Two agreements worth a total of $4.1 million were signed to clear mines and explosive remnants of war in Afghanistan.
The agreements were concluded between Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority and the Danish Refugee Council’s Mine Action Programme. The memorandums were signed during a meeting between Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, director general of the Afghan authority, and J. Opreti, director general of the Danish programme.
Clearance and awareness projects to be carried out
The meeting addressed expanding cooperation, implementing mine-clearance projects, clearing areas contaminated by mines and explosive remnants of war, increasing awareness of mine-related risks and meeting survivors’ needs.
Turabi expressed satisfaction with the Danish programme’s cooperation and said the clearance of contaminated areas should be accelerated. He also called for effective coordination between Afghanistan’s disaster management authority and the Mine Action Coordination Directorate, with priority given to areas posing the greatest threat to people’s lives and safety.
Opreti provided information about the organization’s new projects and said cooperation and coordination should continue to reduce the risks posed by mines and explosive remnants of war.
92 people killed last year
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said Afghanistan ranks third in the world for deaths caused by land mines and unexploded ordnance. Millions of explosive remnants of war were scattered across the country’s villages, mountains and fields after decades of conflict.
Mines and other explosives killed at least 92 people and injured 379 in Afghanistan last year. According to the UN mission, children accounted for more than two-thirds of the victims.
According to the United Nations Mine Action Service, more than 45,000 civilians have been killed or injured in Afghanistan by mines and explosive remnants of war since 1989.
