Denmark's support to mine action in a humanitarian and development context, strategy.

The new strategy paper outlines the general guidelines for the way in which future mine action activities are to be prioritised and implemented. Mine action activities will also in future be coordinated by the Department of Humanitar-ian Assistance and NGO Cooperation (HUM) in the Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs.

The new strategy, which implies that mine action, to a much greater extent that previously, is sought integrated as part of overall development assistance, endeavours to ensure continuity and flexibility by underlining the main objec-tive of Denmark’s support for mine action:
• to help governments in mine-affected states to mitigate the serious impact of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) inclusive of explosive remnants of war (ERW) with landmines constituting by far the most serious problem. Under the Convention, the ultimate responsibility for removing land-
mines lies with the government of the area affected.
• to support the governments in mine-affected states with the ultimate aim of these governments taking full responsibility for mine action activities in due course.
• to continue to support and provide the necessary funding for mine action activities while landmines continue to kill and maim a great number of people and constitute an obstacle to social and economic development in the communities affected.