One-hundred-twenty-seven States took part in the Summit with over 40 represented at a high political level. In total over 1,000 delegates took part in what stands as one of the largest gatherings ever of States and activists dedicated to ending the suffering caused by anti-personnel mines. In addition, over 35 events took place parallel to the Summit.

The Albanian Delegation to this Summit was headed by the Deputy Minister of Defense/ Chairman of AMAC Mr. Arian Starova and composed of the representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Mr. Gazmend Turdiu - General Secretary and Mr. Saimir Repishti - Head of the UN Section and other representatives from the Albanian Mine Action Executive (AMAE) Arben Braha-AMAE Director, Veri Dogjani-Victim Assistance Coordinator and Juliana Buzi - Programme Specialist.

The Albanian Delegation declared in this important Summit that Albania has now completed clearance of all its contaminated areas, by complying so with the Article 5 of the AP Mine Ban Convention. This declaration was applauded by all delegations attending the Summit. Albania is one of the first countries with a significant mine contamination problem to declare completion of clearance of all areas contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance. After a decade of work and supported by the international community, more than 16 million square meters were cleared in northeast Albania, where 12.452 anti-personnel mines, 4.965 unexploded ordnance and 152 anti-tank mines were found and destroyed.
In the margins of the Cartagena Summit, a side event was held on 1 December 2009, organized in cooperation with DCA, ITF and AMAE to inform about progress, challenges and lessons learnt from the Albanian clearance programme. The side event was attended by representatives of various donor countries and international organizations including US State Department, Germany, Canada, Czech Republic, UNDP, CMC, ICBL, etc. who commended the work of Albania toward compliance with Article 5 of the Convention.

The Albanian delegation in this Summit reported also about the progress made to date in assisting the mine survivors with medical-health rehabilitation and their socio-economic reintegration. The AMAE Victim Assistance Coordinator attended a three-day Parallel Programme on Victim Assistance organized by the Implementation Support Unit of the GICHD.

Another important aspect of the Summit was the selection of Albania to take over the Presidency for the Tenth Meeting of the States Parties to be held in Geneva in November 2010. The new President-Designate was unanimously selected Mr. Gazmend Turdiu, General Secretary of the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The selection of Albania by the States Parties for the next Presidency of the Convention is an appreciation of our active and constructive participation and commitment in the international work under the convention.

During the High Level Segment of the Summit, the Heads of Delegations signed the Cartagena Declaration as a joint document for renewing the political commitment for a Mine-Free World. In addition, the Cartagena Action Plan has been adopted by the international community, finalizing five days of work of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.

The opening speech was delivered by the Deputy Minister of Defense, Mr. Arian Starova, who emphasized the invaluable contribution of the US Government as one of the major donors of mine clearance operations in Albania. “People who were injured by mines are in most need of assistance and some of them might need help for a long time. Thanks to the support provided in past “Night of a thousand Dinners” events, several mine survivors and their families have been generously assisted by granting them the opportunity to continue their studies, to receive adequate health care and economic support so that they have a more normal life”, said Mr. Starova.

UNDP Resident Representative, Gulden Turkoz-Cosslett said that “Many partners have come together with financial and technical support to make Albania free from mines”. She emphasized the leading role of UNDP in building the capacities for coordination of mine action operations in the field. She mentioned in particular the crucial role of US Department of State, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, and European Commission in support of the demining operations in Albania.

Then, Gazmend Geca, a mine survivor, took the floor and shared his story while making an appeal to help other mine survivors so that they can integrate in the society.

Ambassador Withers, by expressing his gratitude to all the participants for their donations, emphasized that “It is the children’s right to play with objects without being afraid that these objects will be explosives of war and it is our duty to protect their rights”.

The “Night of A Thousand Dinners 2009” succeeded in raising 12,245 USD in pledges and cash collections, which will be matched by the US Department of State through the International Trust Fund in Slovenia. The funds raised will be used to support the social economic reintegration of Mine/UXO child survivors.

The purpose of Tirana Regional Workshop was to analyze progress made and challenges remaining in Southeastern Europe regarding the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention. The Convention bans anti-personnel mines and requires states that join the Convention to destroy all existing stocks; clear all mined areas and assist the survivors.

The workshop featured a high level opening session, the highlight of which was the announcement by Petrit Karabina, the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Albania, that Albania has completed clearance of all known mined areas in its territory, in compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Convention.

"After a decade of work, Albania is proud to announce today that it has accomplished the obligations under this Convention ahead of the deadline", said Karabina. He went on to say that "More than 14 million square meters, now released as mine free are now in process of being handed over to the population. The community in the northeast of Albania can make use of their land and feel safe." According to Karabina "Clearance of the mine contaminated areas, demonstrates once again Albania's will to promote peace in the Southeastern Europe."

The workshop highlighted that national ownership and partnership are essential to ensuring the full implementation of the Convention. In addition, the importance of strong partnership with donors, with a regional funding channel and implementing entity (i.e., the ITF), with a non-governmental operator (i.e., Danish Church Aid) and the UNDP was emphasized. It was noted by these actors that success in the Albanian context has been fuelled by partners sticking together through good times and bad, all partners contributing to national plans and donors remaining committed until the job is done. As well, it was highlighted that Albania led the way in demonstrating effective partnerships in the destruction of stockpiled anti-personnel mines with Albania being the first case where a NATO Trust Fund was used as a means to channel funds and support implementation of this aspect of the Convention.

