SOUTH SUDAN / DEMINING DOGS

A facility to train dogs in detecting landmines was opened today by the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC) and South African demining organization MECHEM in the South Sudanese capital Juba. UNMISS

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:14
• Production Date: 4 April 2012
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN – UNMISS
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY; DISARMAMENT
• Geographic Subject: SOUTH SUDAN
• MAMS Id: U120404h

Description

STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / DEMINING DOGS
TRT: 2.14
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 04 APRIL 2012, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN,

Shotlist

1. Banner showing theme for Mine Awareness Day – On April 4th Lend Your Leg
2. Pan right, Lise Grande, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and Deputy Programme Manager Michael Raine
3. Close up, Plaque showing facility name
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Raine, Deputy Program Manager, UNMACC:
“This facility will allow UNMACC program to respond to one of the most dangerous and current threats posed by landmines and the remaining of routes and roads in Unity State. Accidents linked to this remnants have already led to the tragic and loss of life and injury to many local people travelling in the area.”
7. Wide shot, Michael Raine with media
8. Various shots, demining official showing canister to Lise Garnde
9. Med shot, demining official showing procedure where canister is being put in blowing gadget
10. Wide shot, canister being filled with smell of device in car
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Lise Grande, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, UNMISS:
“Mines are a legacy of the long civil war, and there are many areas in South Sudan that are infested with mines and in those places communities can’t be rebuilt, people can’t get to the market, and they can’t do agricultural work, that is why the mine action NGOs like MECHEM, have been so important because they have been opening vast areas of the country to development. Now unfortunately in the last year we have seen a resurgence of mining, so there is active mining going on when that happens in areas for example like Mayom in Unity State where that’s happened, humanitarian agencies haven’t been able to get to into the people who need assistance and provide live saving help like food and the kinds of medicines that they need an so forth.”
12. Wide shot, group walking into facility
13. Wide shot, group watching demonstration
14. Wide shot, demining dog called Indie and his handler joseph Kilimo sniffing
15. Wide shot, Official from MECHEM putting in sample at random point for dog to sniff
16. Close up, sniffing Points
17. Wide shot, Indie the dog and handler sniffing and Indie halts
18. Medium shot, Indie

Storyline

A facility to train dogs in detecting landmines was opened today (4 April) by the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC) and South African demining organization MECHEM in the South Sudanese capital Juba.

SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Raine, Deputy Programme Manager, UNMACC:
“This facility will allow UNMACC program to respond to one of the most dangerous and current threats posed by landmines and the remaining of routes and roads in Unity State. Accidents linked to this remnants have already led to the tragic and loss of life and injury to many local people travelling in the area.”

United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan Lise Grande said that the facility’s launch, part of Mine Action Day celebrations, was a positive step towards eradicating landmines and boosting development in South Sudan.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lise Grande, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, UNMISS:
“Mines are a legacy of the long civil war, and there are many areas in South Sudan that are infested with mines and in those places communities can’t be rebuilt, people can’t get to the market, and they can’t do agricultural work – that is why the mine action NGOs like MECHEM have been so important because they have been opening vast areas of the country to development. Now unfortunately in the last year we have seen a resurgence of mining, so there is active mining going on when that happens in areas for example like Mayom in Unity State where that’s happened, humanitarian agencies haven’t been able to get to into the people who need assistance and provide live saving help like food and the kinds of medicines that they need an so forth.”

For the MECHEM team, the major challenge they faced was the re-mining of already cleared lands in Unity State and along the border with Sudan.

Grande said the re-mining had prevented humanitarian agencies from reaching people in need of food and medical assistance.

The facility, in an area called Jebel Kujur, will also serve as a coordination centre for mine action operations nation-wide.

As part of lend a leg campaign on Mine Action Day, two dogs at the facility were used to demonstrate how mines are detected in the field. Together with handlers, they sniffed and detected a smell they have been trained to sniff out.

Currently, about 49 demining organizations operate in South Sudan. Their work includes community liaison, mine risk education, mine clearance and mine detection using dogs.

MECHEM has trained 16 mine-detecting dogs and cleared over 400 kilometres of roads in northern Unity State, enabling humanitarian agencies like the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and World Food Programme to deliver humanitarian assistance safely.