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Burundi
No more mine action
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| Deminer demonstrating mine clearance at the closing ceremony for Humanitarian Mine Action programme in Burundi. |
The closure of DCA’s mine clearance activities was marked by a ceremony at the DCA compound where various partners from the international community and the Government of Burundi were invited. At the ceremony local DCA staff showed some of the various objects that have been found during the clearance operations and one deminer demonstrated how they have been working in the field.
15.000.000 square metres cleared
In its initial phase the focus of the programme was in the South near the border to Tanzania, where DCA in collaboration with the Burundian government has been removing mines, unexploded ordnances (UXO) and ammunition in order to facilitate the safe return of Burundian refugees in Tanzania. During the conflict in 1990’ies hundreds of thousands of Burundians sought refuge in Tanzania. When they started to return to Burundi they found that their access to land, water and common infrastructure was blocked by mines and other remnants of war. As the activities phased out in the South the programme started to operate in the province surrounding the capital, Bujumbura.
During the four years of operation DCA has succeeded in opening up around 15.000.000 square metres of land, which can now be utilised by the population for agriculture, housing and livestock rearing. Furthermore, important infrastructure such as roads has also become accessible, which will help communities improve their economic conditions.
Education is the way forward
An important activity of the programme has been to educate people on how to behave in order to reduce the risk if they encounter mines, UXOs and ammunition. More than 250.000 people have benefitted from this activity.
DCA Humanitarian Mine Action programme will remain in Burundi, but the focus of will move to the high prevalence of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the country.
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