Slovenian-Run ITF Celebrates 10th Anniversary
The Slovenian-run International Trust Fund for Demining (ITF) celebrated in Ljubljana on Friday its 10th anniversary. President Danilo Tuerk on the occasion expressed his satisfaction with great progress that had been made in demining in the last ten years.
Tuerk said that he had the opportunity to witness the beginnings and development of the ITF and praised Slovenia's contribution to demining efforts. In the last ten years the issue of demining has been adopted at the global level, in the UN, while demining has become a "priority shared by everyone", he said.
The president said at the session of the ITF advisory board that the generosity of the fund and its advisory board helped achieve important successes in Macedonia, where mine risk has almost been eliminated.
Tuerk expressed hope that this would also be the case in Serbia and Albania by the end of 2009, while the ITF was facing important tasks in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. He recalled that the ITF's activities go beyond the borders of the region, all the way to Transcaucasia, Middle East, primarily Lebanon, and parts of Columbia.
According to Tuerk, demining should be linked with other priority activities considering the position of people in armed conflicts in modern times. The majority of victims in modern conflicts are killed or injured by small arms and anti-personnel mines, said Tuerk.
A special guest of the session was Jordanian Prince Mired R.Z. Al Hussein, president designate of the Ottawa Treaty on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction.
Al Hussein said in his speech that the main challenge in the future would raising the awareness about the importance of mine clearance. He called on countries to join the treaty and accept more responsibility for demining, labelling the ITF as a "wonderful and influential force".
The session was also addressed by Bosnian Civil Affairs Minister Sredoje Novic, who pointed to the issue of mines in his country and said that the ITF had achieved great results in Bosnia. According to Novic, the fund is the main funder of demining in Bosnia, which is one of the most mine-infested countries in Europe and the world.
Also attending the ceremony were charge d'affaires at the US Embassy Maryruth Coleman and German Ambassador Hans-Joachim Goetz as representatives of the biggest donors to the fund, and Macedonian Ambassador Samoil Josif Filipovski.
The ITF, originally established in 1998 by the Slovenian government to help demining efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in 2001 expanded its activities to the entire region of Southeast Europe, and in 2002 to Transcaucasia, Latin America and the Middle East.
In the ten years since it was established, the ITF has collected over EUR 223m for demining in Southeast Europe, clearing some 83 sq. kilometres of land of mines and unexploded ordnance. The fund also helped rehabilitate about 1,000 mine victims in health centres in Slovenia and Bosnia.
The donor community of the ITF includes more than a hundred public andprivate donors, including the 27 EU countries, with the US alone donating so far over EUR 94.5m for mine clearance and aid to mine victims min.
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