Over 600 participants from 105 countries have convened in Siem Reap for a summit focused on the global campaign to clear landmines. With over 5,000 victims annually and 33 nations still facing landmine hazards, the summit calls for increased international cooperation and resources to protect future generations from the explosive remnants of war.
On Wednesday, Ly Thuch, First Vice-President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Authority and President of the Ottawa Convention 2024, led a delegation of over 600 members on a visit to Angkor Wat during their participation in the Siem Reap-Angkor Summit on a Mine-Free World meeting of State Parties to the Ottawa Convention. Cambodia was approved as chair and host to the fifth review meeting of the Ottawa Convention’s by its 164 members in November of last year.
Read more…
Source: Khmer Times
Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter
Related:
- Towards Zero Contamination in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
April 21, 2021
Every year on 4th April, the world celebrates the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UNMAS, in collaboration with the Congolese Mine Action Coordination Center (CCLAM), celebrated the event, chaired by the DRC’s Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Gilbert Kankonde. The national theme adopted ...
- Iraq: ‘Gentle steps forward’ in restoring Mosul’s Commonwealth war cemetery
April 20, 2021
There have been “gentle steps forward” in the effort to repair the war cemetery in Mosul, following years of ISIS occupation. Iraq’s second-largest city spent three years under Islamic State’s brutal rule and many of its buildings were destroyed, including its war cemetery. When the occupation came to an end in 2017, it was estimated that 90% ...
- Venezuela requests support from UN to deactivate anti-personnel mines
April 14, 2021
In a letter to the United Nations, Venezuela requested technical and technological assistance to deactivate anti-personnel mines, a diplomatic source noted. Venezuelan Ambassador Samuel Moncada met on Tuesday with representatives of the UN Service for Mine-Related Activities, and ratified the request to provide its experience to the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB). Venezuela requested the provision of ...
- Laos govt says unexploded bomb-mine (UXO) clearance authority needs more funding
April 6, 2021
The government has called for more support for UXO clearance operations, with 132,000 hectares of land having been surveyed and confirmed to be contaminated with unexploded ordnance. Director General of the National Regulatory Authority for UXO/Mine Action Sector under the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Chomyaeng Phengthongsawath, told reporters during a field visit to Xieng ...
- Zimbabwe without landmines: a crucial step towards development
April 4, 2021
Lying dormant until triggered by a victim and intended to incapacitate, landmines maim civilians and render vast tracks of land unusable. Mines and unexploded ordnance leave a terrible legacy of war, long after the guns have fallen silent. Hidden from sight, they continue to kill and injure innocent civilians going about their daily lives, especially ...
- ‘Complete the work’, rid the world of deadly landmines, UN chief urges
April 2, 2021
The United Nations Secretary-General has called on the international community to recommit to the target of a mine-free world, urging efforts to “make this the last decade when we need to devote ourselves to this task”. In a message commemorating the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, marked annually on 4 April, ...
- UNMAS Annual Report 2020 is out
April 1, 2021
Message From The Secretary-General The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is an efficient and effective undertaking that coordinates the United Nations response to explosive ordnance, and deploys teams to survey, clear and dispose of these deadly devices. In any year, that work poses tremendous challenges. But 2020 was a year like no other. In the face ...
- Afghanistan’s First Female Deminers Report!
March 31, 2021
For the first time in the thirty years of mine action in Afghanistan, as part of an initiative of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), in June 2018 a mixed-gender demining team was deployed by the Danish Demining Group (DRC-DDG) to clear landmines in Bamyan Province, in the central highlands of the country. A ...
- First woman in the Central African Republic to destroy explosive ordnance
March 26, 2021
In 2019, UNMAS recruited Asnath Konaté as Weapons and Ammunitions Management (WAM) Assistant in the Central African Republic. Before joining UNMAS, Asnath didn’t have any experience in WAM. However, after completing a series of rigorous training courses, including three levels of explosive ordnance disposal, she gained the technical skills and knowledge for the neutralization and destruction ...
- Memorandum signed to boost UXO risk education in Vietnam
March 24, 2021
The Vietnam National Mine Action Centre (VNMAC) and the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Vietnam on March 23 inked a memorandum of understanding on enhancing explosive ordnance risk education. At the signing ceremony in Hanoi, Major General Tran Trung Hoa, Commander of the Engineering Arms of the Vietnam People’s Army and VNMAC General Director, said apart from ...
