS; 3) clear the 
Israeli mines in the Wadi Araba/Aqaba region.  These have not 
yet been touched; their presence could prove a serious 
complication for development plans, including plans for 
improved tourism infrastructure and for the Red-Dead water 
conveyance project; and 4) begin/accelerate mine clearance 
along the Syrian border and in the Jordan River Valley 
through the establishment of a national demining company 
capable of clearing five and a half million square meters 
annually. 
 
6. (U) This last objective offers the greatest promise for 
mine clearance. Through a civilian-managed demining company, 
the GOJ will have addressed its two largest problems in 
demining operations today: the relatively low rates of 
production, and the lack of a national non-military demining 
capacity.  The creation of a national civilian entity has the 
political backing of the GOJ, and pledges of start-up capital 
from the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF).  Given the large number 
of ex-deminers available to work in Jordan, recruitment and 
refresher training is not seen as a major obstacle. 
 
7. (U)  The second NMAP goal calls for a Landmine Impact 
Survey (LIS) to pinpoint the basic information required to 
develop and manage the NMAP.  The survey would provide the 
data needed to prioritize, plan, and report on progress being 
made toward the NMAP milestones.  It would gauge the 
socio-economic impact the remaining minefields have in each 
region and assist in determining a logical mine clearance 
prioritization process based on poverty reduction criteria. 
To ensure the highest standards for mine action are being 
met, NCDR intends to closely work with UNDP, UN Mine Action 
Service (UNMAS) and the Survey Action Center (SAC), a 
Washington-based NGO specializing in mine clearance LISes. 
8. (U)  The GOJ recognizes that occurring simultaneously with 
mine clearance, it must also further develop a national 
Survivor and Victim Assistance (SVA) policy that includes: 
disability policy and law; first aid and primary health care 
(mainly for on-the-scene incidents); hospital-medical care; 
rehabilitation, and social and economic reintegration.  NGOs 
such as the Landmine Survivors Network, World Health 
Organization, National Council for the Welfare of Disabled 
Persons, and Hashemite Charitable Society for Soldiers with 
Special Needs are expected to take an active role in the 
GOJ's initial policy formulation. 
 
9. (U)  According to the Ottawa Treaty, the definition of 
"survivors" and "victims" consists of not only the person(s) 
involved in the mine accident, but also their immediate 
families and the communities in which they live.  Thus, the 
GOJ plans to include in its SVA policy the need for long-term 
support and reintegration programs to those adversely 
affected by landmines.  However, even more critical is to 
have the best medical care and facilities possible to ensure 
these victims become survivors.  In accordance with this 
goal, the French-funded National Rehabilitation Center for 
Amputees (NRCA) at the King Hussein Medical Center in Amman 
will be completed in December 2005.  This facility will 
provide workshops, rehabilitation equipment, and care to 
2,400 Jordanians, of which roughly 320 are landmine survivors. 
 
10. (U)  Increased efforts in mine risk education (MRE) 
through the launching of a national marketing program is the 
focus of goal four.  To date, MRE has been carried out 
sporadically and under the auspices of many organizations and 
ministries.  It is NCDR's goal to provide structure to all 
MRE activities by first performing a needs assessment and 
creating a baseline from which all subsequent messages and 
community outreach is tailored.  A follow-on to basic MRE 
will be to undertake a train-the-trainers program based on 
the new MRE policy and messages.  Once this corps of trainers 
has been educated, they will begin to deliver the MRE program 
to all high-risk communities in an effort to reduce the 
number of landmine incidents even further. 
 
11. (U)  Goal five focuses on Jordan's longer-term desire to 
become a regional advocate for globalization and 
implementation of the Ottawa Treaty.  NCDR will advance this 
goal by helping draft Jordanian legislation that fully 
implements the Ottawa Treaty.  This would firmly cement NCDR 
as the head of the GOJ's mine clearance efforts and the law 
would place the onus of responsibility on the GOJ to rid 
Jordan of mines, rather than on the military, as it is today. 
 In addition, NCDR also intends to host a Middle East-North 
Africa Treaty Conference to encourage the 13 remaining 
countries of this region to sign the Treaty.  Jordan already 
hosted one such conference in April 2004, and hopes that by 
hosting another, more countries would become signatories and 
move towards demilitarization in the region.  The GOJ's other 
long-term goal is to turn the national company into a money 
generating mine clearance entity after Jordan itself is 
mine-free by competing for projects throughout the region. 
The sixth and final goal relates to the actual structuring of 
NCDR itself and the handling of NCDR's operational costs. 
 
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DONOR ASSISTANCE NEEDED TO MEET FUNDING SHORTFALLS 
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12. (U) The NMAP is an ambitious and well-thought out plan to 
enable Jordan to become mine free by 2009.  But it is not 
without cost, which is where donor support becomes crucial. 
If this plan were to be implemented as-is, the total 
estimated cost from present to 2009 is 47.79 million USD, of 
which 33.22 million would come from donors. 
 
13. (U)  Prior to the official unveiling of NCDR's national 
plan, all the current donors (including Australia, Canada, 
European Commission, Great Britain, Japan, Norway, and the 
U.S.) met for the first time on June 7 to discuss next steps 
in aid and assistance to demining in Jordan.  The meeting 
provided the opportunity for each participant to share what 
it is/is not willing to offer.  All the donors agree that 
NCDR,s taking the lead for all mine action activities is a 
good thing, and even better is the launch of a national 
company to assist in mine clearance.  The main outcome of the 
donors' meeting was the agreement that all the donors, local 
representatives would meet on a regular basis to discuss 
Jordan's progress in demining and how each donor can most 
effectively assist. 
 
HALE