On December 5, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Olexandr Mishchenko, on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, took part in the “Demine Ukraine Forum 2025” forum, organized by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine together with the Humanitarian Demining Center with the support of UNDP, the Embassies of Norway and the Netherlands in Ukraine.
The event is the next important step in consolidating international mine action efforts after the “UMAC 2025” conference in Tokyo, where, thanks to the joint efforts of partner countries, over $80 million was raised for the purpose of humanitarian demining of Ukrainian territories contaminated with explosive devices as a result of Russian aggression against our state.
During his speech at the panel discussion “International Support for Humanitarian Demining of Ukraine: Experience, Strategy, Impact,” the Deputy Minister emphasized that Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine, in addition to other negative consequences, has caused the greatest humanitarian challenge for Europe since World War II, namely the large-scale contamination of millions of hectares of Ukrainian territories with mines, cluster munitions, and other dangerous remnants of the conflict.
Olexandr Mishchenko, that humanitarian demining is one of the key elements of the reconstruction process in Ukraine. The active involvement of a wide range of citizens, including veterans and especially women veterans, as well as people with disabilities, in the work of demining and clearing Ukrainian territories contributes to their social integration and makes a significant contribution to the reconstruction of communities affected by the Russian invasion.
Separately, the Ukrainian diplomat thanked international partners for their support, in particular for the supply of modern demining equipment, the organization of training programs and the implementation of projects to clear Ukrainian territories of mines and explosives.
The panel was also attended by Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of Canada in Ukraine Christian Roa; Deputy Ambassador, Head of the Cooperation Department of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine Jean-Luc Bernasconi; Counsellor-Envoy, Deputy Head of the Mission of the Kingdom of Norway in Ukraine Kristin Enstad; Deputy Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine Maximilian Rasch; Head of Operations of the Croatian Mine Action Center under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Croatia Davor Laura; Director of the Mines Advisory Group in Ukraine John Cunliffe. The event was moderated by the Head of the UNDP Mine Action Program in Ukraine Benjamin Lark.