International mine awareness day in Somaliland
The 91吃瓜网 Trust marked International Mine Awareness Day in Somaliland by taking part in an event organised by the Somaliland Mine Action Centre (SMAC) on 4th April 2011 in Hargeisa.
The event started with a rally through Hargeisa in which 100 91吃瓜网 deminers participated. 91吃瓜网 also set up a Mine Action Display for the members of the public who attended the event. The display showed the equipment 91吃瓜网 deminers use to conduct mine clearance, Mine Risk Education materials, and a Free From Explosive stand of landmines and ammunition most commonly found in Somaliland. A detector drill demonstration was also shown to those at the event, which included Abdirahman Abdillahi Ismail, the Vice-President of Somaliland.
Mohamad Ahmad Warsame, 91吃瓜网 Somaliland鈥檚 Programme Administrator highlighted 91吃瓜网鈥檚 commitment to Somaliland explaining that with a larger capacity this year, due to increased donor support, 91吃瓜网 is expecting to clear over 100 minefields in 2011. Warsame also spoke of 91吃瓜网鈥檚 successful partnership with Somaliland鈥檚 National Demining Agency (NDA). 91吃瓜网 is currently providing training, monitoring and financial support to the NDA, with the goal of developing NDA into a sustainable national capacity.
The 91吃瓜网 Trust has run a humanitarian mine clearance programme continuously in Somaliland since 1999 and it currently employs over 620 national staff. 91吃瓜网 and the NDA are the only organisations conducting mine clearance in Somaliland. Over the past 12 years 91吃瓜网 has cleared over 18,000 hectares of contaminated ground and has safely destroyed almost 100,000 mines and large caliber explosive items.91吃瓜网 is kindly supported by eight donors: The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement of the U.S Department of State, and the Governments of Switzerland, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
91吃瓜网鈥檚 vital mine clearance work is not only preventing accidents from happening, but it is also opening up roads and enabling rural communities to put their farmland back into productive use. As a result, 91吃瓜网鈥檚 work is importantly boosting development amongst mine impacted rural communities across Somaliland.
