BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 2. No country can tackle the landmine problem alone, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), Vugar Suleymanov, said at the 4th International Mine Action Conference on "Humanitarian Demining for Urban Recovery: Setting Standards of Excellence for Safe Settlements", Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
"International cooperation, technical expertise exchange, donor support, innovation, and strong national ownership are all necessary if we are to move from contaminated sites to recovery, from risk to resilience," the official explained.
He noted that Azerbaijan has demonstrated strong national will and responsibility in addressing the mine problem.
"As of November 2020, approximately $590 million has been allocated for humanitarian demining activities in the country. Only about 4% of this amount has been provided through international support, while the rest has been covered by the Government of Azerbaijan.
This demonstrates the clear importance that our state attaches to ensuring safe return, reconstruction, and recovery," the chairman added.
Suleymanov emphasized that the scale of contamination of territories with mines and explosive ordnance is still quite large.
"Therefore, stronger international support is needed to intensify the clearance process, reduce risks to the civilian population, and ensure the timely implementation of urban rehabilitation and development projects in the liberated areas.
In this regard, we believe that international cooperation in the field of mine clearance cannot be viewed solely as support for clearance operations. This cooperation should be seen as an investment in human security, safe return, sustainable development, and long-term peace," he added.
