26/3/2004
Commission continues to fight landmines

The European Commission has adopted its 2004 Annual Work Programme for antipersonnel landmines with a budget of € 11,260,000. The general objective of this programme is to assist countries suffering the consequences of antipersonnel landmines to create the conditions necessary for their economic and social development.The focus countries in 2004 are Bosnia Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia/Abkhazia, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan, Angola, Eritrea and Peru/Ecuador. A further € 7,200,000 will be approved by the Commission later in the year to support specific targeted projects.

The main priorities in the 2004 Work Programme are to eliminate the threat that antipersonnel landmines/unexploded ordinance (APL/UXO) represent for the affected populations, through mine clearance, mine risk education, risk reduction and destruction of landmines in stock or on dumping grounds. The other areas of work will be building and reinforcing local capacity and increasing mine action efficiency and effectiveness (impact surveys and associated tools).

As for geographic priorities, the focus countries - Bosnia Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia/Abkhazia, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan, Angola, Eritrea and Peru/Ecuador - have been selected following 4 criteria: accession to the international Mine Ban Treaty (Ottawa Convention) or efforts to comply with it, humanitarian impact of the mine problem, prioritisation of the issue in the national context, and strategic importance for the EU.

The 2004 Work Programme proposes to implement the € 11,260,000 budget in the following way:

€ 6.8 million for co-financing of operations in Bosnia Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan through calls for proposals.

€ 4.0 million for reduction of APL stockpiles in Ukraine.

€ 0.46 million for the Joint Research Centre in Ispra to perform tests and evaluation of demining equipment.

A further € 7.2 million will be approved by the Commission later in the year to cover targeted projects in Georgia/Abkhazia, Tajikistan, Angola, Eritrea, Peru/Ecuador.

The 2004 Work Programme follows the EC Mine Action Strategy and Multiannual Indicative Programming 2002-2004 which amounts to around € 48 million.

For more information on the EU activities against landmines

http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/projects/mines/projects_en.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/mine/intro/index.htm