BAKU, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The 4th International Mine Action Conference opened in Baku on Wednesday, bringing together more than 400 representatives from 60 countries to discuss how humanitarian demining can support safe urban recovery.
The two-day conference, jointly organized by the Mine Action Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (ANAMA) and the United Nations in Azerbaijan, is being held under the theme "Humanitarian Demining for Urban Recovery: Setting Standards of Excellence for Safe Settlements."
In an address to the conference read out by Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to the Azerbaijani president and head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, President Ilham Aliyev said humanitarian demining "stands at the very foundation of urban recovery and the creation of safe human settlements."
Aliyev said more than 298,000 hectares of land have so far been cleared, while 260,147 mines and unexploded ordnance have been detected and neutralized. Since the end of the 2020 armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, 437 Azerbaijani citizens have fallen victim to mine and explosive ordnance incidents, with 73 killed and 364 severely injured.
He said Azerbaijan is developing and applying advanced models of post-conflict reconstruction, rehabilitation and governance that combine mine action, urban planning, infrastructure development, environmental restoration, digital solutions, social services, public administration and the return of former internally displaced persons within a single coordinated framework.
ANAMA board chairman Vugar Suleymanov said that since November 2020, more than 103,000 hectares of land have been cleared and released specifically for residential infrastructure, enabling the construction of new settlements, housing complexes, schools, hospitals, public facilities and essential services for returning communities.
Nasar Hayat, representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Azerbaijan, speaking on behalf of the UN resident coordinator in Azerbaijan, noted that approximately 57 countries and territories around the world remain contaminated by landmines and explosive remnants from past conflicts.
He said mine action goes beyond removing explosive hazards, as it restores confidence, enables urban recovery, rebuilds trust and creates conditions for sustainable development and lasting peace.
"While mine contamination is a national challenge for affected countries, mine action is a global responsibility," Hayat said, adding that expertise, technologies and lessons developed in one country can benefit many others.
Also on Wednesday, ANAMA and the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center, a regional mine action organization of the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in humanitarian demining.
