$459 MILLION REQUIRED IN 2009 TO ADDRESS LANDMINES, EXPLOSIVE REMNANTS OF WAR IN 33 COUNTRIES, TERRITORIES OR MISSIONS
NEW YORK, December 4, 2008 Mine action initiatives in 33 countries, territories or peacekeeping missions will cost $459 million in 2009, according to the 12th edition of the annual Portfolio of Mine Action Projects, released at the United Nations today.
The Portfolio is an annual analysis of the problems of landmines and explosive remnants of war in countries or territories with mine action programs. The Portfolio also lists proposals for mine action projects and details their costs.
Countries profiled in the Portfolio have so far secured only about 5 percent of the total funding needed for 2009, leaving a funding gap of $437 million.
"Remarkable progress has been made in eliminating the threat of landmines and explosive remnants of war," says Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy. "We hope that our donors will help sustain that progress by closing the funding gap by early 2009."
Le Roy chairs a group of senior representatives of the 14 United Nations departments, programs, agencies and funds that are involved in mine action.
About 75 countries are affected by landmines or explosive remnants of war, which together claimed nearly 6,000 casualties half of them children around the world last year. Landmines and explosive remnants of war also take a heavy toll on people's livelihoods, countries' economic and social development, and international peace-building efforts.
United Nations support ranges from building capacities of national mine action institutions, to backstopping humanitarian relief initiatives, and ensuring the safe deployment of peacekeepers and United Nations political missions in Afghanistan, Chad, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Lebanon, Nepal, Sudan, and Western Sahara.
The largest funding gaps in 2009 are in Afghanistan ($104 million) and Sudan ($81 million). "Full donor support for these programs would undoubtedly contribute to ongoing efforts to consolidate peace initiatives and facilitate post-conflict reconstruction," Le Roy said.
The release of the Portfolio coincides with the signing conference in Oslo, Norway, for a new treaty banning cluster munitions. Many of the projects included in the Portfolio of Mine Action Projects 2009 will help remove and destroy cluster munitions, teach people how to stay out of harm's way, and assist the victims of these devices in Cambodia, Chad, Ethiopia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Tajikistan, Western Sahara, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
"The urgent and compelling need to protect civilians from cluster munitions is rightly attracting media attention this week but it is important that we not lose sight of the ongoing need to eliminate all casualties from landmines and explosive remnants of war," Le Roy said.
The Portfolio of Mine Action Projects 2009 is published jointly by the United Nations Mine Action Service in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations' Office for Rule of Law and Security Institutions, the United Nations Development Programme, and the United Nations Children's Fund. The 2009 edition includes 300 projects covering all five "pillars" of mine action: clearance and marking of hazardous areas, mine risk education, victim assistance, destruction of stockpiled landmines, and advocacy for international agreements related to landmines and explosive remnants of war, including cluster munitions.
Contact Richard Kollodge, UN Mine Action Service, New York, at +1-212-963-5677, e-mail: kollodge@un.org
