Ly Thuch, first vice-president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) and chairman of the 2024 Ottawa Convention, addresses an inter-ministerial meeting on September 3. CMAA
The five-year Siem Reap-Angkor Action Plan, which will be adopted for implementation at November’s 2024 Ottawa Convention meeting in Siem Reap province, has been successfully developed, according to the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), which will chair the meeting.
The Siem Reap-Angkor Action Plan 2025-2029, which consists of 9 chapters and 45 activities, was developed based on the 50-point Oslo Action Plan 2020-2024, in line with the development of the global mine action sector.
“We have made some adjustments to the action plan and have added some new points. We have kept many of the old activities and added some new ones, with a focus on three points. First, gender, second, environmental protection, and third, anti-personnel landmines,” the CMAA told the Post on Wednesday.
“We have revised the wording of the old action plan to make it more focused and add weight to the three priorities. We have also revised some indicators to ensure that we can achieve the three new priorities that were added,” it added.
The addition of the three priorities is in line with the recommendations of Prime Minister Hun Manet, according to Ly Thuch, first vice-president of CMAA and chairman of the 2024 Ottawa Convention, who addressed at an inter-ministerial meeting on September 3.
The meeting was held to consult and provide input on the Siem Reap-Angkor Plan 2025-2029 for the implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines, better known as the Ottawa Convention.
He noted that the international community recognised the Oslo Action Plan 2020-2024 as highly effective. The implementation of the action plan has also achieved remarkable results, towards achieving the goals of the Ottawa Convention.
Despite some challenges, the Oslo plan has been used as the basis of the Siem Reap plan, in line with the goal of the global mine action sector to work towards a world free from landmines so no one continues to suffer from them.
“In order for the implementation of the Siem Reap-Angkor Action Plan to be comprehensive, Cambodia has made efforts to supplement and collect inputs from all forums, both formal and informal, such as in regional conferences, partner meetings and workshops, as well as multilateral and bilateral meetings,” Thuch added.
The Senior Minister added that the Siem Reap-Angkor Action Plan will be officially approved for use at the 5th Review Meeting or the Siem Reap-Angkor Summit in Siem Reap in November.
Prime Minister Hun Manet will address the opening ceremony of the Siem Reap-Angkor Summit, and the Siem Reap-Angkor Action Plan will be the guiding document of the Ottawa Convention for the next five years, which will be recorded by the UN and the rest of the world.
The Ottawa Convention, also known as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use of Anti-Personnel Mines, is a convention that responds to the international community's humanitarian problems caused by anti-personnel landmines, weapons that remain deadly decades after armed conflicts have ended.
