JMU to address global landmine crisis with State Department grant

Countries around the world are working to clear land contaminated with landmines and explosive remnants of war that remain a threat to communities after conflict has ended. In addition to the risk of civilian casualties, the contamination is an obstacle to security and economic stability.

In an effort to address these issues, the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR) at James Madison University, will provide expertise to senior managers of national mine action programs and humanitarian organizations around the world with the Global Senior Managers’ Course (SMC). The course will be in Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) and will take place on Sept. 14- Oct. 4, on the campus of JMU in Harrisonburg, VA.

The U.S. Department of State awarded JMU’s CISR a grant to plan and implement the three-week course to strengthen CWD efforts in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Colombia, Iraq, Laos, Libya, Niger, Solomon Islands, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The SMC brings together senior staff from organizations in affected countries that are charged with clearing the land and seeks to integrate the latest thinking in the field of business management with the practical experience of people actively working in the field of conventional weapons destruction.

“We are excited to host another Senior Managers’ Course on the JMU campus after two consecutive regional courses (Croatia 2017, Tajikistan 2018),” says CISR’s Associate Director and SMC lead Suzanne Fiederlein. “The courses bring together participants from around the world who work to clear their countries of the threat of unexploded ordnance left behind after conflicts end.”