02 July 2003
Slovenia International Trust Fund Promotes Balkans Demining Efforts
(State Department fact sheet) (760)
Following is a fact sheet on the Republic of Slovenia International
Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance issued July 2,
2003 by the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs,
which says the ITF has established an "excellent reputation" with
international donors since commencing operations in December 1998:
(begin fact sheet)
U.S. Department of State
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs
Washington, DC
July 2, 2003
FACT SHEET
REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA'S INTERNATIONAL TRUST FUND FOR DEMINING AND MINE
VICTIMS ASSISTANCE
In May 1998, Congress appropriated $28 million for the Republic of
Slovenia International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims
Assistance (ITF) to aid mine-affected countries in the Balkan region.
The legislation specified that U.S. donations would be used to match
contributions to the ITF by other governments, entities, or persons.
Subsequently, Congress has appropriated an additional $24 million in
matching funds for mine action conducted through the ITF, all of which
has been matched by the United States.
The U.S. anticipates that Congress will continue to appropriate
funding for Balkan mine action through the ITF. This is due to the
excellent reputation the ITF has established with the international
donor community since commencing operations in December of 1998.
However, the United States finds the matching program to be
particularly effective and encourages donors to consider the ITF as
the demining instrument of choice.
The ITF has received contributions to date from 65 donors (including
the United States) totaling over $111.2 million and currently has
another $7 million in pledges outstanding. The donor population
includes 25 governments, 10 regional/local governmental organizations,
15 commercial firms, 12 international civic or humanitarian assistance
organizations, and three individuals. Of the total contributions
received, the United States has contributed $52 million in matching
funds and has over $10 million in unilateral donations, this last to
meet pressing demining needs in the Balkans not addressed by other
members of the international donor community. This includes $1.0
million to meet emergency clearance needs in Macedonia in support of
refugee/IDP (internally displaced persons) returns, and just under
$4.0 million in Kosovo to clear unexploded cluster bomb submunitions
and other NATO air-dropped ordnance.
Initially, donations to the Trust Fund were used to address demining
needs in Bosnia-Herzegovina; the successes gained there resulted in a
subsequent expansion of demining operations to include Kosovo in 1999,
as well as Croatia and Albania in 2000. Following an internal ethnic
conflict in Macedonia in 2001, the United States funded Bosnian
demining teams to conduct emergency clearance work to facilitate the
return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) before the
onset of winter. The emergency clearance of mines and unexploded
ordnance (UXO) in Macedonia continued in 2002, augmented by a
companion program to train and equip Macedonian clearance teams to
assume residual mine and UXO clearance tasks. We also provided
assistance to both partners of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(Montenegro and Serbia) during 2002, and expect to support the ITF as
it expands its operations to include the Caucasus region (Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and Georgia).
In addition to its involvement in funding mine and UXO clearance
operations, the ITF has also funded surgical treatment and
rehabilitative care for well over 700 Bosnian, Kosovar and Albanian
mine victims. This assistance will be extended to Macedonia and the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the near future as well.
Contributions to the ITF have come from international and private
organizations such as the European Union, UNA/USA (Adopt-a-Minefield
Program), CARE, and the Siemens Corporation, and includes support from
the Governments of Canada, Germany, Norway, Croatia, the United
Kingdom, Slovenia, France, Japan, the Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark,
Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, South Korea, Belgium, Austria, Qatar, and
Kuwait. A total of 43 different international and local commercial
firms and non-governmental organizations have been engaged by the ITF
to conduct demining operations. These demining organizations have
undertaken over 500 projects in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia,
Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro (including Kosovo). The combined
results of these operations include 35.7 million square meters of land
returned to safe use and over 17,209 mines and 15,891 items of
unexploded ordnance destroyed. In addition, 750 victims have received
rehabilitation assistance for mine-related injuries. This includes
treatment at the Institute for Rehabilitation in Ljubljana, Slovenia,
as well as at other rehabilitation centers in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(end fact sheet)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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