Danish Demining Group (DDG) employs a wide range of cost-effective and efficient approaches to improve community safety and release land, including manual and mechanical demining. We constantly refine and improve our activities to achieve maximum impact for our beneficiaries.

Innovative solutions
An example of our innovative approach is the Village-by-Village Clearance that integrates community liaison, education and clearance and is successfully implemented in several countries of operation.
Other examples are our Armed Violence Reduction and Community Safety initiatives which address the problems of small arms and explosive remnants of war while also fostering a wider culture of responsibility and building capacity of local communities to identify and address their own safety needs.

Community approach
Our community approach emphasises the importance of local ownership and the participation of communities at risk. Those affected by landmines, unexploded ordnance and small arms are included in the planning and implementation of activities in order to ensure that they provide maximum benefit and transparency.

Capacity building
We employ a large national workforce trained and supervised by international technical experts. From senior management to the field operations, DDG encourages openness, transparency and cooperation, internally as well as externally. This includes a high level of delegation of tasks and involvement of staff in programme development and decision-making. A formalised Code of Conduct, signed by all our staff members, serves to ensure that we behave according to our basic humanitarian values.

Capacity building is an essential feature in all operations in order to support and sustain the national capacity to make it better equipped to address the residual problems created by landmines, unexploded ordnance and small arms and light weapons. This is done by means of training and mentoring of national organisations and/or authorities.

Organisational collaboration
As a unit the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), DDG collaborates directly with DRC programmes in order to maximise the benefits for local populations. This holistic approach combines DDG’s efforts to secure a safe environment free from the threats of landmines, explosive remnants of war and small arms and light weapons with DRC’s emergency relief and development work, including a focus on livelihoods and income generating activities. These complimentary approaches give DRC and DDG a clear advantage in securing sustainable development and mitigating risks of conflict (re )igniting.

Impact monitoring
In DDG we want our operations to make a positive difference in people’s lives. We are therefore committed to monitoring the impact of our interventions and being transparent about the steps we take to measure our results. Impact monitoring is thus an integrated part of all DDG operations and is managed by trained national staff in both our Armed Violence Reduction and Mine Action programmes.

For more information on DDG’s impact monitoring system please refer to the specific page on impact monitoring.