MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

EU earmarks 17.5 million Euros for mine sweeping

The European Commission will assign 17.5 million Euros for its annual antipersonnel mines programs with the purpose of aiding those countries ravaged by this kind of explosives.

This year the campaign will concentrate in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Cambodia, Georgia, Yemen, Sudan, Congo, Burundi, Afghanistan and Kosovo.

The program is in the framework of the EC strategy against antipersonnel mines for the 2005/07 period and for which is has a total budget of 60 million Euros.

"Land mines are a real plague for communities that have recently suffered armed conflicts and an impediment for the reconstruction of those countries. It has become crucial to overcome the aftermath of war as soon as possible so those people who have suffered the consequences can build a safe and prosperous future", said the European Union Foreign Affairs Commissar Benita Ferrero-Waldner in Brussels.

The program is geared to locate, isolate and de activate the largest possible number of antipersonnel mines as well as divulging instructions and recommendations among the civilian population as how to act when faced with these deadly explosives.

Another significant chapter of the program is the integration of victims to their local communities and reinforcing the capacity of local and regional officials in charge of the elimination of mine fields.

Countries to benefit from the program have been chosen on the basis of humanitarian and development needs, their strategic importance for the EU, the sustainability and coherence of the aid to be delivered and the efficiency of national and local plans for the elimination of the mines.

Of the 17.5 million Euros, 12 million have been earmarked for projects proposed by EU delegations and with matching funds in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Cambodia, Georgia, Yemen, Sudan and Congo.

The other 5.5 million will be invested in similar programs, currently being drafted, in Burundi, Afghanistan and Kosovo.