A total of more than £7 million will be provided
Vital work to clear deadly explosives in Ukraine and Afghanistan will be extended a Scottish demining charity the HALO Trust is set to receive new UK Government funding to support its life-saving work.
A total of more than £7 million will be provided, which will enable HALO to continue its work to release productive land for agriculture in Ukraine, contributing to Ukrainian and global food security and keeping communities safe.
In Afghanistan, funding will help restore basic services and support the safe return of refugees.
International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds also announced support for a £250,000 HALO programme to dispose of 165 tons of unserviceable and unsafe ammunition and explosives from stores in Hargeisa, Somaliland.
The announcement came as International Dodds visited the NGO’s base in Thornhill, near Dumfries to see HALO’s demining training in action and learn how its work not only saves lives, but also brings benefit to the local economy and helps create jobs through businesses supplying specialist equipment.
Dodds said: “No one should have to live in fear of being killed or maimed by one wrong step. These deadly devices sow fear and destruction for decades and organisations like the HALO Trust do a vital job in clearing mines.
“I’m proud to be in Scotland to announce this support for the HALO Trust to continue its life-saving work removing deadly devices from some of the most hazardous parts of the world.
“HALO is a world leader in demining and the UK Government is committed to helping communities torn apart by conflict to rebuild their lives, including by freeing up land so it can be farmed and helping people to return safely to their communities.
“The companies working with HALO are making a real contribution to some of the most vulnerable communities on earth – and in doing so are creating jobs and driving growth in Scotland, which I’m pleased to support as part of the government’s Plan for Change.”
Since launching its Global Mine Action Programme (GMAP) in 2014, the UK Government has supported charities such as HALO and NGO the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) to clear over 693 million square metres of mines and provide risk education for over 5.4m people, giving them information to avoid deadly explosive devices.
GMAP is currently active in ten countries: Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.
Dodds discussed how she intends to extend the FCDO’s current contracts with HALO to deliver mine action in Afghanistan and Ukraine by a further year from April 2025 to end March 2026, providing £4.3m for work in Ukraine and £3m for work in Afghanistan.
As part of the visit, she also spoke to female deminers operating in Syria and Ukraine from HALO’s situation room.
The minister added: “During my visit I have been given fascinating insights into the challenging conditions under which HALO’s deminers work.
“I was struck by the increasingly important contribution that female deminers are making in a traditionally male-dominated sector.”
Since its establishment in 1988, HALO has cleared two million mines and other explosive ordnance – saving an estimated 2m lives and giving over 10m people safer access to schools, health clinics and farming land.
Ruth Jackson, chief strategy officer at the HALO Trust, said: “There can be no genuine recovery from conflict until all deadly unexploded mines and munitions are safely cleared. This vital UK Government funding would make a huge difference to tens of thousands of people at risk from the dangerous levels of explosive contamination that litter where they work, live, study, and play.
“Until the last landmine is out of the ground and the last bomb defused, large numbers of people will continue to live in fear. We remain dedicated to continuing our lifesaving work alongside MAG and other partners until this is achieved.”
