Switzerland and Ukraine open demining conference in Lausanne
Published: Thursday, Oct 17th 2024, 12:20
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Switzerland and Ukraine have gathered the international community in Lausanne to speed up the process of freeing the war-torn country from Russian mines. President Viola Amherd announced the delivery of three additional mine clearance systems.
"We are determined to continue to make our contribution in Ukraine," said Amherd on Thursday at the start of the two-day conference in the presence of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. Every defused explosive device is a step towards security, development and a life with prospects.
Living in peace also means being free from the fear of mines and remnants of war, the Federal President emphasized to representatives of dozens of countries, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.
In Ukraine, the area contaminated by mines and other explosive ordnance is estimated at 139,000 square kilometers, according to Amherd's Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS). This corresponds to three and a half times the area of Switzerland.
Schwyz companies
The first of the three announced demining systems will be delivered to Ukraine in around three weeks, with the other two to follow in December this year and February next year, according to a statement from the manufacturer, the Schwyz-based company Global Clearance Solutions (GCS).
Global Clearance Solutions works with the UN and several non-governmental organizations such as the Swiss Foundation for Demining (FSD), which currently employs over 600 people in Ukraine.
According to the DDPS, a partnership envisages offering the Ukrainian side a comprehensive training, mentoring and logistics package in addition to the delivery of the three mine clearance systems.
Federal government covers the costs
The costs of this total package, amounting to CHF 4.6 million, will be borne by the Confederation. The partnership and the delivery of the demining systems will be financed from the CHF 100 million that the Federal Council made available in September last year to support humanitarian demining in Ukraine.
A year ago, the DDPS procured a remote-controlled mine-clearing system from the Swiss Digger Foundation and handed it over to Ukraine. Two more are to follow soon.
According to Prime Minister Shmyhal, Ukraine already has around 100 mine clearance systems at its disposal, three times more than last year. But that is not enough. Around 10,000 deminers and several hundred machines are needed.
And it will take at least a decade to clean up the mined areas, probably several. Thousands of people could die if these efforts are not undertaken within ten years. Apart from that, huge areas of arable land have been destroyed, which would have provided grain for millions of people around the world.
Cassis presents roadmap
At the Lausanne Ministerial Conference, Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko will announce a roadmap. This is intended to accompany Ukraine in its new demining policy until 2033. A Ukrainian company is now also active in building mine clearance systems.
For two days in Lausanne, delegations will reflect on the approach of putting the population at the heart of efforts to drive partnerships and assess how technological innovation can contribute to this goal.
At the beginning of the meeting, they observed a minute's silence to honor the victims of mines and other explosive remnants of war.
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