Italy contributes to prevent the risk of mines in Ukraine

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Emanuela Del Re, has arranged a 0.5-million-euro contribution to UNICEF to finance “Mine Risk Education” in Ukraine. It is the third tranche of the financing programme for Mariupol, Ukraine’s largest port on the Sea of Azov and lying along the line of contact of the ongoing conflict in the Donbass region, that the Italian Ambassador of Italy to Ukraine, Davide La Cecilia, is visiting today. Thanks to Italy’s contribution, UNICEF is teaching local youths what to do in the presence of unexploded mines or devices found in the area surrounding the combat zone. Consequently to the conflict, Ukraine vaunts the sad record of being one of the most widely mined Countries in the world. Unexploded devices cause more than half of the total victims of the conflict. Italy’s contribution, in addition to its humanitarian aid to Ukraine, which is mainly delivered through the International Red Cross and major UN Agencies, has totalled 5 million euros in the last three-year period.