Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority vice-president Ly Thuch during the virtual meeting on Wednesday. CMAA
The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) has requested donor countries and development partners to redouble efforts along with the Cambodian government to make the Kingdom mine-free by 2025.
The call was made during a meeting held via video conference on August 25.
At the meeting, CMAA first vice-president Ly Thuch also reviewed the achievements of the three-year action plan from 2018-2020, which saw the clearance of 421sq km, equivalent to about 66 per cent of their goals. Over those three years, they found and destroyed 49,256 anti-personnel mines, 956 anti-tank mines and 221,372 explosive remnants of war.
Thuch requested mobilisation of resources to support the implementation of the three-year action plan 2021-2023, which is necessary to achieving the goal of a mine-free Cambodia as set forth in the National Strategic Plan for Mine Action 2018-2025.
He added that in the first seven months of this year, there were 32 victims of mines and ERW in Cambodia and the pandemic has somewhat slowed down demining progress.
Rho Hyun-jun, country director of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) who also attended the August 25 meeting, reaffirmed his government’s support for the Kingdom.
“We want to achieve this goal and remain committed to supporting the mine authorities to achieve the plan. KOICA is committed to supporting Cambodia’s [demining strategy], including demining funding, capacity building, victim support, and improving mine awareness to make Cambodia a landmine-free country by 2025,” he said.
Anatoly Borovik, Russian ambassador to Cambodia, congratulated those in attendance for the progress made in demining Cambodia and said their successes show the Cambodian government’s commitment to the safety of its people.
“I would like to reaffirm the efforts of the Royal Government of Cambodia and all relevant institutions to ensure mine clearance, as well as the wish to achieve the vision of the National Mine Action Strategy 2018-2025, which aims to achieve a mine-free Cambodia and safe socio-economic development,” he said.
