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After years of continued work to clear Uganda for landmines, the Central-African nation is close to the aim of being declared mine free. However, renewed support is needed for Uganda to be able to live up to the international Mine Ban Treaty.
Mid-2012 is when Uganda is committed to declaring the Central-African nation mine free. But there is still a way to go before Uganda has fulfilled its commitment to the Ottawa Treaty, and continued support is needed to being able to reach the desired status as mine free and finally safe after more than two decades of war.
Some of the mined areas that remain to be cleared are located in mountainous terrain near to the border to South Sudan in northern Uganda. Additional suspected mined areas include small pockets of land situated in challenging terrain nearby borders to DR Congo in the west and in the north bordering South Sudan.
- The task remaining is one that can and should be dealt with during 2011. We have worked now for five years to clear and secure contaminated areas in Uganda, and a limited scope of work remains to be able to declare Uganda mine free. It is important that we do not lose this momentum, but instead, and in continued partnership with the Ugandan government, finish the job and help Uganda fulfilling its commitment to the Ottawa Treaty, says Rasmus Stuhr Jakobsen, head of the Danish Demining Group.
Since 2008, the Danish Demining Group (DDG) has provided technical advisory, training assistance, and support to the local authorities working with mine clearance in order to increase the pace, transparency and quality of the operations carried out.
The remaining requirement for clearance is small in terms of square meters. However, the clearance capacity is equally small, and hence, to enable completion of the task prior to mid 2012, the Ugandan government and the local mine clearance authorities need further clearance assistance.
Uganda deminers to Somalia
As soon as the mine clearance is completed, Uganda plans to scale down the national demining capacity. A small and mobile explosive ordnance disposal unit will be kept operational thereafter, for managing and disposing of the limited, residual hazard of explosive remnants of war. There is also a plan to deploy majority of the humanitarian demining capacity in conjunction with the African Union peace-keeping operation in Somalia.
The Danish Demining Group (DDG) is part of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) that carries out activities in more than 10 African countries, including in Uganda.
