Italian funds to speed up demining

Angola received US $1.2 million from Italy on Wednesday to boost demining efforts in the country. The funds will be channelled through the UN Development Programme's (UNDP) Thematic Trust Fund for Crisis Prevention and Recovery. The UNDP information officer in Angola, Larinda Santos, said the six-month demining project would remove mines from the main roads leading to the town of Cuvango, in the southeast province of Huila. Cuvango is considered a transport hub in the province. Santos said: "These demining activities will also target secondary roads, farmland and land around water sources in other towns in the area." Land mine education will form part of the project. "It is important that communities are aware of the dangers of living in areas known for having so many land mines. Also, by clearing at least the main roads, [displaced] people returning to their areas of origin will have a safe journey back to their homes," Santos noted. Widespread mine infestation continues to pose a threat to the increasingly mobile population. It is believed that up to 15 million land mines litter Angola's roads and countryside. Since the end of the civil war there has been a spate of explosions, hindering aid delivery, especially to the remote parts of the country, which are often the most needy.