About HALO

HALO is a UK-registered humanitarian mine action charity which operates in 28 countries and territories around the world. 

Globally, HALO employs 10,500 people of whom 98% are recruited from local communities and managed by a small international team. 

HALO specializes in the removal of explosive hazards to make land productive again and help communities affected by conflict rebuild their lives. As a non-profit charity, HALO relies totally on donor funding, primarily from governments but also from private individuals and organizations. 

Current and past donors to HALO Iraq include the United Nations, the governments of the United States, Belgium and New Zealand and private organizations.

HALO in Iraq

HALO has been working in Iraq since January 2018 and has a main office in Baghdad with offices in Tikrit and Ramadi. 

HALO has operated in the governorates of Anbar, Salah al-Din and Ninewa with men and women recruited from the local communities and trained by HALO in demining operations.

As well as clearing explosive hazards from the land, HALO has also built a recreational park in Mosul, delivered risk education to communities and assisted in providing victim support to people injured by IEDs and other explosives. 

HALO is also working with a local NGO, Al Ghad, to develop their capacity to become an accredited mine action organization.

What we do in Iraq

Working closely with the Directorate of Mine Action, HALO’s activities in Iraq include:

•Surveying the land to identify the location and nature of explosive hazards to allow subsequent clearance.

•Conducting clearance to find and remove explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices.

•Through risk education, teaching adults and children how to stay safe until hazards can be removed for good.

The way ahead

HALO is committed to Iraq for the long term and has a strategic vision for the future based on the following:

• Geographically, HALO seeks to expand its work by building a mine action capability in southern Iraq by recruiting and training a local work force with the aim of transferring the organization to Iraqi ownership.

• Broadening what we offer by working with other organisations which specialize in environmental change, agriculture and job creation schemes. By doing so, land becomes productive, jobs are created and communities become more prosperous. 

• Recognising that international donor funding is reducing, finding new ways of funding mine action including the