From December 3 to 7, 2023, the Group of Inter-American Humanitarian Demining Monitors in Colombia (GMI-CO), which represents the Inter-American Defense Board in managing the quality of this activity in this country, acted together with the Comprehensive Action against Antipersonnel Mines of the Organization of American States (AICMA-OAS), deploying Monitors to support the accreditation of personnel from two civil humanitarian demining organizations: “The Halo Trust” and “Humanicemos-DH”.
The Halo Trust is an organization registered in the United Kingdom and the United States, created in 1988 in Afghanistan and which operates today in 30 countries or territories, being in Colombia since 2013. Humanicemos-DH is a Colombian organization, created within the framework of the peace agreements since 2016 in the country, employing people who signed such agreements, in the process of recovery to civil society.
The operational evaluations occurred at the organizations' bases in Pradera (Valle del Cauca) and La Montañita (Caquetá), certifying 43 officials for actions against antipersonnel mines or improvised explosive devices.
For Brazilian Army Major Uémerson Ferreira da Silva, who acted alongside The Halo Trust in Pradera, such operational capacity assessments are, in addition to supporting humanitarian demining actions in Colombia, also a great learning opportunity, such as of the linear clearance technique applied by that organization.
Since 2006, the GMI-CO has supported the efforts of the OAS and the Colombian authorities to reduce the effects of antipersonnel mines and improvised devices, which have penalized the population of this country for six decades. Currently, the Group is made up of officers from the Brazilian Navy, Brazilian Army and Mexican Army.
