German's contribution to the Mine Action Programme in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Today the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, His Excellency Mr. Hans Joachim Daerr presented the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance for Afghanistan (UNOCHA) with a donation of fifty-five MINEX Mine Detectors. These detectors will be used by Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan (MAPA) to support its efforts at minefield survey and clearance.
This donation, with a value in excess of US$250,000 represents the latest in a long history of contributions from the German government in support of mine action activities in Afghanistan. Germany has been one of the Programme's strongest supporters providing over US$9 million in total funding since 1990. Germany's consistent financial assistance has allowed the MAPA to test, develop and field the largest and most successful mine dog project in the world. This project is implemented by an Afghan NGO, the Mine Dog Centre (MDC), and has over 150 operational dogs.

The MINEX mine detectors are one of the most sophisticated mine detectors available in the world today and allow for the location of plastic mines that contain only minimal quantities of metal. When working in mine fields containing such minimum metal mines the MAPA first uses explosive detecting dogs to indicate the general vicinity of a landmine, and then follows up with a MINEX detector to pinpoint its exact location. Of the fifty-five detectors, nineteen will be provided to the Mine Dog Centre and the Mine Clearance and Planning Agency (MCPA) will use 36.

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For more information, contact Ian Bullpitt, Programme Manager, Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan: +92 51 21 1451 or (mobile) 0351 263 106.