Kosovo*
Problem statement
Kosovo* remains contaminated by mines, cluster munitions (CM) and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) as a result of the conflict in the late 1990s. An estimated 45 million square meters of land was mine and cluster affected, yet still today new areas are being found as mine and/or cluster suspected.
A non-technical survey conducted in 2013 identified 79 confirmed minefields and 51 confirmed cluster munitions (CM) sites covering 1,039 hectares of contaminated land throughout Kosovo*.
According to the statistics from Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, around 2000 civilian survivors of mines and UXO are affected from the past armed conflict in Kosovo*. Since June 1999, due to mine and UXO contamination in Kosovo* 114 civilians were killed, and 446 were injured.
What we do
Clearance
ITF’s main clearance activities in Kosovo* were performed throughout 2000–2001, yet on a smaller scale they still continue. By the end of 2013, through ITF projects, nearly 6 square kilometers of land were cleared on 60 locations with nearly 2,500 mines and 1,600 UXO (unexploded ordnance) found and destroyed. In 2015, ITF deployed two mine detection dog teams from MDDC in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) that conducted final quality control of 3,000 square meters of land at the demining task Secishte in Kosovo*.
Victim Assistance
In 2017, ITF implemented the project „Socio-Economic Rehabilitation and reintegration of mine/UXO survivors in Kosovo*” by Institute for promotion of education (IPEDU) through which assistance was provided to 40 mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) survivors. The project was aimed at improving their quality of life, wellbeing, facilitating and enhancing their active participation in social environments.
Based on the good experience and impact of the program in 2017, the program continued in 2019. The program was upgraded, stressing the capacity building and training of participants. The project was prolonged due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was finished at the end of December 2020.
Capacity Building
ITF has been actively involved in structure support throughout its activities in Kosovo*, particularly through regional training activities, as well as through the provision of equipment and training of Kosovo* Protection Forces.
For more information on ITF’s past activities in Kosovo*, we welcome you to consult our Annual Reports, while for the plans in the forthcoming year please consider our Portfolio of Projects.