Christopher John Clark MBE MC is a mine action 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 ...

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 Ceremonial counties of England, 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 Riv ...

, 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 Gurkha ...

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 international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

(

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 harmoni ...

Programme Manager for

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

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 The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is a service located within the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations that specializes in coordinating and implementing activities to limit the threat posed by mines, explosive r ...

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. Situa ...

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 the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

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 vehicl ...

clearance operation, following the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

. In his five years in Lebanon Clark led the UNMACC-SL in clearing over 144,580

sub-munition 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 vehicl ...

s 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. ...

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