The concept of establishing a school for humanitarian demining dates to 2010, especially during bilateral exchanges with France. It has indeed become necessary to create, for the benefit of Arabic-speaking countries, a training body for humanitarian demining activities.
In 2012, France sent a team of specialists from the Defense Infrastructure Service (DIS) to assess the possibility of rehabilitating and adjusting the infrastructure of the casern of Hammana. Concurrently, a cooperation agreement between the two countries was envisioned in the framework of a project; “the Regional School of Humanitarian Demining in Lebanon” (RSHDL). The bilateral agreement includes the rehabilitation of the buildings by the Lebanese government and the development of educational programs by France.
Between 2013 and 2015, a French military technical advisor, dispatched to the Lebanese Mine Action Center (LMAC), drafted the programs and organized the training of 35 Lebanese trainers.
In 2015, a protocol was signed between the LMAC and the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) to promote the role of the RSHDL, particularly in the framework of the Arab Cooperation Program for Mine Action (ARCP)
After two years of preparatory work, the RSHDL was inaugurated on October 5th, 2017, by the general director of the LMAC and by his Excellency the Ambassador of France.
