The UN has launched an initiative to demine Ukrainian agricultural lands

The Deputy Spokesman of the UN Secretary General, Farhad Gak, announced the launch in Ukraine of a project to clear agricultural lands of explosive objects, in particular mines. This project is implemented by the World Food Program of the United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Swiss Mine Action Fund. The goal of the project is to support small farmers and rural families, the most affected by hostilities. The program has already been launched in the Kharkiv region and is planned to be extended to Kherson region and Mykolaiv region.

The UN representative added that they plan to support farmers with plots of land up to 300 hectares, as well as rural families who grow food for themselves. The initiators claim that the program will help return land to use, as well as restore agricultural production in Ukraine.

It is known that Ukraine aims to return 80% of potentially contaminated land to productive use within 10 years. As reported in the press service of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, this requires "clear coordination between all participants in the process, focus and innovative approaches." According to available estimates, 90% of the work in Ukraine will be related to the release of land and only about 10% - to demining. Therefore, it is suggested to identify slightly polluted or non-polluted lands among potentially polluted ones and quickly return them to use. Demining of areas with a high density of pollution will be delayed. This approach will make it possible to rationally use resources and quickly return significant areas to productive use.

Currently, the Government of Ukraine is already working on simplification of accreditation and registration of new operators, automatic recognition of educational diplomas and equipment certificates, simplification of equipment import, etc. Transparent approaches to the allocation of orders for non-technical and technical surveys and demining work will be implemented. The possibility of purchasing demining services through auctions is also being discussed. Coordination of international donors at the political level will be ensured, in particular, by the donor platform, which will be co-chaired by Ukraine, the UN and Japan.

The Government believes that humanitarian land demining is a priority task, because despite the war, Ukraine remains the guarantor of global food security. And the cleanup of contaminated land is the most important element of economic recovery of Ukraine and the safety of the population.

"Now the main efforts are concentrated on: Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Chernihiv and Cherkasy regions. With the support of donors and international partners, we have set the goal of restoring economic exploitation of 165,000 hectares by the end of 2023 and 305,000 hectares by the end of 2024," Yuliya, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and the Minister of Economy of Ukraine, noted on this occasion. Svyridenko

Currently, the country needs at least 83 demining machines for quick and comprehensive demining. This year, 26 demining machines from European manufacturers are expected to be delivered. Also, Ukraine needs 368 vehicles for transporting explosive elements, 50 of which have already been contracted by donors. There is a need for 465 cars to transport people, of which 110 have also already been purchased by donors.

Yulia Svyridenko also emphasized the need to develop state institutions that can train demining specialists and certify private demining operators. In her opinion, the creation of an open market for demining services in Ukraine will promote harmonious cooperation between state institutions, non-governmental organizations and private operators, and will accelerate the clearing of territories.

"This requires strong coordination and financial support from international donors and national governments. We also count on the comprehensive support of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations in this process," Yuliya Svyridenko emphasized.

It should be noted that the country has already received UAH 700 million for the demining of agricultural lands and other territories. As the head of the humanitarian demining department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, Colonel Serhiy Reva of the Civil Protection Service, said, cooperation with more than 30 international organizations and funds, whose donors are the leading countries of the world: USA, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Estonia, Poland.

"We received international aid worth more than UAH 700 million, including 11 mechanized demining machines, more than 160 pickup trucks for transporting personnel and equipment, more than 600 metal detectors," Serhiy Reva noted.

According to him, the new equipment has already started working in priority directions, where specialists use such equipment to carry out demining tasks. However, demining is hindered by constant shelling by Russian troops. The speaker noted that in this way the territories that have already been cleaned are being polluted. At the same time, the expert emphasized that the Russians use mining systems that are prohibited according to international conventions.

By the way, the country will independently produce the necessary equipment. It is known that the general director of the Ukrainian company "Pozhmashina" Oleg Averyanov and the general director of the Danish company Hydrema Jan Werner Jensen signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which provides for the localization of part of the production of the Danish HYDREMA910 demining machine in Ukraine. This machine has been in the service of NATO countries for a long time and has proven itself to be the best in the hottest places of the world, in particular in Afghanistan. At the same time, the Danish government can provide the necessary funding, in particular grant funding, to meet the needs of the Ukrainian services in such equipment.