A Norwegian aid group has suspended mine clearing activities in 13 countries following the freezing of US foreign aid, one of its directors told AFP on Monday. Last year, Norwegian People’s Aid received $41 million from US authorities to support its demining activities around the world.
On Friday, “we were told that we had to put on hold all activities that had received US support while the US authorities reviewed their aid,” Aksel Steen-Nilsen, Director of Humanitarian Mine Action and Disarmament at the NGO, told AFP.
Read more…
Source: Barron’s News
Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter
Related:
- US announces $700 million humanitarian aid package for Ukraine
September 11, 2024
The U.S. will provide Ukraine with $700 million in humanitarian aid to support displaced Ukrainians, the energy grid in Ukraine, and demining efforts, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in Kyiv on Sept. 11. The U.S. will provide $325 million to help repair Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The package also includes $290 million in humanitarian aid, ...
- Ukraine: Government will compensate 100% of the cost of demining to farmers who demine agricultural land
September 2, 2024
The Cabinet of Ministers has increased the amount of compensation for agricultural producers who plan to demine agricultural land from 80% to 100%. The programme will also now be open to those farmers who have a tax debt for land or a single tax debt if they are group IV single tax payers. And bidding for ...
- Croatia donates robotic mine clearance system to Ukraine
September 1, 2024
Croatia has announced the transfer of a robotic mine clearance system to Ukraine. The relevant certificate was handed over to Ukrainian representatives by Croatian Defence Minister Ivan Anušić and the heads of the manufacturing company during the Globsec international conference in Prague. Anušić noted that the process of mine clearance in Ukraine will require a lot ...
- EU defense aid to Ukraine exceeds EUR 43.5B
August 30, 2024
Military aid from the EU member states to Ukraine since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion has exceeded EUR 43.5 billion. This was stated by EU High Representative Josep Borrell, who spoke at a press conference in Brussels following the informal meeting of EU defense ministers, reports an Ukrinform correspondent. “Figures are important,” Borrell said, adding ...
- Pacific Islands leaders back Australia-funded joint policing plan
August 28, 2024
Pacific Islands states have backed an Australian-funded regional policing plan to improve training and create a multinational crisis reaction force. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said leaders endorsed the 400 million Australian dollars ($271m) proposal at their summit in Tonga on Wednesday. Under the plan, four training centres will be established across the Pacific with a ...
- WHO needs $87.4m to contain Mpox outbreak
August 27, 2024
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it needs 87.4 million dollars for more than six months to work with countries, partners and other stakeholders to contain the current outbreak of Mpox. The world body said on Tuesday in a statement that the fund would be used to implement critical activities outlined in the global Strategic Preparedness ...
- Sri Lanka: Japan to extend its support to humanitarian demining activities in Northern Province
August 22, 2024
Ambassador of Japan – Mr. Mizukoshi Hideaki, today (Aug. 22) signed the grant contracts of two demining projects under the scheme of “Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP)”, with Major Gen. (retd) Mr. Sumathi Ranjan Balasuriya, Director & Field Reporting Officer of the Skavita Humanitarian Assistance and Relief Project (SHARP) and Mr. Ananda Chandrasiri, ...
- Women take the lead as handlers in UNDP’s Technical Survey Dogs project for demining in Ukraine
August 21, 2024
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is proud to announce the launch of an innovative project in Ukraine that is set to transform demining operations and create critical methodologies for mine action. This initiative features the deployment of sixteen Technical Survey Dogs (TSDs) alongside eight women handlers, and is a collaborative effort involving UNDP, the Mines ...
- Japan: Implementation of training program on the operation of large demining machines for the staff of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine
August 21, 2024
As part of its assistance in mine action, which is an urgent issue in Ukraine, Japan, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), conducted training programs from late July to August to staff members of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU) on the operation and maintainance of demining machines Japan provided to Ukraine in ...
- Why is Switzerland offering cash prizes to retrieve munitions from lakes?
August 20, 2024
The Swiss Federal Department of Defence Procurement (Armasuisse) is offering 50,000 Swiss francs ($57,800) for the three best ideas on how to retrieve some 12,000 tonnes of old munitions from the country’s lakes, including Lake Thun, Lake Brienz and Lake Lucerne. “Armasuisse wants to involve academia and industry in the considerations on how environmentally friendly and ...
