The inaugural meeting of the Sectoral Working Group on Humanitarian Demining, which aims to become a single platform for comprehensive coordination between the Government of Ukraine and international partners in the field of humanitarian demining, has taken place.

The meeting was attended by representatives of more than 30 countries and partner organisations providing assistance to Ukraine in the field of humanitarian demining and mine action, as well as relevant Ukrainian government agencies – the Ministries of Defence, Internal Affairs, Economy, the State Emergency Service and others.

The inaugural meeting was co-chaired by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Denise Brown, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, and Kuninori Matsuda, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine.

“Up to 174,000 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory are potentially contaminated. The extraordinary scale of the task of demining Ukraine’s territory requires extremely intensive cooperation between Ukraine and international partners. Ukraine is counting on the support and assistance of the international community in this area. I am convinced that through joint efforts we will gradually achieve the goal of clearing our land,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko, opening the meeting.

As noted during the event, given the extent of contamination of Ukraine’s territory with mines and other explosive devices, the long-term nature and cost of the demining process, this issue, more than any other, requires the most effective cooperation of all stakeholders.

The participants in the meeting agreed that the main tasks of the Group would be to:

• Discuss Ukraine's demining needs and secure appropriate support;
• Advocate strategically for Ukraine's needs;
• Facilitate dialogue on strategy and policy in the identified area;
• Coordinate and exchange information.

The implementation of these tasks is aimed at achieving the Group’s overall objective of attracting the necessary resources in the field of humanitarian demining and maximising the effectiveness of their use.

An important aspect of the Group’s work is that it will cover the humanitarian component of cooperation with partners. Military cooperation is not part of the Group’s mandate.

The participants in the meeting also discussed:

- The development of a comprehensive Mine Action Strategy;

- The status of mine clearance of Ukrainian territory and the need for equipment and other assistance;

- Upcoming industry events in Ukraine and abroad.

The meeting adopted the rules of procedure of the Sectoral Working Group (SWG) on Humanitarian Demining as a temporary advisory body to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, and of the thematic sub-groups within the SWG.

In addition, the areas of cooperation on the issues discussed were outlined for the coming period.