Prime Minister Hun Sen announced that the Kingdom will host the “Global Conference on Assisting, Landmine and other Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) Victims and Survivors in the context of Disability Rights” this coming October.
Juan Carlos Ruan, director of the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (ISU-APMBC) of Ottawa Convention, thanked the prime minister for making the decision to host the global conference.
Ruan expressed his gratitude during a March 20 meeting with Ly Thuch, vice-president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), at CMAA headquarters.
“We are deeply grateful to the prime minister for offering to host the global conference this October. The event will be attended by approximately over 40 countries,” he said.
Ruan is visiting Cambodia to learn about the progress of demining work under the Ottawa Convention.
He commended the government for its clearance efforts and close attention to resolving the mine issue. He hoped that Cambodia would be successful in meeting its mine-free 2025 goal.
On behalf of Cambodia, a signatory to the Ottawa Convention, Thuch thanked the ISU-APMBC for its ongoing support in preparing demining plans, in accordance with Article 5 of the convention.
“Thanks to the efforts of Prime Minister Hun Sen, mine action in Cambodia has reached a new turning point. The private sector, philanthropists and individual Cambodians at all levels are committed to achieving the 2025 goal,” he said.
In addition to the October conference, the Kingdom was recently nominated to host next year’s Fifth Review Conference of the State Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, according to CMAA.
