Golden West Humanitarian Foundation is an American
Non-profit (501C3) organisation that develops technology to address the technical limitations of
humanitarian mine clearance.
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]
The Golden West Humanitarian Foundation is based in
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles
Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States.
History
The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans in the United States, ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.
History
The Golden West Humanitarian Foundation was founded in 1998 to address shortcomings in
humanitarian mine clearance.
Role in Mine Action
Research and development
Explosive Harvesting Program
The Explosive Harvesting Program (EHP) is a manufacturing program which recycles the explosives contained in stockpiled explosive
ammunition
Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...
into the explosive charges used for humanitarian mine clearance.
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Cluster Munitions Destruction
In 2010, the GWHF worked with
Norwegian People's Aid
Norwegian People's Aid () was founded in 1939 to provide post-conflict reconstruction assistance and humanitarian relief during conflicts. NPA is now engaged in more than 33 countries in de-mining, Humanitarian aid, humanitarian relief, promotin ...
in a groundbreaking
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 vehi ...
stockpile destruction program.
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]
Mine Risk Education (MRE)
Undercover UXO: Game for $100 Laptop (OLPC)
GWHF partnered with the
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
M.I.N.D. Lab to develop a game for the One Laptop Per Child (
OLPC) platform that teaches children the indicators of
land mine
A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...
and
unexploded ordnance
Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shell (projectile), shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other Ammunition, munitions) that did not e ...
contamination.
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]
This game underwent field trials in Cambodia in June 2010.
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Indicator Program
The Golden West Humanitarian Foundation has developed what they call the "Indicator Program", which trains people of all ages how to recognize the indicators of
land mine
A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...
and
UXO
Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other munitions) that did not explode when they were deploye ...
contamination. This program has been deployed in Mozambique, Angola and Azerbaijan, and Cambodia.
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Vinh & Trinh's Adventure
The GWHF published a 34-page illustrated storybook titled ''Vinh & Trinh's Adventure''. The book is designed to teach Vietnamese children the dangers of
unexploded ordnance
Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shell (projectile), shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other Ammunition, munitions) that did not e ...
, and it has received positive reviews.
[
] In 2010, the book underwent a third round of distribution, bring the total number of book published to 6,000.
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]
Current Operations
Cambodia
In Cambodia, the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation is partnered with the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) to provide research and development support to mine action activities in the
Kingdom of Cambodia. These activities include the Explosive Harvesting Program, Mine Risk Education
Central America
The Golden West Humanitarian Foundation has undertaken ordnance stockpile destruction programs for the
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
.
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]
Vietnam
In 2009, the GWHF partnered with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation to undertake a research and development project sponsored by the
U.S. Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
.
Past Operations
Angola
In
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
, the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation has introduced their "Indicator Program", a Mine Risk Education program designed to teach the indicators of
land mine
A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...
and
UXO
Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other munitions) that did not explode when they were deploye ...
contamination.
Azerbaijan
In
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
, the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation has introduced their "Indicator Program", a Mine Risk Education program designed to teach the indicators of
land mine
A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...
and
UXO
Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other munitions) that did not explode when they were deploye ...
contamination.
Moldova
In 2009 & 2010, the GWHF worked on a
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 vehi ...
disposal project in the
Republic of Moldova
Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised ...
.
Mozambique
In
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
, the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation has introduced their "Indicator Program", a Mine Risk Education program designed to teach the indicators of
land mine
A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...
and
UXO
Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other munitions) that did not explode when they were deploye ...
contamination.
Nicaragua
In
Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
, the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation has worked with the
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
on stockpile destruction programs.
References
External links
Official GWHF Website ''U.S. State Department'' Humanitarian Mine Action and Unexploded Ordnance Removal report, 15th anneversity of U.S.-Vietnam Relations.
Golden West HF Partners with Don Bosco FoundationPhotos of Golden West HF by Ben Johnson
U.S. DOD Humanitarian Demining R&D Partners Listarticle on GWHF.
{{Authority control
Mine warfare and mine clearance organizations
Charities based in California