Christopher John Clark
MBE MC is a
mine action Mine action is a combination of humanitarian aid and development studies that aims to remove landmines and reduce the social, economic and environmental impact of them and the explosive remnants of war (ERW).
Description
Mine action is commonly ...
expert. He has been awarded the
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries.
The MC i ...
for conspicuous bravery under fire and the
MBE for his role in the evacuation of foreign nationals from South Lebanon during the 2006 war. He has twice been awarded a UN Commendation for efficiency in improving UN co-ordination and effectiveness. In 2008 Clark and the Lebanese and international staff of the mine action programme in south Lebanon received the
Nansen Refugee Award from the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
in recognition of their commitment to the refugee cause.
Background
Clark was born in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, England on 17 June 1964. He has 17 years' distinguished service in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
and was the operations manager in
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...
(
UNMIK
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is the officially mandated mission of the United Nations in Kosovo. The UNMIK describes its mandate as being to "help the United Nations Security Council achieve an overall ...
),
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
Programme Manager for
Sudan and Programme Manager for the mine action programme in Lebanon. When he retired from mine action in 2011, Clark was employed by the
United Nations Mine Action Service at their
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...
office.
Lebanon
In 2003, Clark was appointed as both the United Nations Programme Manager for the mine action programme in South
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
and the Programme Manager for the Mine Action Coordination Center. He was directly responsible for the management and co-ordination of both the
landmine clearance operation, following the Israeli withdrawal in May 2000, and the
un-exploded cluster bomb
A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehic ...
clearance operation, following the
2006 Lebanon War.
In his five years in Lebanon Clark led the UNMACC-SL in clearing over 144,580
sub-munitions and helped facilitate the safe return of almost one million
internally displaced person
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
A ...
s (IDPs) and refugees.
After receiving the Nansen Award, Clark announced that he would donate the prize money to a community project near
Tyre in Southern Lebanon.
Award-winning UN de-miner wants to donate his prize money to community project
The Daily Star
References
External links
Operation Emirates Solidarity: An International Model and Mine Clearance Success Story
Chris Clark, UN Programme Manager, UNMACC South Lebanon, Journal of mine action
Cluster Bombs: The case of Lebanon
Medical Association for Prevention of War
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Chris
1964 births
Living people
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Mine action
Recipients of the Military Cross
Royal Engineers soldiers
British officials of the United Nations
Nansen Refugee Award laureates