Mine action in Azerbaijan: EU helps to establish Centre of Excellence

On 25 June, the first event gathering mine experts from EU Member States and from the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) took place in Baku.

This initiative is part of a wider effort by the European Union to support humanitarian demining in the country. According to the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, the EU, together with its Member States, is to date the biggest international donor in the field of mine action in Azerbaijan. The EU is planning significant additional financial support to help Azerbaijan cope with its explosive ordnance problem, with an additional €10 million planned for the 2024-2025 programming period.

In this context, the event in Baku was the first in a series to help set up and operationalise a Centre of Excellence in the mine action field. The Centre, managed by ANAMA, is expected to introduce specialised training facilities, research and development capabilities, and offer training programmes for national and international personnel, with a focus on the latest techniques and technologies in the mine action sector.

At the first workshop, organised jointly with ANAMA, experts from Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina shared their knowledge and long-term experience in the field of strategic planning, gender equality in mine action, victim assistance, quality and risk management, environmental aspects, and new technologies.

The workshop was organised under TAIEX, the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange instrument of the European Commission. TAIEX supports public administrations with regard to the approximation, application and enforcement of EU legislation as well as facilitating the sharing of EU best practices.

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Press release