US-supported bomb disposal training started in Azerbaijan

Baku/16.06.23/Turan: U.S. State Department sponsored EOD training courses in Azerbaijan.

To promote regional peace and cooperation, the United States began training and equipping four demining teams of 14 people each in cooperation with Azerbaijan's Agency for Mine Action, the Mine Action Advisory Group and the International Eurasia Press Fund, the U.S. Embassy in Baku said in a statement.

The two teams will be funded by the US State Department.

It is a continuation of U.S. support for humanitarian demining operations in Azerbaijan.

The U.S. is honored to work with Azerbaijani and international partners who support Azerbaijan's Mine Action Agency and its teams, the press release said.

"I admire and respect these courageous Azerbaijani women and men who are about to begin training today to serve as Azerbaijani deminers," said U.S. Embassy Political Advisor Philip Tishu, speaking at the opening of the trainings.

Janet Diykstra, country director of the Mine Advisory Group, said the new teams will promote gender equality by creating the first all-female demining teams and including women in mixed demining teams. The team also aims to expand NGO involvement in humanitarian demining work in Azerbaijan. "We will continue to work with ANAMA to strengthen and increase Azerbaijan's institutional mine action capacity," noted Diykstra.

Backed by $500,000 in funding announced in November 2021 and $2,000,000 in September 2022, this U.S. initiative will strengthen the technical capacity of demining organizations to clear lethal landmines and unexploded ordnance. The work listed plays an important role in enhancing human security and ensuring that internally displaced people are able to return to their homes and rebuild their lives safely.

It is to be recalled that the United States is the world's largest financial supporter of conventional weapons destruction, having invested more than $4.6 billion since 1993 in strengthening international peace and security through mine action in more than 120 countries. -16D-