Azerbaijan, EU, UNDP launch demining project to speed up return of IDPs

Azerbaijan, the European Union, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) are launching the "Support for increasing the capacity of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) for the safe return of former internally displaced persons" project, Azernews reports.

The EU, as the largest international organization supporting the demining process of the liberated lands, provided funds in the amount of 4.25 million euros to finance this project.

Notably, the project is expected to help the return of nearly 33,000 families of former internally displaced persons (IDPs).

As numerously stated prior, the abundance of mines and unexploded ordnances in the liberated territories is the main hindrance to the safe return of the former IDPs. Given this, the EU, ANAMA, and UNDP have joined forces to train, equip and deploy new mine and unexploded ordnance response teams. Moreover, the project envisages the establishment of the first women's sapper units in Azerbaijan.

The project will also support training sessions for ANAMA personnel on strategy and data management to help save lives and rebuild communities in conflict-affected areas.

Armenia deliberately and constantly planted mines on Azerbaijani territories, in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention, thereby being a major threat to regional peace, security, and cooperation.

In 2022, the de-mining operations resulted in the clearance of 8,780 anti-personnel and 4,133 anti-tank landmines, as well as 14,950 unexploded ordnances. About 41,915 hectares of land have been cleared.