Mine Risks Awareness: National Mine Risk Working Group Meeting In Nay Pyi Taw

The 23rd National Mine Risk Working Group Meeting took place in Nay Pyi Taw on Thursday.

The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement is accelerating mine risk education awareness program in cooperation with the related ministries, UNICEF, NGOs and INGOs. The Ministry also established Mine Risk Working Group in 2012 and extended Non-Technical Survey Unit-NTS for more implementations of mine risk education awareness program.   

The Ministry also plans to establish National Mine Action Authority to take more actions in cooperation with regional countries.

Director General, Department of Rehabilitation, Win Naing Tun said “In 2016, we established State Level Mine Risk Education Unit and carried out regular meetings and education awareness program. We plan to establish state level mine risk education teams in Kachin, Shan, Kayin, Kayah and Rakhine States in order to perform education awareness, victim assistance and advocacy program. The Ministry has also been providing 200,000 kyats cash assistance each for mine risk victims since 2017. So far, a total of 118 million kyats for 559 mine risk victims have been provided by the Ministry.”

Myanmar is actively participated in ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center, Anti-personal Mine Ban Convention and Geneva GICHD workshop to be implemented more effective action plans.

Director General, Department of Rehabilitation, Win Naing Tun said “Nine out of states and regions are contaminated with mine risk. According to 2019 data, mine and related ordnances affected 221 people so it is needed to scale up mine risk education program in Myanmar. Now, Non-Technical Survey-NTS program are implementing in Kayin and Kayah States.  ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center-ARMAC in cooperation with consultative meeting on mine risk education was held in Nay Pyi Taw last year.”

The meeting also adopted the National Mine Risk Working Group Strategic Work Plan for 2020-2021.