“Mine Action Cannot Wait” - On this International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, we stand together to acknowledge the importance of the removal of these deadly weapons and supporting the mine victims, paving the way to a more prosperous future. 

Cairo, 4 April 2023- On 8 December 2005, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared that April 4 of each year would be officially proclaimed and observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action - a day designated to raise awareness and seek assistance for mine action.

The United Nations estimates that even with advanced technology used to detect and clear land mines, it might take approximately 1,100 years for all mines in the world to be cleared. Landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) pose a threat not only to Egypt, but to more than 80 countries worldwide as ERWs continue to reap lives, limbs and destroy livelihoods. Explosive ordnance contamination not only threatens lives, but curtails freedom of movement, limits access to arable land, and disenfranchises communities. The most affected are the most vulnerable populations.

In Egypt, the European Union (EU), the Ministry of International Cooperation (MoIC) and UNDP had pledged their full support towards mine action. In 2007, we started the process of demining, clearing lands contaminated by decades of landmines and other unexploded remnants of war. The “Support to the North-West Coast Development Plan and Mine Action” project (2007-2018) has successfully cleared 1,950 KM² of land area in the North-West Coast, unlocking more than 270,000 job opportunities and establishing the first artificial limbs center in the region. It is worth noting that the EUR 4.7 million EU funded Phase II of said project (2014-2018), resulted in the clearance of 1,674 KM²and exceeding the set target of clearing 902 KM² only^.

The land that was once unusable, is now home to development efforts. Egypt’s new city of Al Alamein, now established on the cleared lands, promises to be a hub for tourism, a summer oasis overlooking the Mediterranean and a socio-economic powerhouse to the region. 

Putting people at the core of our development efforts, we worked on reintegrating mine victims and their families into society as productive members, especially women and vulnerable groups, through physical and psychological rehabilitation with a focus on their socio-economic empowerment. Through phase II of our project, the first-of-its-kind artificial limbs center in the region provided nearly 170 landmine survivors with fitting and maintenance services. In addition, to 2 mine-risk education (MRE) campaigns took place in 2015 and 2017 with a total number of 92,162 direct beneficiaries. The project also implemented a capacity development program enabling 4 local NGOs to manage revolving funds for micro loans for the benefit of the landmine victims. In the same vein, 215 landmine victim households also received support in starting income generating projects.

On this International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, we stand together to echo that “Mine Action Cannot Wait” for everyone living in the affected areas, honor the lives of mine victims, and accelerate efforts towards mine action, and continue the road towards sustainable development in the North-west Coast.