About the Gender and Mine Action Programme

The Gender and Mine Action Programme (GMAP) was first launched by the Swiss Campaign to Ban Landmines in December 2006 to respond to the fact that landmines and ERWs affect women, girls, boys and men in different ways and that mine action programmes and activities often do not equally reach or benefit, females and males.

GMAP is an international programme whose general objective is to raise awareness on the importance of taking into considerations the different needs, priorities, capabilities of women, girls, boys and men affected by landmines and ERWs. The programme objective complements current UN efforts to mainstream gender in the mine action field.

In its first phase, (December 2006-February 2008), funded by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the programme produced:

• Research, analysis and web-based network

• A database consisting of existing toolkits within mine action and related sectors in a meaningful, easily available and straightforward format.

• The report "Gender and Landmines - from Concept to Practice" on gender mainstreaming in mine action, distributed free of charge in the three languages English, French and Spanish.

In its second phase (March 2008-May 2009), funded by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the programme produced:

• A promotional pamphlet aiming at universalising the report "Gender and Landmines - from Concept to Practice" , available in hard-copy and electronic format, in 3 languages (FR/ENG/ESP);
• An advocacy kit to build the capacity of women's grass roots organisations to advocate for and implement gender mainstreaming in mine action.
• A pamphlet on gender sensitive programming targeting governements as programmers of mine action
• A pamphlet on gender sensitive budgeting targeting governments as donors of mine action
• Expertise assistance and gender and mine action project development support for civil society, mine action organisations and women's grass roots organisations.

 
In its third phase (June 2009 - Dec. 2010), funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the GMAP is carrying (has carried) out the following activities:

• Advocacy for the gender-sensitisation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction during the Second Review Conference in November 2009 in Cartagena - Colombia,
• Further disseminate and evaluate the report “Gender and Landmines – From Concept to Practice” through an evaluation questionnaire;
• Undertake further research in collaboration with or through joint ventures with partners, on gender and mine action;
• Provide expertise assistance on gender and mine action to mine action stakeholders and collaborating partners;
• Continue capacity building of the network of women’s grass roots organisations.