Phnom Penh (FN), May 17 – Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen will preside over the closing ceremony of the National Mine Action Conference “Toward a Mine Free Cambodia, 2025” on Thursday afternoon and announce the launching of the 2018-2025 National Mine Action Strategy at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh.

The National Mine Action Conference was opened and presided over by Deputy Prime Minister Bin Chhin, Acting Minister in Charge of the Office Council of the Ministers on Wednesday. The main purpose of the conference is to demonstrate the 25-year milestone achievement of the mine action sector, and highlight Cambodia's ability to cope with mine threats and methods to mobilize resources for mine action.

Mine Authority said that over the past 25 years, Cambodia has made great achievements in removing landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), hence number of victims reduced. By December 2017, the authority had cleared 1,700 square kilometers of land, discovered and destroyed about 1.25 million mines and 2.7 million ERW for agricultural cultivation and other purposes.

Although the Royal Government of Cambodia and development partners have recognized remarkable progress in addressing this problem, Cambodia still has about 2,000 square kilometers of landmines to be completely cleared by 2025.

To achieve the goal, Cambodian Mine Authority launched the National Mine Action Strategy for 2018-2025 on Thursday.

The strategic plan aims to achieve the vision: "Cambodia is a country with no mines, low threats from ERW, socio-economic development, and healthy human resources”.
=FRESH NEWS