The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Actions (ANAMA) has received six mine-searching dogs from the U.S. Institute of Marchalle Legas, to strengthen its demining capacity in areas, where the detection of unexploded ordnances is a daily occasion.
The corresponding agreement on the handover of dogs to ANAMA has been signed today between ANAMA General Director Nazim Ismayilov, and the president of the Institute of Marchalle Legas, Pierre Baltimor, at ANAMA’s headquarters in Baku.
Addressing the ceremony, Ismayilov expressed hopes for beneficial cooperation between the agency he runs and the U.S. institute. He also praised the role of ANAMA’s donors, including foreign governments and UNICEF, in assisting Azerbaijan to build capacity building the field of mine actions. Ismayilov also stressed the necessity to take urgent measures to clear areas under rehabilitation from unexploded ordnances and other dangerous explosives.
For his part, Baltimor said that Azerbaijan is the eighth country, which has received assistance from the Institute of Marchalle Legas in the field of mine actions. He promised to expand the role of the Institute in corresponding projects in the country in future.
Meanwhile, ANAMA has extended the term of an agreement with UNICEF on raising the population’s awareness of mine dangers. The project will enter the second phase, envisioning the issue of 12,000 copies of various reference books on mine dangers, as well as corresponding measures aimed at raising the awareness of mine dangers among teenagers attending 250 schools in the areas bordering on Armenia’s Azerbaijan’s staunch enemy, and the Armenian-occupied areas of the country. During the first stage of the project, there have been held training courses for 600 school teachers, as well as carried out a massive educational program on mine dangers among teenagers attending 300 schools, and issued 15,000 copies of reference books.
For her part, UNICEF country manager for Azerbaijan, Hana Singer appreciated the activity of ANAMA and added that additional assistance from UNICEF will likely come in aid for mine-affected people.
