More than $400 million needed to clear landmines next year - UN analysis
Proposed initiatives to remove landmines and explosive remnants of war in some 30 countries and three territories around
the world are expected to cost $404 million next year, according to a report jointly published by three United Nations
agencies and released today.
The Portfolio of Mine Action Projects, an annual analysis by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations' Mine Action
Service, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), notes that countries planning those
initiatives have already secured $40 million from international donors.
Maxwell Gaylard, the Director of the UN Mine Action Service, said that level of donor support augurs well for mine
action next year.
"However, the remaining funding gap for next year still totals $365 million, and it is hoped that the donor community
will again rally to the formidable challenges of mine action," he said.
The Portfolio focuses only on mine action programmes that are supported or managed by the UN.
ENDS