Additionally, the workshop featured a parallel programme for victims' assistance experts who highlighted challenges and successes in addressing the rights and needs of mine survivors in the region. The programme also included discussions on medical and physical rehabilitation, psychosocial support and economic empowerment of the survivors. During his opening remarks, Mr. Ivanaj, Albanian Deputy Minister of Health, stated that one of the priorities of the Ministry of Health has been the establishment, organization, empowering and expending the medical emergency service as well as improving the quality of the physical rehabilitation service.

On 7 October 2009, workshop participants had a field visit to Albania's Kukes Region, the area affected by anti-personnel mines in the country. The visit was an opportunity to see work being undertaken on behalf of mine survivors at the Physiotherapy Unit, Prosthetic unit, and the Radiology equipment at the Kukes Regional Hospital. Participants also got an update from district authorities and non-governmental organizations on mine action in the region.

The Tirana Workshop on Achieving a Mine Free Southeastern Europe succeeded in achieving its aims, among which the empowering collaboration between countries in the region with the aim of successfully fulfilling the Convention's obligations and promoting peace in the region.

The organizational and substantive support for this workshop was provided by the Albanian Mine Action Executive (AMAE) and the Convention's Implementation Support Unit (ISU).

The Tirana Workshop will be one of up to six regional workshops that will be held in advance of the Second Review Conference of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. These workshops are being made possible thanks to assistance provided by the European Union through a "Joint Action" that it adopted last year.

The purpose of the Tirana Workshop will be to take stock of the progress made and challenges that remain in South Eastern Europe in pursuing the aims of the Convention, which should contribute significantly to the success of the Second Review Conference.

Mine affected countries in south-eastern Europe, donors and local/international organizations that have contributed to mine action in the region have been invited to this event.

It is worth emphasizing the importance that this conference has upon Albania and the region in highlighting the progress of Albania in fulfilling the commitments under the Mine Ban Convention and reinforcing the regional cooperation of mine action extperts.

A one-day Victim Assistance Parallel Programme will be held also in the margins of this Regional Conference on 8 October 2009. Victim Assistance experts from the region and local/international organizations and mine survivors have been invited to this activity to make a review of the progress made in the region in the area of victim assistance and analyzing challenges and lessons learnt in assisting mine survivors.

The Albanian Mine Action Executive (AMAE), being the national coordination and monitoring authority for mine action in the country is making in cooperation with the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) at the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) all the necessary arrangements for the event.

For more information on the Tirana Regional Workshop please contact at: amaealbania@amae.org.al

Link: Programme of the Conference (pdf file, 250kB)

The AMAE Director chaired the 2010 Portfolio Meeting in the quality of the Country Portfolio Coordinator. In his opening remarks, the Director welcomed the participants and emphasized the importance of the Mine Action Portfolio as an important tool for mine action resource mobilization in Albania. Additionally, taking into consideration that the Albanian Mine Action Programme is now at the completion phase and toward transition to other demilitarization programmes, he encouraged the partners in giving active contribution to the meeting.

The portfolio meeting made an analyses of the progress in achieving the strategic objectives under various pillars of the Mine Action Programme and the future plans, particularly in the area of mine victims’ assistance and Mine Risk Education for the years ahead.

The Country Portfolio Team proceeded with the review of the project proposals as submitted by the respective organizations. There were 15 Project proposals in total which were submitted to the Country Portfolio Coordinator for review by the Portfolio Team. These proposals covered the areas of coordination and monitoring of mine action activities, abandoned ammunition cache collection, post-clearance assessments, support to mine survivors and risk education activities.

The presentation of the various project proposals was followed by numerous comments and suggestions for improvement with the view of having these proposals in line with the current Mine Action Strategy and being cost effective.

The AMAE Director closed the meeting by thanking all participants for their valuable contribution. The next step would be to include the revised project proposals in the automated system of the Global Mine Action Portfolio within September 1, 2009.

Standing Committees Meetings on the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention

Donors field trip in the Northeast of Albania

In December 2005, the General Assembly declared April 4 the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. This Day is a reminder that millions of people in nearly 80 countries still live in fear of landmines and explosive remnants of war.

In commemoration of this day, the following activities were planned in northeast Albania in close cooperation with local and regional authorities, local communities, mine action local organizations and landmine survivors with the aim of raising public awareness about the problem of landmines and explosive remnants of war and the efforts to eliminate them.
A competition with artistic creations was organized among children from 13 schools in mine affected areas of northern Albania. This activity was organized in cooperation with the local and regional authorities of Kukes prefecture, local NGOs involved in MRE, Landmine Survivors and the demining organization.
The interview was broadcasted on April 4th from BBC radio Albanian section. The landmine Survivor, a border police officer injured while patrolling the border in 1999 told his story and experience from the day of the injury and the re-integration into society again.

A photography exhibition was opened on April 6, 2009 at the Palace of Culture in Kukes Town. The photos, which were made by the local NGO VMA, demonstrated moments captured from the mine action activities which included: mine clearance, mine risk education and Victim Assistance. Awareness and other visible materials were available at the event.

A TV reportage was transmitted by the Local Kukes TV, which covered activities in Mine Risk Education and Victim Assistance taking place in the Northeast of Albania.