Dutch subsidies for demining

Even years after the end of a conflict, the presence of landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and the explosive remnants of war (ERW) can continue to pose a threat to human security.

Besides being a direct risk to people, ERW make large areas of land dangerous and inaccessible, thus forming a major obstacle to humanitarian assistance and socioeconomic reconstruction. Roads, borders and the immediate surroundings of houses and schools can remain no-go areas, obstructing access to food, water and other basic needs and preventing refugees and internally displaced persons from returning home.

By signing and ratifying the Ottawa Convention and the Convention on Cluster Munitions (Oslo Convention), the Netherlands has committed itself to providing mine action and cluster munitions assistance to countries that are less able or even unable to take such action themselves. This includes assistance in the care for mine victims, the clearance of mines, cluster munitions and ERW, the destruction of stockpiled mines and cluster munitions, and mine risk education.

The Netherlands supports a coherent and integrated approach to reconstruction, in which various policy instruments, selected on the basis of the local context, can complement and strengthen one another. These instruments may be political, humanitarian, economic, military or development-related. The Netherlands recognises the need to integrate the mine action sector as a whole into mainstream development and reconstruction.

The Netherlands has traditionally been a leading donor for the clearance of UXO, and aims to provide around €15 million per year for detecting and destroying such ordnance. This has led to the decision to publish a multi-year call for proposals covering the period from 1 January 2012 to 30 June 2016.

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