Emergency Aid for Demining in the Border Region between Peru and Ecuador

April 6, 1999

On April 6 (Tue.), the Government of Japan decided to donate 610,000 dollars as emergency grant aid to the United Nations Development Project (UNDP), which is assisting demining projects in the border region between Peru and Ecuador, in order to promote economic reconstruction in the region after the border dispute.
Although a peace agreement was signed in October 1998 over the border dispute between Peru and Ecuador, the long-lasting armed conflict had left 100,000 or so mines buried in the border region, thereby posing a serious obstacle to the economic reconstruction of the region. Demining with a view to eliminating landmine accidents is a prerequisite for ensuring the effectiveness of the related treaties in the peace process, and also a first step toward establishing peace.
At the signing ceremony of the Convention of the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, held in Ottawa in December 1997, Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi delivered a speech advocating a "Zero Victim Program" and announced that Japan would contribute some 10 billion yen over about five years, starting from 1998, in the fields of demining and victim-assistance. From such a perspective, Japan has decided to extend this aid to actively assist the rehabilitation of the border region between Peru and Ecuador.
As the United States and Canada have already extended assistance for demining in the same region, Japan's participation will be significant for promoting its cooperation with these countries.

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