$1.2mn Donation From Japan For Mine Clearance Projects in Afghanistan

AVA- An agreement to that effect was signed between Keiichi Hara, Chargé d’ Affaires ad interim of the Embassy of Japan and Fazel Karim Fazel, Director of Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR) and Arifullah Azimi, Managing Director, Agency for Rehabilitation and Energy Conservation in Afghanistan (AREA) in Kabul on Tuesday.
The ceremony was witnessed by government representatives including Mohammad Shafiq Yosufi, Director of Afghanistan Mine Action Coordination (DMAC) and Ahmad Riaz Sediqi, Director of NGOs Affairs of the Ministry of Economy.
Aforementioned projects will be implemented under Japan’s “Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects (GAGP)” scheme. The projects include both mine clearance and conducting mine risk education (MREs) to targeted population of these provinces.
Successful implementation of these projects will clear more than 1.6 KM2 of minefields and battlefields and will benefit more than 14,000 households saving their lives from landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) and giving them opportunities to transform lands marred by mines into productive resources for their livelihoods.
Keiichi HARA, Charge d’Affaires of Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan mentioned that mine clearance sets a basic condition for development such as infrastructure and agriculture, which contributes to the improvement of the economic situation in Afghanistan.
“Based on this belief, Japan has been assisting mine clearance projects through its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Project. Japan remains committed to assisting the efforts in the nation building by Afghan people and government,” said Keiichi Hara.
According to Yosufi, since 2012 the contribution of the Government of Japan have helped in clearing 26.5 square kilometers of area which resulted in destroying more than 5,200 anti-personnel and anti-tank mines and almost 37,000 explosive remnants of war.
“The successful completion of these projects will also contribute to security, safety and development and will assist the Government of Afghanistan in fulfilling its clearance obligations under applicable international mine action treaties,” said Yosufi.
Japan has been assisting Afghanistan’s nation-building efforts in various fields including infrastructure, agriculture and rural development, human resource development, health and education, and humanitarian assistance. Cumulative Japanese assistance to Afghanistan since 2001 amounts to more than $6.6 billion USD.