Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Switzerland to host Ukraine mine action conference in October

Ukrainian soldier on a demining mission
According to estimates, a quarter of Ukraine's territory is contaminated by mines and other unexploded ordnance, the Swiss government wrote. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Together with Ukraine, Switzerland is organising the Ukraine Mine Action Conference (UMAC2024) in Lausanne on October 17 and 18. The aim of the conference is to highlight the importance of humanitarian demining for social and economic reconstruction.

Humanitarian demining is necessary for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, the Swiss foreign ministry announced on Monday. The conference will bring together representatives of governments, international organisations, humanitarian demining partners and civil society.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

UMAC2024 aims to put the civilian population at the centre of the debate, highlight the benefits of partnerships, and show how innovations can make mine action more effective and safer, the ministry added. Switzerland will be represented by the President of the Swiss Confederation, Viola Amherd, who will open the conference, and the head of the foreign ministry, Ignazio Cassis.

+ Demining: how the Swiss are helping to make Ukraine safer

According to estimates, a quarter of Ukraine’s territory is contaminated by mines and other unexploded ordnance, the Swiss government wrote. In 2023, the government approved a four-year aid package totalling CHF100 million ($118 million), which is earmarked exclusively for humanitarian demining in Ukraine. Switzerland is also supporting an aid programme for mine victims and small farms that are unable to cultivate their fields.

Translated from German by DeepL.com/gw

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Switzerland delivers equipment worth 5.6 million to Ukraine

More

Switzerland will deliver rubble removal equipment to Ukraine

This content was published on Thirty rubble removal machines and thirty fire-fighting pumps: this is the equipment that Switzerland will be delivering to the Ukraine in the next few days. The total value of these goods is 5.6 million Swiss francs.

Read more: Switzerland will deliver rubble removal equipment to Ukraine
Trees can live for thousands of years

More

Swiss-led study unravels tree growth and longevity

This content was published on Trees reach old age using different strategies. This is shown by a Swiss-led research team with over 100 scientists from all over the world in a new study, for which they analyzed trees that live to be over three thousand years old.

Read more: Swiss-led study unravels tree growth and longevity

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR