SL shows progress in mine clearance in North and East

The review meeting on Mine Action was held with Main Forum and Side Event in Geneva from May 22 to 24, 2019 and it was reported that originally 1302 square kilo metres were suspected and confirmed hazardous areas with mines mainly in northern and Eastern districts of Sri Lanka.

The government has given special attention to the demining programme and as a result, as at April 2019 the balance uncleared contaminated area to be cleared is reduced to 25 square kilo metres according to the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA).

However, on the ground the remaining balance as at now is 18.5 square kilo metres which is a commendable achievement when compared to many other countries said Secretary, Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development and Youth Affairs V.sivagnanasothy.

National Mine Action Centre which comes under the direct purview of Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development and Youth Affairs is directed by Prime Minister as Minister of the subject.at the previous meeting the Prince Mired Raad Zeid Al-hussein made a positive comment on the progress made by the Government of Sri Lanka on the demining programme.

Sri Lanka is targeting to achieve the vision of Mine Free country in 2020. However, the funding from donors is an immediate requirement to clear the balance contaminated areas.the government of Norway has committed to provide assistance to the value of US$ 6.8 Mn. recently. Other donors are also keen to support the demining programme and the total fund requirement is estimated to be US$ 30 Mn.

Sri Lanka has been able to successfully reduced the injuries and deaths significantly through an effective Mine Risk Education Programme for which Unicef and other development partners closely collaborated.

The Mine Risk Education Programme covered the school children, teachers, community and also the vulnerable groups specially the metal scrap collectors and firewood collectors.also the safe play areas were identified for children and thereby reduced the number of deaths and victims significantly as compared to other countries said the Ministry Secretary V.sivagnanasothy.

Sri Lankan National Mine Action Strategy has given much emphasis to victim assistance such as first aid, medical care, counselling, psycho-socio support, prosthetic (artificial limbs) and assisting devices such as wheel chair, clutches walking stick etc.,the focus of the Mine Action Strategy is to provide vocational and technical training and redeploy the mine victims to enable them to socially and economically reintegrate into the society. Sri Lanka submitted its Progress Report in line with the article 5 of Ottawa Mine Ban convention. Sri Lanka destroyed 737,464 Anti-personnel Mine 1,407,689 other explosives in line with the convention.also,sri Lanka complies with the National Mine Action standards and prioritize high impact areas such as residential areas for resettlement, livelihood areas, and areas that need access to school, hospital and religious places including development of agriculture and infrastructure areas.

The implementation Support Unit (ISU) and Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) very closely collaborate with the Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development and Youth Affairs to facilitate fund mobilization for the implementation of the mine action programme.the progress made by Sri Lanka on Mine Action Programme was commended by the Ambassador Hans Brattskar, Permanent Representative of Norway to the UNO in Geneva and Ms.asa Massleberg,advisor,strategic Management, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining and other partner countries.