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Norway Donates $600,000 for OAS Demining Program

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, today received the Permanent Observer of Norway to the OAS, Ambassador Wegger Christian Strommen, who presented him with a contribution of $600,000 to support the program “Ecuador - Peru Humanitarian Demining in the Cordillera del Condor Region.”

The chief representative of the hemispheric organization thanked the Ambassador for the donation and noted that Norway has been a Permanent Observer to the OAS since 2000, "but its commitment to the Americas and to OAS programs began much earlier, with contributions of more than $12 million to the OAS program for Comprehensive Action against Antipersonnel Mines (AICMA)," developed by the organization.

Insulza noted that the country has been one of the “most important and consistent donors to this program and its support was vital to the successful completion of all demining operations in Central America, marked by the completion of the program in Nicaragua in 2010." Secretary Insulza added that, in Ecuador and Peru, “Norway has made significant contributions since 2008 that have allowed both governments to make huge advances in the speed and efficiency of their demining efforts.” The new contribution will help both countries to continue “to assume greater ownership and control over their demining programs” that are expected to be concluded in 2017.

"The active participation of our Permanent Observers reminds us daily of the importance of the work that we do and of our links to the rest of the world," concluded the Secretary General.

The donation will be channeled through AICMA and is intended to provide assistance to the governments of Peru and Ecuador in humanitarian demining plans. It will also support the implementation of measures to reduce mine accidents. The Peruvian Center for Action against Antipersonnel Mines, CONTRAMINAS, will be responsible for overseeing education campaigns against landmines in the Amazonas department for affected communities, while the National Demining Center of Ecuador, CENDESMI, will coordinate prevention education in communities affected by mines in that country.

Present at the meeting held in the office of the Secretary General in the city of Washington DC, were the Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the OAS, Ambassador María Isabel Salvador, the Permanent Representative of Peru, Ambassador Jorge Alban Walter Peralta, the OAS Secretary of External Relations, Ambassador Alfonso Quiñonez, and the Director of the Department of International Affairs, Jorge Sanín.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-329/12