The Albanian Government commitment to address the mine problem has become evident in signing (08 September 1998) and ratifying (29 February 2000) the Ottawa APM Ban Treaty and the Amended Protocol II to the CCW Convention. All of the Government stockpiles of AP mines were destroyed by April 2002, two years ahead of the obligatory deadline. In addition, towards the end of 1999 the Albanian Government decided to adopt International Mine Action Standards and established the structure to implement humanitarian mine action.

In order to adequately coordinate mine action, an inter-ministerial body - the Albanian Mine Action Committee (AMAC) - was formed in October 1999. This body is the overall executive and policy - making body for mine action. The Deputy Minister of Defense chairs it with membership drawn from the Ministries of Environment, Ministry of Interior (previously as Ministry of Public Order and Ministry of Local Government and Decentralization), Health, Foreign Affairs, Finance and Economy as well as the UNDP Resident Representative, UNICEF, ICRC and the major donors. The terms of reference for the AMAC include the following:

• To provide the national focus of mine action.
• To seek donor funding and assistance to the de-mining programme.
• To prioritise de-mining efforts in Albania.
• To sensitise the international community to the mines threat in Albania.

At the same time, an operational body - the Albanian Mine Action Executive (AMAE) - was established to carry out the mine action programme under direction of the AMAC. Its functions are:
Produce and maintain a mine action programme. Coordination, oversight and monitoring of all mine action activities inline with AMAC priorities. Accreditation, validation and quality management of mine action activities. Collection collation, maintenance and dissemination of mines and UXO related data and statistics. Monitor and report on de-mining progress. Survey and marking of mine contaminated areas. Produce and maintain mine action procedures based on UN Standards. Investigate all mine related incidents and accidents. Liaison with external mine action bodies.

The UNDP capacity building project launched in April 2002 is providing assistance to:

• AMAC in formulating and revising the national mine action strategy, work plan and priorities.
• Build the capacity of AMAE to collect, process and disseminate mine action information.
• AMAE to coordinate and perform external quality management of all mine action activities