UN organizations announce the development of a strategy to remove mines in Iraq

The representative of the international organizations for mine affairs in Iraq, Kitty Shaw, announced today, Thursday, that the Iraqi national and international bodies are working on developing an ambitious strategy for a period of seven years to remove mines in the country.

Shao said at the International Donors Conference for Mine Action in Iraq, which was attended by the correspondent of the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "National, governmental, international and international bodies worked to develop an ambitious strategy for seven years to clear mines that would be a roadmap for all organizations and institutions to move forward and receive new national standards and crystallize them within Our international procedures and we look forward to continued cooperation.".

She added that "without the support of all donors, the organizations would not have been able to provide such vital work, saving lives, improving livelihoods, and providing large-scale, multi-term funding means," noting that "international governments have empowered effective actors in partnership with national authorities to clear areas of mines in lands and heights and rescue Villages and homes and the destruction of many innovative explosive devices that, if not cleared, would have destroyed many families.".

Shao continued, "International organizations provided services related to community affairs in all governorates such as Anbar, Basra, Diyala, Kirkuk, Dohuk, Nineveh, Salah al-Din and Sulaymaniyah, and included finding more than 44,000 unexploded ordnances that affected more than 200,000 people. We also conducted field awareness and education activities." As well as clearing more than 49 million square meters of land to build basic services and return the displaced to their areas."