Developing a Sustainable National Training Capacity: Non-Technical Survey Training in Colombia

In January of 2014, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) conducted its first non-technical survey (NTS) training course in Colombia with the objective of enabling participants to plan and conduct NTS. At the time, however, Colombia had the second highest number of landmine accidents in the world,[i] with non-state armed groups (NSAGs) producing explosive ordnance (EO) “mostly in the form of victim-activated improvised explosive devices.”[ii]Descontamina,[iii] the National Mine Action Authority (NMAA), planned for fulfilling its Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) commitments, and national dialogue was initiated on a Plan de Choque, “a plan of action” (i.e., 2014-2016 Humanitarian Demining Action Plan) that would highlight the role of NTS in assessing the contamination of high-priority areas, which at the time were determined through analysis conducted by the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA).[iv