A first event gathering mine experts from EU Member States and
from the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) is
taking place today in Baku.
This initiative is part of a wider effort by the European Union to
support to humanitarian demining in the country. The EU, together
with its Member States, is to date the biggest international donor
in the field of mine action in Azerbaijan, as illustrated by the
launch of a “Team Europe Initiative” earlier in May. In the wake of
President von der Leyen’s phone call with President Ilham Aliyev on
4 April, the EU is now planning substantial additional financial
support to help Azerbaijan tackle the enormous challenge that
explosive ordnance represent, with an additional EUR 10 million
being planned over the 2024-2025 programming period. This effort is
also part of a wider cooperation agenda ahead of COP-29.
In this context, today’s event is the first in a series to support
help set up and operationalise a Centre of Excellence to share
knowledge across the region. The Centre – run by the Azerbaijan
National Agency for Mine Action ANAMA - is expected to display
specialised training facilities research and development
capabilities, and to offer training programs for national and
international personnel, focusing on the latest techniques and
technologies in the mine action sector. Azerbaijan, who recently
hosted the Third International Conference on Mine Action in Baku,
ambitions to establish the Centre of Excellence in cooperation with
the UN and international partners.
With that objective in mind, the first workshop organised today
with ANAMA under the Technical Assistance and Information exchange
(TAIEX) Instrument of the European offers a platform for sharing
best practices, lessons learned and innovative solutions with
experts from EU Member States and partner. Experts from Slovenia
and Bosnia and Herzegovina will share knowledge and long-term
experience in the field of strategic planning, gender equality in
mine action, victim assistance, quality and risk management,
environmental aspects and new technologies.