Clearance of affected lands from explosive hazard: Ukrainian officials, regional authorities and humanitarian demining operators discussed strategic approaches to efficient mine action

Within primary financial support from the European Union, the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU) organised a roundtable “Priority Setting in Mine Action and Draft National Strategy” in Kyiv on 14 December 2023.

At the event 60 representatives of Ukrainian mine action agencies and international organizations, central and local authorities, demining operators were able to discuss ways to introduce improved planning and co-ordination of all actors in this sphere with due regard to best international practices and local realities.

Miljenko Vahtaric, the SPU’s Mine Action Technical Advisor, shared Croatia’s experience in assigning demining priority status to specific categories of lands, depending on its use by local communities. Olena Kryvova, an expert from Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining, highlighted  the importance of establishing priorities in mine action in international practice. Prioritization in mine risk education and in organization of assistance to victims was also in focus.

Representatives of Ministry of Defense spoke about the current process of forming annual demining plans, while the State Emergency Service of Ukraine presented practice of organizing the work of its mine action teams. The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine used the occasion to table for review by participants the provisions of the draft of national mine action strategy, gather input and observations from local and international demining operators, as well as representatives of local authorities from the regions, heavily affected by Russia’s war of aggression , such as Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhya oblasts. 

Marcel Peško, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairmanship – Project Coordinator in Ukraine noted that “solving the problem of explosive remnants of war will be the key challenge in the process of post-war reconstruction, and it already severely endangers lives of Ukrainians in many communities. Co-ordinated response of all mine action agencies is key to swift and effective resolution of the problem, that is why we are supporting efforts to streamline planning and management of operations in this sphere, notably development of national strategy”.

Arturo Rodriguez Tonelli, Regional Programme Manager EU Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, commented: “A clear and coherent set of priority criteria across all aspects of mine action is essential to ensure that communities receive assistance tailored to their most urgent needs. The European Union makes mine action a priority in its humanitarian and recovery support to Ukraine. Coordinating efforts will ensure that resources are put to best use and help international partners better target their humanitarian mine action support to Ukraine”.  

For reference:

This effort is part of “Support to Environmental Rehabilitation with Focus on Building National Humanitarian Mine Action Capacities of Ukraine” Project implemented with primary funding provided by the European Union, as well as contributions from the Organization's participating States; see full list of the Programme's donors.