Recently, the severe drought has compounded the misery of the Afghan people. One of the most disturbing aspects of the human tragedies unfolding in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Bosnia and other war-torn areas is the loss of lives and suffering wrought by landmines on so many innocent people, including women and children. Preventing and undoing the damages of this devil s weapon is a challenge that the whole global community has to tackle in concert. Japan became one of the original signatories to the Ottawa Convention banning the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines in 1997. In pursuit of the Zero Victim Programme that it announced, the government of Japan has been extending financial assistance for demining activities in the afflicted countries as well as assistance through NGOs in the areas of mine awareness education and victims assistance We attach high priority to Afghanistan in this regard.
Today heralds the opening of a new chapter of our commitment to the landmine issue in Afghanistan.
It is expanding beyond the realm of financial assistance to open new technological horizons in this field. The sister model of this machine has been experimented upon and has proved to be of great use in stepping up the demining operations in Cambodia. I should also mention the four Afghan experts who have been trained in Japan. We all anxiously look forward to the day when peace prevails in Afghanistan. When that day comes, it is above all the Afghan people who will set about the task of reconstruction and rehabilitation by their own hands.