Norway will continue to support humanitarian mine clearance with a contribution of NOK 345 million in 2019.
“It is difficult to say how many lives the Mine Convention has saved, but we know that each of the nearly 52 million anti-personnel mines that have been destroyed as a result of the Mine Convention had the potential to mutilate or take life” said Foreign Minister, Ine Eriksen Søreide of Høyre (H).
On Monday, Eriksen Søreide visited Bosnia-Herzegovina and Norwegian People’s Aid’s regional training center for mine clearance dogs. People’s Aid runs a comprehensive mine clearance program in Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the most mine-affected countries in Europe.
The support goes to 20 countries, and this year Sri Lanka is also on the list of recipient countries.
Norway has the Presidency of the Mine Convention this year. The Mine Convention entered into force in 1999 and prohibits the member states from any use, storage, productionand distribution of mines for human use. The member states are also required to destroy existing mine stocks. At the same time, several of the largest mine producers and consumers in the world have not yet signed the agreement.
The work of clearing areas of mines allows displaced persons to return and for reconstruction to take place.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
