World's Largest Annual Gathering of Experts on Landmines and ERW hosted by ITF
ITF and CRO MAC with the cooperation of UNMAS organized 11th Meeting on Mine Action Program Directors and UN Advisers in Ljubljana and Sibenik. The top mine action officials of 40 mine-affected countries, four United Nations organizations, dozens of nongovernmental organizations, as well as representatives of donor countries and commercial demining companies started the Meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia on April 14 and continue it in Sibenik, Croatia, April 15-18 with the aim to review progress in eliminating landmines and explosive remnants of war, accelerating demining through new technologies and efforts to build national institutions to manage mine action programs. This two-city event is the world’s largest annual gathering of high-level mine action experts.
Landmines and explosive remnants of war continue to kill or maim 6,000 people a year and three of every four casualties are civilians. New casualties within the past year were been reported in 68 countries. Fourteen different United Nations entities manage or support mine action programs in 42 countries and territories.
The meeting was the first time that was hold outside of Geneva and in a mine-affected area, with opportunities to see first-hand lessons learned and operational activities in the field.