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UN PhotoSOUTH SUDAN / MINE ACTION DAY
STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / MINE ACTION DAY
TRT: 04:18
SOURCE : UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS : NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 04 APRIL 2024, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Various shots, Mine Action Day celebration
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Marial Gumke, Deputy Minister of Interior, South Sudan:
“At the national and grassroots level, it is required to provide a safe setting for international organizations to provide humanitarian assistance. In this respect, the government reiterates its commitment to providing adequate security and enriching our working relationship, as we yearn for a peaceful, common, and accommodating environment for all.”
3. Various shots, venue
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Goran Tomasevic, Chief of Operations, United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS):
“This year's event is special because a new national strategy for mine action has been launched. In addition, we've seen that the Government of South Sudan made some significant advancements in recent months in terms of endorsing the National Mine Action Authority Act, which regulates the position of the Mine National Authority, its responsibilities, and the accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.”
5. Various shots, event
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Fula Rashid, Director-General, National Mine Action Authority:
“Over the past years, as a sector [we] have released millions of square meters of agricultural land, cleared thousands of kilometers of roads, and provided safe access to hundreds of vital, sustainable socioeconomic developments.”
7. Various shots, deminers at the venue
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Christian Sedat, Ambassador to South Sudan, Germany:
“As a close partner and friend to the people of South Sudan, we feel that humanitarian mine action is particularly crucial in this country. Our support to South Sudan has for years included assistance to humanitarian demining activities. South Sudan will be one of these chosen countries where the German government will focus its support on humanitarian demining actions in the years to come.”
9. Various shots, modeling landmine messages
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Makeu Emmanuel, School Student:
“To children who collect materials to go sell for money, please don't touch it, because if you do, it can explode, and you will die.”
11. Various shots, Deputy Minister and UNMAS chief
Across South Sudan, landmines and unexploded ordnance remain a real and present danger, a legacy of this young nation’s troubled past. This year’s Mine Action Day event in South Sudan was hosted by the National Mine Action Authority (NMAA), in partnership with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), and the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).
Every year on 4 April, the UN family and demining partners mark the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
SOUNDBITE (English) Marial Gumke, Deputy Minister of Interior, South Sudan:
“At the national and grassroots level, it is required to provide a safe setting for international organizations to provide humanitarian assistance. In this respect, the government reiterates its commitment to providing adequate security and enriching our working relationship, as we yearn for a peaceful, common, and accommodating environment for all.”
This year’s annual event was further strengthened by the official launch of the preliminary National Mine Action Strategy, developed in partnership with the GICHD.
SOUNDBITE (English) Goran Tomasevic, Chief of Operations, United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS):
“This year's event is special because a new national strategy for mine action has been launched. In addition, we've seen that the Government of South Sudan made some significant advancements in recent months in terms of endorsing the National Mine Action Authority Act, which regulates the position of the Mine National Authority, its responsibilities, and the accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.”
Every year, this significant International Day presents an opportunity to bring together all partners to highlight the importance of mine action in protecting girls, boys, women, and men from the threat of dangerous explosive items.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Fula Rashid, Director-General, National Mine Action Authority:
“Over the past years, as a sector [we] have released millions of square meters of agricultural land, cleared thousands of kilometers of roads, and provided safe access to hundreds of vital, sustainable socioeconomic developments.”
The tangible impact of the work done by committed deminers cannot be overstated, opine international friends.
SOUNDBITE (English) Christian Sedat, Ambassador to South Sudan, Germany:
“As a close partner and friend to the people of South Sudan, we feel that humanitarian mine action is particularly crucial in this country. Our support to South Sudan has for years included assistance to humanitarian demining activities. South Sudan will be one of these chosen countries where the German government will focus its support on humanitarian demining actions in the years to come.”
For his part, Makeu Emmanuell, a student attending the event, highlights the need to report suspicious items to relevant authorities.
SOUNDBITE (English) Makeu Emmanuel, School Student:
“To children who collect materials to go sell for money, please don't touch it, because if you do, it can explode, and you will die.”
Across the world, UNMAS works to save lives, to facilitate deployment of UN missions and the delivery of humanitarian assistance, to protect civilians, to support the voluntary return of the internally displaced and refugees, to enable humanitarian and recovery activities and to advocate for international humanitarian and human rights law.
