Humanitarian demining results for July 2024

Ukraine has achieved significant results in mine action since the beginning of the sectoral working group's work. This was reported by the co-chair of the Sectoral Working Group, First Deputy Prime Minister — Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko during the fourth meeting of the SWG in Kyiv on 30 September 2024.

"Over the year, Ukrainians received 35,000 square kilometres of demined land for use. This is an area larger than Belgium. Behind each of these kilometres are the lives of people who can now safely return to their homes, work the land, and rebuild their lives," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

The Minister presented the key performance indicators of the mine action sector: the number of operational mine action operators has increased to 66, the number of sappers has grown to over 4,000, and the fleet of heavy demining machines has been increased to 98 units.

Separately, the progress in implementing the National Mine Action Strategy was discussed. Of the 57 strategic tasks, the vast majority are being implemented on schedule or ahead of schedule.

"We have created a system that works. The next step is to scale up capacity and attract additional resources to achieve our strategic goal — returning 80% of contaminated lands to productive use within 10 years," emphasised the First Deputy Prime Minister.

International partners participating in the meeting noted the significant progress Ukraine has made in organising mine action. Several countries announced new commitments to finance humanitarian demining.

The Sectoral Working Group was established as a coordination mechanism bringing together the Government of Ukraine and international partners to jointly address the challenges of humanitarian demining. Meetings are held regularly with the participation of ambassadors, heads of international organisations, and representatives of relevant Ukrainian agencies.