The Centre's area of competence includes antipersonnel mines, all other types of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) in a broad sense of the term, including all forms of mines, booby traps, unexploded ordnance (UXO) including munitions, and abandoned ordnance (AXO). The GICHD is responsive across the full spectrum of emergency, peace-keeping, disarmament, reconstruction and development. It does so by respecting the primary responsibility of affected states for mine action, and by placing emphasis on local ownership and capacity building. The priorities and competence of the Centre are reflected by the four strategic goals, namely operational assistance, knowledge management and dissemination, standards and support to instruments of international law. As for the operational assistance, the GICHD enables national and local authorities to effectively and efficiently plan, coordinate and implement safe mine action programmes, as well as to implement their obligation under international humanitarian law. Regarding the knowledge management and dissemination, the Centre makes available to the mine action sector the most up-to-date technical and conceptual solutions, best practices and lessons-learned generated by field research, socio-economic studies and evaluations. In order to improve safety, quality and confidence in mine action, the Centre supports the development of relevant international and national standards. Ultimately the GICHD supports the development and implementation of instruments of international law that address landmines and explosive remnants of war. The GICHD's work is based on a wide range of partnerships - with governments, the United Nations, international and national non-governmental organisations, research centres and commercial companies working in the area of mine action and explosive remnants of war.
