OSCE promotes co-operation on demining operations in support of international peacekeeping operations

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 13 November 2014 – An OSCE-organized regional conference on mine action activity in support of international peacekeeping operations began yesterday in Almaty.

The three-day event brings together some 30 technical experts, military officers, practitioners and non-governmental actors, representing Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as well as the United Nations Mine Action Support Team and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining. The conference is hosted by the Defence Ministry of Kazakhstan and is supported jointly by the OSCE Centre in Astana and the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.

Participants will discuss current demining operations, the rules of engagement for international peacekeepers, technology and methodology in landmine removal as well as addressing the threat from unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices. Experts will share best practices and present safety and security procedures according to international mine action standards.

“This event aims not only to enhance confidence and security-building measures in Central Asia but build the capacity of soldiers from these countries who may be deployed as peacekeepers and engage in operations that encounter landmines and explosive ordnance,” said Colin McCullough, Political Officer at the OSCE Centre in Astana.         

Colonel Amangeldy Aubakirov, Head of the Arms Reduction Control and Inspection Activities Support Centre at the Defence Ministry, saod: “The need for mine action, despite a wide range of measures taken by individual states and the international community as a whole, remains significant. There is still an urgent need to clear mine areas where hostilities took place many years ago. In this regard, there is a great need for improved organization of peacekeeping missions focused on mine action, which is relevant not only for Central Asia, but the entire world.”

Since 2009, the OSCE has been supporting the development of co-operative mechanisms on a technical level among states in Central Asia and Afghanistan on the issue of explosive hazards.