Briefing Paper from the Reay Group Chairman-in-Office

The 10th session of the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF) Board of Advisors in Ljubljana also marked the 5th anniversary of ITF. A Conference on “Regional Cooperation in Mine Action: Value Added?” was also held in the margins of the meeting. Ambassador Sergiu CELAC attended the event as an invited guest in his capacity as Chairman-in Office of the Reay Group, together with Ms Camelia OAIDA, Second Secretary, MFA of Romania.

The participants included representatives of donor states, the European Commission, UNDP, UNMAS-Geneva, UNMAO-Macedonia, ICBL, Cranfield University, and of the countries of operation in South Eastern Europe.

The Annual Report 2002 described the specific activities developed by ITF over the past year and gave a detailed account of the budget expenditures (some $30 million) for mine clearance in affected areas in accordance with national priorities, mine victims assistance programmes, mine risk education schemes, support to mine action capacity building and promotion of regional cooperation through joint projects. Separate country reports were presented by representatives of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro.

A special briefing was also presented by the South-Eastern Europe Mine Action Coordination Council (SEEMACC), established in November 2000 with the aim of enhancing cooperation between the Mine Action Centres (MACs). Significantly, Azerbaijan also joined the Council, in February 2002.

During the conference, the Chairman-in-Office of the Reay Group made a short presentation on the objectives and the role of the Group as a specialized, informal, consultation and advocacy group under the Stability Pact Work Table III, having as fields of interest the destruction of stockpiles, testing and evaluation, training of personnel and victim assistance. Since most of these areas are also covered by ITF, SEEMACC or other regional organizations, it is important to identify more precisely the specific areas where the Reay Group can bring a beneficial contribution to the general efforts toward making the South East of Europe free from the impact of landmines. Improved regional cooperation in the field of mine action can go a long way toward reaching common objectives in a more effective and expeditious manner. The Reay Group proposes to establish meaningful synergies between the organizations, institutions and funds that are active in the field. Considering that the mine action experience and expertise in South Easter Europe are also relevant for the wider Black Sea area, including the countries of South Caucasus, it may make sense to develop more substantive cooperation with the Organization for Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), which has recently acquired new responsibilities in the field of regional security and stability.

In a private discussion, the ITF Executive Director suggested that one of the future meetings of the Reay Group should be held in a South-East European country, also in the margins of some international event, in order to get a better grasp of the real developments on the ground and to promote a regional format for coordination of on-going projects.

Reminder: The next working meeting of the Reay Group is scheduled to take place on Monday, 12 May, at Geneva, in the margins of the Intersessional Meeting of the Ottawa Convention Standing Committees.