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UN: UN-ASSISTED
MINE CLEARANCE ENABLES 1,000 AFGHAN FAMILIES TO RETURN HOME:
21/6/2007 (MaximsNews.com,
U.N.)
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UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com@
U.N./
- 21
June 2007 –
Some 1,000 Afghan families can now return to
their homes on a hilltop in downtown Kabul and live in a more secure environment
thanks to the efforts of the United Nations-supported Mine Action Programme for
Afghanistan (MAPA).
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During a handover
ceremony today, MAPA released 70,000 square meters of cleared residential
area to 1,000 families on Kabul’s “TV Hill” – where a total of 103
anti-personnel mines and nearly 2,600 unexploded ordnance have been
destroyed since December 2006.
Following the
ouster of the Taliban in 2001, some 500,000 square meters of land were found
contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance on the TV Hill area.
According to media reports, almost 1,000 people were killed or injured by
such weapons in that area in 1998. Today more than 440,000 square meters
have been cleared and nearly 2,000 anti-personnel mines and almost 7,400
unexploded ordnance destroyed.
“Thanks to the
work of manual clearance teams almost 7,000 families have already retuned to
the Hill and rebuilt their houses. TV Hill is now one of the most populated
areas in the centre of the city,” the UN Mine Action Centre for
Afghanistan (UNMACA),
which coordinates MAPA’s activities in areas such as minefield clearance,
mine risk education and support for mine victims, said in a press release.
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Afghanistan
became a State party to the Ottawa Mine Ban Convention in March 2003 and is
working towards clearing all minefields by 2013.
Also in
Kabul today, the UN Development Programme (UNDP)
inaugurated the AliceGhan project, which will provide housing and support for
livelihoods to 1,400 Afghan returnees and internally displaced persons (IDPs)
in Qarabagh District.
Those
selected to participate in the project, which enjoys $7.3 million in funding
from the Australian Government, will receive housing construction materials to
build their own earthquake-resistant houses, as well as vocational training.
The name
“AliceGhan” is derived from the combination of Alice Springs – a town in
Australia which has strong links with Afghan migrants to Australia – and
Afghanistan, symbolising the partnership and commitment between the two
countries.
The
project is implemented by UNDP in close partnership with several Afghan
ministries, and with the support of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT).
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Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
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