CARTAGENA, Colombia (AlertNet) - Global anti-mine programmes face a budget shortfall for 2010 of $565 million, meaning humanitarian mine clearance will move at a much slower pace than last year, the United Nations (U.N.) said on Monday.
Projects planned by the U.N. and local aid agencies in 27 countries to clear mined areas, destroy stockpiles, provide assistance to mine survivors and run mine-risk education programmes in local communities will cost nearly $600 million next year, according to U.N. estimates.
"We are unlikely to make that funding in a year," Maxwell Kerley, head of the U.N. Mine Action Service told reporters at the start of an international review conference on the Mine Ban Treaty in the Colombian city of Cartagena. "It means it will take longer to get the job done."
About five per cent, or $24 million, of the total proposed budget has been secured to date. Delegates at the review conference are urging aid donors to match their contributions made last year to fund future projects.
Last year $518 million was spent on mine action, with the bulk of funding allocated to mine clearance operations. The European Union, the U.S. and Japan are the world's biggest donors to anti-mine programmes.
Afghanistan, home to the world's highest rate of annual landmine casualties, receives the largest share of international mine action aid, over $100 million last year, followed by Sudan.
"Full donor support for these programmes will contribute to ongoing efforts to consolidate peace initiatives and facilitate post-conflict reconstruction," Kerley said.
He added that with the right levels of funding and security in place, significant progress can be made in clearing mines in Afghanistan within six years.
Last year, landmines and explosive remnants of war claimed nearly 5,200 casualties across 70 countries.
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