MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Sullivan
I am pleased to announce that the Australian Government has decided to provide $1.5 million towards de-mining activities in Africa.
Australia will contribute $1 million over three years to the United Nations Development Programmes' Accelerated Demining Programme in Mozambique. As well, the Australian aid organisation, AUSTCARE, will receive nearly $500,000 which it will use to expand its demining activities in Angola during the next 12 months.
The UNDP programme will help save the lives and limbs of subsistence farmers in Mozambique. This project will also make a tangible contribution to sustainable development and poverty reduction in one of the world's poorest countries.
The use of land mines was widespread during the protracted Mozambique civil war that ended with the signing of the Rome Peace Treaty in 1992. The war was fought mainly in rural areas, where unexploded land mines now pose a serious threat to farmers, lock up productive land, and impair other development.
The programme will involve clearing mine fields in the province of Inhambane, releasing arable land for cultivation. In turn, the province will be able to provide work and food for an increased number of people, reducing migration to the cities and boosting Mozambique's exports.
The number of landmines laid in Angola is estimated at between 10 and 14 million following 30 years of conflict. It is a sad fact that there are approximately 70,000 Angolan amputees as a result of landmines, with children under 15 comprising the largest group now most at risk.
Further, there are still more than one million people internally displaced there, plus more than 100,000 Angolan refugees in neighbouring countries who cannot return home until the treacherous landmines are located and removed.
The AUSTCARE project will use highly trained dogs to clear landmines laid along several thousand kilometres of roads. This latest contribution brings Australian Government funding for demining activities in Angola in 1997 and 1998 to more than $1 million.
As Australia's newly-appointed Special Representative on Demining, I look forward to ensuring that the delivery of this vital aspect of the Howard Government's aid programme is world class.
Media contacts:
Judi Nixon (Mrs Sullivan's office) 02 6277 4307/0411 287 258
Deborah Nesbitt (AusAID) 02 6206 4966/0417 683 767