[October 09, 2010] Cambodia shares demining operation skills to Colombia Tweet PHNOM PENH, Oct 09, 2010 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Cambodia is sharing demining operation skills to delegation from Columbia under a program for comprehensive action against antipersonnel mines of Colombia. In a statement released Saturday by Cambodian Mice Action Center (CMAC), it said that the training program which is a joint cooperative effort between CMAC and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is to share demining operation skills that Cambodia has earned over the past 18 years. The statement said this international training course will be conducted by CMAC for 16 delegates from Colombia. It said the training starts from Oct. 9 through 23, 2010, to 16 delegates from the Presidential Program for Comprehensive Action against Antipersonnel Mines (PAICMA). The course will be predominantly run by CMAC staff and key experts at CMAC headquarters in Phnom Penh and other various mine action services in Siem Reap, Battambang and Kampong Chhnang provinces of Cambodia. The training course is covering four key aspects of mine action in the context of Cambodia including mine action policy and management, integrated mine action approach, survey and clearance management, information and database management. CMAC is Cambodia's leading demining organization, working in the key areas of Mine Awareness, Mine Verification, Mine/ UXO Clearance, Research and Training and Victim Support. CMAC currently has 2,300 staff across Cambodia, including a national office in Phnom Penh, regional offices in Kampong Cham and Kampong Chhnang, as well as six mobile demining units across eight different provinces. Cambodia has been a state party to the Ottawa Convention (also known as the Anti Personnel Mine Ban Treaty) since it was ratified in 1999. According to the convention, all landmines must be identified and cleared within 10 years from the time they were found. Last month, Cambodia also welcomed delegates from the African nation of Eritrea for a series of training workshops and information exchanges. CMAC believes that international knowledge sharing is the key enabling innovative solutions to the landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) problem that is still threatening the lives of many people around the world. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]