U.S. embassy to host a meeting to support mine action in Sudan

October 31, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s National Mine Action Center (NMAC) said the U.S. Charge d’Affaires to Khartoum, Steven Koutsis, on Sunday would host a forum to support the mine action program in Sudan.

The semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) has quoted the director of the NMAC Amer Abdel-Sadiq as saying the forum aims to highlight Sudan’s mine action efforts as well as the ongoing coordination between the NMAC and the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS).

He pointed out that the forum would be addressed by a number of including the secretary general of the ministry of defence, the U.S. Charge d’Affaires, Japanese and Italian ambassadors to Khartoum, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan and director of the UNMAS office in Sudan.

It is noteworthy that the U.S. Charge d’Affaires Steven Koutsis is the current head of the group of countries supporting the mine action programme in Sudan.

In 2016, UN Mine Action Office announced that it has managed, in collaboration with the Sudanese government, to clear 19 million square meters from UXO and landmines in the east African country.

According to the International Mines Agreement, Sudan was supposed to be declared mine-free by April 2014, but the resumption of fighting in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan made it difficult to attain that goal, prompting the deadline to be extended to 2019.

(ST)