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Opening Remarks by H.E. Yoshifumi Okamura
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations
UNMAS-JICA Joint Seminar
“Building Bridges for a Mine Free World”
South-South Cooperation in Mine Action
23 April 2015
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, and with a particularly warm welcome to His Excellency Mr. Heng Ratana and His Excellency Mr. Thiphasone Soukhathammavong,
As Chair of the Mine Action Support Group (MASG), which is a forum of 36 donor countries that facilitates discussions with United Nations mine-action partners,and as a long-term contributor to global mine action efforts, it is a great honour for Japan to provide opening remarks at this seminar.
As many of you know, we celebrated International Mine Awareness Day earlier this month on the 4th, and organized a series of events under “Mine Action Week”; promoting dialogue and awareness of the issue. Today’s seminar is a continuation of these activities, and I hope that the topics discussed will spark continued conversation on the importance of mine action in affected countries.
Before delving deeper, I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Pen Sisivannak, who was killed by a blast from an Anti Personnel Landmine last March during operational activity in the field. He had devoted 17 years of his life to combating the threat of mines as a deminer of the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC), and throughout his career continuously made our world a safer place to live. We continue to honour such heroes who are active in the field.
Japan is proud to continue to support mine action with an emphasis on three areas:
- Firstly, we believe in continuous support to those countries that are most heavily affected by mines and explosive remnants of war.
- Secondly, we recognize the importance of providing comprehensive support to victim assistance.
- And thirdly, we work towards promoting regional and South-South cooperation.
Japan, and more specifically the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has facilitated South-South cooperation between various countries. In 2009, Japan encouraged dialogue between Colombia’s Presidential Program for Comprehensive Action against Antipersonnel Mines (PAICMA) and CMAC, arranging for Cambodia to share its extensive experience and knowledge in management and policy implementation. JICA further promoted South-South policies when it began work on a project to bring together CMAC with the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao) in 2012. I have received reports that these projects are valuable in giving inspiration and increasing motivation amongst their participants.
These projects, along with the necessary assistance, continue to grow in scope and scale.
Last month, Japan helped organize a field visit to Colombia, so that MASG members could experience a mine-affected country. I was the head of the delegation, and it was there that I met Dr. Juan Carlos Pinzón, Minister of National Defence of Colombia. Dr. Pinzón expressed his country’s want to eventually enter into a South-South project with another country in need of mine action, which I was happy to hear.
On that hopeful note, I will now turn it over to today’s panel discussion. Please enjoy the remainder of the seminar; I am sure it will be informative and thought-provoking.
