109 international community. As HALO continues to process and refine the dataset, this will provide more clarity on the contamination inside Ukraine. Returning to a War-Torn Land HALO has more than 8,000 explosive ordnance disposal experts operating in 28 countries. It has been active in the Donbas region of Ukraine since 2016, removing explosive remnants of war from the 2014 conflict. And now there’s a much larger job ahead because the conflict spans much of the country—the second-largest in Europe, behind Russia. When the situation begins to deescalate, HALO will use the map to prioritize its work and keep its own staff safe. A simple GIS-based form is being developed that Ukrainians will be able to use to report what they find and where it is located so that experts can follow up and dispose of it. And HALO mappers plan to continue monitoring social media. “Our goal is to ensure families can return and rebuild their lives in safety, and maps help us do this,” Hamlin said. Humanitarian Assistance Red Cross and press gather in Mariupol, Ukraine, during a lull in the bombing. Much of the destruction in Ukraine surrounds civilian areas, such as this damaged apartment building in Kyiv.
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