31+ YEARS EXPERIENCED DEMINIG
Demining Agency for Afghanistan (DAFA) is one of the Humanitarian Mine Clearance Non-Government Organization (NGO) formed under the auspices of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan (UNOCHA) effort in June 1990.
DAFA has continued to work under harsh conditions for more than two and half decades throughout Afghanistan and during this period we have achieved considerable output which cleared more than 192.9 million Sqm contaminated areas and destroyed 6,779 Anti-Tank mines, 39,304 Anti-Personnel Mines, 1,960,952 Un-exploded Ordnance (UXOs), BLUs 312 and 191 Abounded Improvised Explosive Device (AIEDs).
DAFA is a major and well-known organization in the field of mine action in Afghanistan; DAFA is accredited for implementation of mine action projects by the Directorate of Mine Action Coordination (DMAC) and registered with the Government of Afghanistan.
The rationale behind the establishment of DAFA was the critical need for supporting the demining projects, which were executed in Afghanistan.
DAFA, Through 4 field and project offices, currently managing a staff pool of 520 demining and support personnel structuring more than 16 Demining Teams, 14 Community Based Demining Teams, and 7 Mechanical Demining Teams, mostly located in the turbulent and extremely risky areas of South Afghanistan.
All aspects of the Afghanistan Mine Action Standard (AMAS) policies are observed, applied, and adhered in HRM. The success of our HR management and capacity building can be viewed from the angle of our success and achievement in the past two decades.
DEMINING TEAM
The Demining Team which is composed of ten-lane deminers is undertaking all those activities which lead to the removal of mine and UXO hazards, including technical survey, mapping, clearance, marking, post-clearance documentation, community mine action liaison, and the handover of cleared land; focalizing the command group, assessing the hazardous areas, doing a technical survey, mapping the plan, and implementing the stated plan in coordination with DAFA/AMAC.
The DT is dependable on the planning and execution of all the operational activities; DT coordinates with the DAFA and will also respond to the need of the clearance project as per the project goals.
MECHANICAL DEMINING UNIT
(Intrusive) Mechanical Demining Units Front-End Loader (FEL) and MCS (Mini Mine Clearance System) BOZENA-4 with its valuable attachment (Ripper/Fail Unit) can do Level II survey as well as release the ground prepared for the subsequent deminers’ follow up. It accelerates the process of Demining and Clearance in achieving the target.
(Non-Intrusive) Hitachi Excavators and Bucket Backhoe Loader assist the Manual Demining Clearance in ground preparation and more importantly in ground processing.
DAFA has enough number of MDUs both intrusive and non-intrusive available and ready to work, which in fact enable us to undertake any small or large scale projects in any parts of Afghanistan.
The valuable Mechanical Demining Units will help in the acceleration of demining activities which will actually double the progress of manual teams.
EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL
EOD team is responsible to handle UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) and ERW (Explosive Remnants of war). The EOD operations also involve the detection, identification, field evaluation, render safe, recovery, and disposal of ordnance, EOD is undertaken as a part of mine clearance operations following the discovery of UXO in or near mined areas.
The operations might involve a single item of UXO or a number of items of UXO at the specified location, such as mortar or artillery gun position. It may also involve a stockpile of ammunition left in a bunker or an ammunition point.
This team generally is accountable to carry out the following tasks during a demining Project;
- Identification and Detection of UXO (Unexploded Ordinance)
- Handling the UXO (Unexploded Ordinance)
- Collection and handling of ERW (Explosive Remnants of War)
- supporting the manual clearance of assets
- Do village-by-village tasks in the potential areas and also provide mine risk education
- Acting as the quick response team
Explosive Ordnance Risk Education
DAFA is regularly conducting EORE sessions in operational areas for the community people including (men, girls, and boys) who are living in the vicinity of contaminated areas.
MINE DOG SET
The Mine Detecting Dogs (MDDs) is one of the important demining assets that in fact play a speedy role in the clearance and verification of the very problematic areas.
DAFA has a remarkable number of trained and experienced dog handlers and dogs in Afghanistan. With the outstanding performance of our MDD group, they have been awarded several appreciation and awards of the year in their career.
In essence, the addition of dogs will allow the expansion of DAFA mechanical assets as an area reduction tool and to a lesser extent minefield clearance tool.
