UA Demining joined the strategic event “A Path Without Obstacles: The Future of Mine Action in Ukraine”

On July 2, the UA Demining team participated in the strategic event “A Path Without Obstacles: The Future of Mine Action in Ukraine”, organized by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in the center of Kyiv.

The event brought together representatives of the Ukrainian government, international organizations, think tanks, and demining operators. The focus of the discussion was an assessment of the current state of Ukraine's mine action system and proposals for its further transformation.

In her opening remarks, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko outlined the government's vision for building an effective, transparent, and secure system that will be able to respond to the challenges of large-scale mine contamination of territories.

Representatives of the Tony Blair Institute presented a study that provides a detailed analysis of the institutional architecture of the sector and proposes strategic steps for its improvement.

The Tony Blair Institute's research was initiated to support Ukraine in scaling up, accelerating and improving the efficiency of mine clearance to achieve the government's target of returning 80% of potentially mine-contaminated areas to productive use by 2033.

The Institute's specialists identified a number of serious shortcomings in the existing institutional architecture of the PMD that are hindering progress.

Among them:

• Fragmentation of powers between different government bodies — there is no unified strategic leadership for demining.

• Duplication of functions and conflict of systems — for example, the simultaneous participation of several structures without a clear distinction of roles creates incoherence of actions.

• Lack of coordination and a common interdepartmental vision — there is no single body responsible for the formation and implementation of state policy in the field of PMTCT.

• Information gaps and an insufficiently integrated data management system, which complicates planning for the cleanup of territories.

A key element of the event was the panel discussion “Vision of the Government of Ukraine”, moderated by Olena Kryvova (GICHD). The participants of the discussion were:

• Ihor Bezkaravainyi — Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine

• Bohdan Drap'yatyy — Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs

• Ruslan Beregulya — Head of the Secretariat of the National Authority for Mine Action

• Fedir Venislavsky — People's Deputy of Ukraine

During the panel discussion, participants—including representatives of the Ukrainian government—discussed the sector's priority needs, interagency collaboration, innovation, the role of civil society organizations, and ways to increase transparency and efficiency in the system.

The event ended with networking, during which the UA Demining team had the opportunity to discuss prospects for cooperation, share practical challenges from field work, and establish a direct dialogue with representatives of key state and international structures.

UA Demining is grateful to the organizers for the invitation and constructive dialogue. We are convinced that such initiatives are an important step towards creating a safe environment in Ukraine and an effective system of humanitarian demining.