Fikremariam Tesfaye
14 March 2008
Addis Abeba — The German Government on Thursday donated over 47 metal/mine detectors worth Euro 100, 000 to support efforts to save the lives of people in the Afar, Somali, and Tigray regional states.
German Ambassador to Ethiopia Dr. Claas Dieter Knoop handed over the detectors to the Gebriel Lager, the Deputy Director of Mine Action Programme, a government program operating in the three regions where thousands of line mines are believed to exist.
The Mine Action Programme, under the ministry of Federal Affairs, has been undertaken by Ethiopian Mine Action Office(EMAO) through the UNDP support to Ethiopia since 2007 and will continue through 2008. Speaking after the handing over ceremony at the German embassy premises, Ambassador Dr. Claas Dieter Knoop said Germany will continue to contribute to Ethiopia 's mine action programme during 2008.
He said EMAO aims to de-mining 5,861,000 square meters of increasingly scattered land through its integrated mine action and rapid response activities. "The planned operations would be undertaken based on the international mine action standards with the support from the international community," the ambassador said. The German past contributions and previously pledged are in line with the principles of the State Party to the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Treaty agreed among world states. Ethiopia is one of the State Parties of this treaty in which it pledged the total clearance of anti-personnel landmines within its territory by June 1, 2015.
During 2007, 7.5 million square meters of suspected hazardous areas were cleared of mines and handed over to the community for immediate productive use. Activities undertaken include identifying and destroying 1818 antipersonnel landmines, 230 anti-vehicle mines, and 4740 unexploded ordinance.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Daily Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
