As a result of russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, 174,000 square kilometers of Ukraine’s territory are potentially contaminated with explosive ordnance. To consolidate the efforts of all stakeholders in the context of demining Ukraine, the Government, together with Ukrainian and international experts, is working on the development of the Mine Action Strategy.

As part of this work, a stakeholder workshop on the Mine Action Strategy, organized by the Ministry of Economy in cooperation with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining and with financial support from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), was held in Kyiv on October 3-5.

“The scale of contamination of Ukraine’s territory with explosive remnants is unprecedented. In this situation, it is crucial to have a clear, consolidated and long-term vision of mine action policy, the principles of which will be set out in the relevant Strategy. The document will include information on improving the certification of equipment, supporting the efficiency of demining operators, preventing accidents, assisting victims, using innovations in demining, developing the private services market, coordinating with donors and other data aimed at improving the efficiency of mine action and humanitarian demining,” Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, stated during her speech on October 5.

First Deputy Prime Minister added that the results of the three-day workshops would be presented in Zagreb, Croatia, during an international donor conference on demining Ukrainian territories. After that, an all-Ukrainian public discussion of the draft Strategy will be held by the end of November, and by the end of the year, the finished document will be submitted to the National Mine Action Authority for further adoption.

Thus, the event gathered more than 50 participants from around the world, including experts, mine action operators, and members of the sectoral working group on humanitarian demining under the Ministry of Economy.