Japan's involvement

JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency)

The agency that implements Japan's ODA. Since 1998, it has provided the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) with equipment and support for organizational development.

Japan Mine Action Service (JMAS)

A certified Japanese non-profit organization that supports the clearance of landmines and unexploded ordnance. It began its work in 2002 with UXO clearance in Cambodia.

AAR Japan

An international NGO born in Japan. Active in Cambodia since 1993, it has supported demining and assisted people with disabilities.

Projects involving Japan

• Project for Improvement of Equipment for Landmine and UXO Clearance Activities (Phases 1-7 and others) — A series of projects under Japan's grant aid that have delivered brush cutters, vehicles, mine detectors, and other equipment to CMAC. They have continued since 1998.
• Project for Enhancement of Demining Activities (Phases 1-3) — Grant aid that combined the provision of demining equipment with support for people's livelihoods, such as farmland development and agricultural training on cleared land.
• Integrated Mine Clearance and Mine Victim Assistance (Phases 1-3) — Grant aid that combines clearance in areas with especially serious mine contamination with support for the people affected. It has continued since 2019.
• Research and Development Project for Demining Support Equipment (Phases 1 and 2) — Grant aid for research and development that supported the development of demining machines and mine detectors.
• Project for Construction of a Training Complex and Public Relations Facility for the Cambodian Mine Action Centre — Grant aid to build training and public relations facilities so that CMAC can share its mine action experience with the world.
• Project for Strengthening CMAC's Functions for Human Security — A JICA technical cooperation project that improved CMAC's information management, equipment maintenance, and training management capacity.
• Project for Organizational Strengthening of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre — A JICA technical cooperation project that considered what CMAC should be from 2026 onward and developed the skills of its staff.
• Project for Organizational Strengthening of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre, Phase 2 — An ongoing JICA technical cooperation project that strengthens CMAC's organizational management and helps it build a system for training other countries.
• Museum Development for Raising Awareness of Peace and Human Security through Mine Action (Grass-roots Technical Cooperation) — A JICA grass-roots technical cooperation project, carried out with Okinawa Prefecture, to develop people who can make good use of the public relations facility being built with Japan's grant aid.
• JMAS Landmine and UXO Clearance Operations in Cambodia — Landmine and UXO clearance and reconstruction support in Cambodia, which the Japanese NPO JMAS has continued since 2002.
• Komatsu's Anti-personnel Mine Clearance and Community Development Support — Activities in which Komatsu provides anti-personnel demining machines it developed itself and works with JMAS on mine clearance and building roads and schools.
• AAR Japan's Support in Cambodia (Demining Cooperation and Support for People with Disabilities) — Activities that AAR Japan has continued since 1993, including cooperation in demining, a wheelchair workshop, and education support for children with disabilities.
• Japan-Cambodia Mine Action Training for Third Countries — An initiative in which CMAC, strengthened with Japan's support, works with Japan to train people from countries around the world that suffer from landmines.

Japanese technology

• ALIS (Advanced Landmine Imaging System) — A Japanese-made mine detector developed by Professor Motoyuki Sato of Tohoku University. It is a dual sensor combining a metal detector with ground-penetrating radar (GPR): the radar turns the underground objects picked up by the metal detector into images that can be checked on a screen. Through JICA's cooperation, it has been used at CMAC for many years.
• Brush Cutter (Vegetation Clearing Machine) — A machine that cuts back grass, bushes, and shrubs before a minefield is surveyed. Cutting vegetation once took up about 70 percent of the total clearance time in Cambodia, but brush cutters provided through Japan's grant aid mechanized the work, greatly improving the speed and safety of clearance.
• Demining Robot (DMR) — A remotely operated excavation robot developed by the Japanese company IOS Co., Ltd. with use in Cambodia in mind. A deminer operates it from a safe spot more than 15 meters away, and it digs up the ground using air pressure. Trials with CMAC were carried out through JICA's support program for small and medium-sized enterprises.
• AI and Satellite Imagery Analysis — A new technology that uses artificial intelligence and satellite imagery to narrow down areas suspected of mine contamination more accurately. At GICHD's Innovation Conference 2025, a pilot study in Cambodia by CMAC, JICA, and NEC Laboratories Europe won an award and drew attention.