Foreign
REPRESENTATIVES from more than 50 countries, international organisations and civil society are set to meet in Switzerland on Thursday and Friday for an international conference on mine clearance in Ukraine.
Participants of the Ukraine Mine Action Conference in Lausanne are to discuss how to integrate mine clearance in Ukraine with social and economic reconstruction.
They are to also consider new methods to more quickly investigate potentially contaminated areas, as well as new financing models.
Among these is a proposal by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that the Ukrainian government issues bonds that link mine clearance with the introduction of sustainable agricultural practices.
The UNDP has suggested that proceeds from the bonds could be reinvested in mine clearance, among other things.
Large areas of Ukraine were covered with hundreds of thousands of mines, cluster munitions and blind shells.
Ukraine in 2023 estimated that a full clearance operation would cost 34 billion euros (36.9 billion dollars). (dpa/NAN)
17th October, 2024.
C.E.
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