- Japan to purchase equipment for humanitarian demining in Ukraine and hand it over to the SES
August 16, 2024
Japan has ordered 12 minibuses and 8 trailers from Ukrainian manufacturers for the SES. The equipment is part of JICA’s support package for demining in Ukraine, with a total funding of more than $70 million. Japan will buy equipment for humanitarian demining in Ukraine , which it plans to transfer to the State Emergency Service. This ...
- EU allocating EUR 2M for new humanitarian mine action initiative in Ukraine
August 13, 2024
The European Union is allocating EUR 2 million to finance a new humanitarian mine action initiative in Ukraine, which will be carried out by Ukrainian handlers with their highly trained dogs. The relevant statement was made by the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. “Ukrainian handlers with their highly trained dogs ...
- UNDP and Netherlands launch mine action training for persons with disabilities in Ukraine
August 12, 2024
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, with support from the Government of the Netherlands, has launched a pioneering project to train a group of 12 persons with disabilities, who have impairments due to Explosive Ordnance, in the use of Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and imagery analysis for humanitarian mine action. The initiative is a ...
- MAG successfully completes UK funded project in Laos
August 12, 2024
Following a UK fundraising appeal in 2022, MAG has successfully completed a year-long project in Laos, as a direct result of donations received through the campaign. The ‘Unlock the Land’ appeal raised close to £450,000, including £211,336 of matched funding from the UK government. The project, running from April 2023 to March 2024, focused on searching ...
- Lebanon: Japan supports mine action in El Mechref in El Chouf District
August 8, 2024
Handicap International Federation (HI), to enhance community safety by clearing explosive remnants of war in El Mechref village, Chouf district. On August 6, 2024, Ambassador MAGOSHI Masayuki signed a grant contract with Mr. Aurelien Thienpont, Country Manager of HI. HI has been actively working in Lebanon to clear landmines, cluster munitions, and unexploded ordnance, in collaboration ...
- The Government of Denmark Provides Additional Contribution to UNMAS in Support of the Mine Action Sector in Iraq
July 24, 2024
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq welcomes an additional contribution of DKK 22,000,000 (approximately USD 3,173,170) from the Government of Denmark, which will contribute to support the Government of Iraq (GoI) to protect civilians from the threat of explosive ordnance (EO) and will enable humanitarian, socio-economic, and reconstruction efforts. Since 2015, the ...
- OCHA reports 110 die in landmine explosions in Afghanistan every month
July 22, 2024
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan (OCHA) says that explosive devices kill 110 people every month across the country. This report states that since 1989, 45,000 people have been victims of landmines and explosive remnants in Afghanistan. In addition, the organization says that the United Nations Office of Mine Action Services is ...
- US provided $38M for humanitarian mine action programs in Azerbaijan
July 18, 2024
Since 1999, the United States has provided almost $38 million to support humanitarian mine action programs in Azerbaijan, the US Embassy in Baku said on X, Report informs. The embassy congratulated the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) on its 26th anniversary. Read more… Source: Report News Sign up for our Newsletter Related:
- SIGAR finds US aid vetting failures may have benefited militants in Afghanistan
July 18, 2024
Two State Department bureaus could not prove compliance with internal policies for vetting aid groups in Afghanistan that received $293 million in funds, Washington’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said Wednesday. “It is critical that State knows who is actually benefiting from this assistance in order to prevent the aid from being diverted to ...
- Belgian government to allocate EUR 1M for mine action project in Ukraine
July 12, 2024
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine has signed a financing agreement worth EUR 1 million with the Government of Belgium for the implementation of the UNDP’s Mine Action Project in Ukraine. According to the UNDP website, this agreement will be implemented until December 31, 2025, Ukrinform reports. “Belgium’s contribution to the Mine Action Project ...
- NATO members pledge 40 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine
July 10, 2024
NATO allies have agreed to fund military aid for Ukraine with 40 billion euros ($43 billion) next year, two Western European diplomats told Reuters on Wednesday, a week before the alliance’s leaders are set to meet in Washington. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had asked allies to make a multi-year commitment to keep military aid for Kyiv ...
- UN Establishes Ukraine Community Recovery Fund
July 9, 2024
The United Nations in Ukraine, in coordination with the government, has established a flexible Ukraine Community Recovery Fund (UCRF), which has already attracted $7.25 million for mine action. It is specified that the UCRF, established in November 2023, is expected to raise $300 million over five years. By the beginning of May this year, $11.74 million ...