- ANAMA and UNDP join forces to support mine action in Azerbaijan
March 18, 2021
With USD 1 million from UNDP crisis response and UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund, UNDP will provide support to ANAMA to train, equip and deploy emergency response teams to clear mines and unexploded ordnances which pose grave risks to local communities living in the conflict affected areas. Mr. Suleymanov expressed his hope for future cooperation, emphasising ...
- South Korea commits US$10mil to Cambodia for mine clearance
March 16, 2021
South Korea on Tuesday committed US$10 million to increase Cambodia’s mine clearance and victim assistance efforts from 2021 to 2025, according to a joint press statement. The project is implemented by the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) with strategic and technical advisory support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the statement said. “Landmine ...
- Sri Lanka: US backs mine clearing operations
March 12, 2021
US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Martin Kelly visited a Mines Advisory Group (MAG) demining site, earlier this week to observe the measures undertaken to clear explosive hazards in the area and speak with a team of female deminers. The project, which is part of the more than one billion Sri Lankan Rupees ($5.5 ...
- France provides additional USD 617,000 for UNMAS activities in Iraq
March 4, 2021
Baghdad, 04 March 2021 – The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq welcomes an additional contribution of EUR 505,000 (approximately USD 617,000) from the Government of France renewing its commitment in supporting the Government of Iraq to protect the populations threatened by the deadly explosive ordnance left behind by the Islamic State of ...
- Japan Mine Action Service donates nearly $700,000 to the Cambodian Mine Action Center
March 4, 2021
Japan Mine Action Service (JMAS) on Tuesday donated nearly $700,000 for demining, cluster disposal, post-clearance and reconstruction support to the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC). CMAC director-general Heng Ratana and resident representative of JMAS Suenada Noriyoshi signed a partnership cooperation agreement at CMAC’s headquarters on Tuesday. The agreement was signed in order to support the “Reconstruction Support ...
- Cambodia sees significant drop in landmine, munition casualties in last 24 years: PM
February 24, 2021
Cambodia had seen a remarkable drop in the number of casualties from landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) in the last 24 years, Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said. In a message to mark the National Mine Awareness Day on Wednesday, Hun Sen said the number of casualties had declined to 65 in 2020 ...
- Cambodia: CMAC plans to breed more than 100 detection dogs in 2021
February 11, 2021
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre’s (CMAC) National Dog Centre programme plans to breed more than 100 detection dogs in different skills, from explosive detection, environmental protection, security, patrolling and wild animal protection this year. The National Dog Centre programme said around 100 dogs that have been working with CMAC’s personnel will be retiring this year and ...
- Russian mine action specialists clear over 15,400 explosive objects in Nagorno-Karabakh
February 11, 2021
Russian mine action specialists have surveyed an area of more than 250 hectares in Nagorno-Karabakh to spot and clear explosive objects, the press service of the Russian emergencies ministry told TASS on Thursday. “Over the period of their mission in Nagorno-Karabakh, mine action specialists have surveyed an area of more than 250 hectares to spot and ...
- Cambodia: More aerial bombs found within 35 days
February 5, 2021
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) has stumbled onto more aerial bombs since early this year, despite clearing many over the years. On January 14, an MK 82 low-drag general-purpose bomb weighing 230 kilogrammes was found in Kandal province on January 14 and six days later another in Koh Kong and on February 2 at a ...
- ASEAN and Geneva demining organisations sign MoU
January 29, 2021
The ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC) in Phnom Penh has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) to assist national mine action authorities in the Asean region. Prum Suonpraseth, executive director of ARMAC, highlighted that ARMAC’s existence to support the Asean member states in the area of ...
- Keeping all Sri Lankans safe
January 29, 2021
Our beautiful country has steadily recovered from the long conflict of three decades. The nation is on its determined journey towards restoration and reconciliation. The sound of gunfire and exploding shells have ceased since 2009. But many people have not fully understood the massive humanitarian demining operation undertaken by the Sri Lanka Army over the ...
- Daniel Craig speaks in support of Cambodian demining push
January 24, 2021
Renowned British film actor Daniel Craig – best known for his portrayal of James Bond or “Agent 007” in the last five instalments from that franchise – called on the international community to rally behind the Cambodian government in order to achieve a landmine- free Cambodia by 2025. Craig serves as the UN Global Advocate for ...