The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) called for support from donors and community to end the threat of landmines and help Cambodia achieve mine-free status by 2025.

The appeal came at a meeting between CMAA Vice President Ly Thuch and Miles Hawthorn, incoming country director of HALO Trust and the outgoing director Lasha Lomidze on April 7 at CMAA.

Lomidze thanked CMAA for their close cooperation with HALO Trust in their humanitarian operations and mine clearance in Cambodia. He regarded it as ‘outstanding’ cooperation, according to an April 7 press release by CMAA.

Thuch appreciated HALO Trust’s contribution to clearance, which helped return land safely to the public and reduced the dangers posed by landmines and remnants of war.

He said the trust had contributed a lot in this sector – such as sharing experience, commitment, vision, technical instruction, and strategic planning preparation regarding mine action.

“The government is committed to ending the threat of landmines and clearing all of them by 2025, and we appeal for more contributions from development partners, the international community, and the private sector,” CMAA said.

According to CMAA, since 1991, HALO Trust has cleared 425sq km of land affected by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). They destroyed more than 527,000 UXOs and returned land safely to more than 1 million people.

It said HALO Trust has 1,130 Cambodian deminers, 40 per cent of them women. The operator received funds from The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement of the US State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and Ireland and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

For their activities in Cambodia in 2022, HALO Trust has received total funding of more than $5,3 million.