DEPARTMENT FOR
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT News Release issued by The Government
News Network on 26 August 2008
Over 300 villages
in western Afghanistan will be cleared of mines as a result of new
funding announced today by International Development Secretary,
Douglas Alexander.
Over £10 million will be given to the UK charity HALO Trust to
remove landmines and other unexploded ordnance in Herat Province
in order to return land back to productive use for the poor and vulnerable.
This new project will employ 550 local Afghan people and make
safe hundreds of villages so that people can use the land for
farming once again.
Herat has one of the highest rates of accidents from explosives
and mines with 627 accidents between 2002 and 2006. Last year a
trust survey found refugees were reluctant to return to their
homes because mines were preventing safe land use meaning people
could not earn a living.
In total the project is expected to clear 4.2 square kilometres
of mines and clear 154 square kilometres of battle area ordnance.
Across Afghanistan 62 people a month are killed or injured by
mines and unexploded ordinance and half of these are children.
The number of incidents has reduced by 70% in areas where HALO is working.
Douglas Alexander said:
"More than one person is killed or injured by a landmine
each day in Afghanistan and we know some of the most vulnerable
groups are hit hardest.
"These weapons cause enormous and indiscriminate damage.
Demining programmes are working, with the number of victims in
Afghanistan having more than halved in the last 5 years. That is
why DFID is continuing to support the HALO Trust, who are making a
real difference on the ground."
Notes to editors:
* Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the
world. More than 2,000 communities across the country are affected
by landmines.
* DFID has supported the HALO Trust in clearing mines in
Afghanistan for almost twenty years now.
* In addition to our funding for demining in Herat, we also give
HALO £3 million a year as part of a global partnership to clear mines.
* Since 1988 HALO Afghanistan has destroyed nearly 580,000 mines
out of the ground, around 500,000 mines out of stockpiles and over
5.5 million other explosive remnants of war.