The Directorate of Mine Action Coordination (DMAC) organized 2020 Afghanistan Donor Coordination Meeting for Mine Action. The meeting was held today 20th of October 2020 at Gulkhana Palace, Office of H.E. the 1st Vice President from 09:00 – 11:30. The event was co-hosted by H.E. Ghulam Bahauddin Jailani, State Minister for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Affairs and H.E. Axel Zeidler, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Afghanistan.
The event was attended by a number of high-level officials from the UN and donor embassies in Kabul including H.E. Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Resident Coordinator, H.E. Scott Weinhold, Assistant Chief Of Mission (ACOM) US Embassy, Mr. Andy McCoubrey, Development Director, DFID, Mr. Kamada Takashi, Economic Counsellor – Embassy of Japan, GICHD, ICBL, UNMAS and DMAC management.
H.E. Minister Ghulam Bahauddin Jailani expressed his sincere gratitude to donors supporting the Mine Action Porgramme of Afghanistan (MAPA) and urge them to continue assisting the MAPA until Afghanistan is mine free.
Following H.E. Minister Jailanis’ speech, H.E. Ambassador Axel Zeidler spoke of Germany’s commitment to supporting the MAPA. Subsequently, H.E. Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Resident Coordinator, H.E. Scott Weinhold, Assistant Chief of Mission of the US embassy, Mr. Andy McCoubrey, Development Director of DFID and Mr. Kamada Takashi of the Embassy of Japan spoke about the importance of mine action as a confidence-building measure for peace and as a pre-requisite for development of the country.
The event was followed by Presentation on DMAC priorities, opportunities and funding patterns presented by Mohammad Shafiq Yosufi, DMAC Director outlining the achievements of the MAPA, Remaining contamination/challenges, Current year funding situation, and MAPA priorities for 1399/2020.
