Asked by: Jo Gideon (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support the clearance of (a) landmines and (b) other explosive remnants of war in conflict-affected countries across the world.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
This Financial Year, the Global Mine Action Programme (GMAP) has been working with the HALO Trust and the Mines Advisory Group to support the clearance of landmines and other explosive remnants of war in Angola, Cambodia, Laos, Somalia, South Sudan, Ukraine and Zimbabwe. GMAP also has a live tender out for Afghanistan. Between April and December 2022, GMAP cleared and confirmed safe over 4.9 million square metres of land. The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) has also been funding mine action projects as part of wider stabilisation and conflict programming in Ukraine, the Caucasus, Libya, Sri Lanka and Yemen.