The HALO Trust - A charity specialising in the removal of the debris of war

The HALO Trust is a non-political, non-religious NGO, registered in Britain as a charity (no.1001813 and SCO37870) and in the United States as a 501(c)(3) Not-for-Profit organization. HALO specializes in the removal of the hazardous debris of war.

We have nearly 8,000 full-time mineclearers in 9 countries, with on-going surveys into new regions.

By 2009, twenty-one years after founding HALO, we have reached some important milestones that include:

over one million landmines destroyed
over ten million items of larger caliber ordnance destroyed
over fifty million bullets destroyed
over 2,800 heavy weapon systems immobilized
over 85,000 assault rifles destroyed
over 6,000 minefields cleared
21,532 hectares (53,206 acres) made safe from landmines
110,576 hectares (273,239 acres) made safe from unexploded and abandoned ordnance
11,328 kilometers (7,038 miles) of roads cleared

These statistics, which may appear bland, are a testament to the dedication of our staff conducting one of the most inherently dangerous jobs on earth, and to the generosity of our donors who understand that our work directly saves lives, and allows a return to normal rural livelihoods in some of the poorest countries in the world.

How much more work is there to do? In areas such as northern Mozambique we have finished – with every single village declaring that they are free from landmines. In other countries we still have five more years of work, and in countries such as Afghanistan our work plan extends to 2020.

However, HALO is not distracted by involvement in campaigns and conferences, and we have a simple mission statement - “getting mines out of the ground, now”. With more deminers and more equipment, we shall shorten the timeframe that villagers are impacted by landmines.

HALO’s operations are grouped under Central Asia, South East Asia, Horn of Africa, Southern Africa and the Caucasus & Balkans – managed from a small office in South West Scotland. Our innovative training of local management and introduction of new equipment allows us to continue expansion as funding becomes available.