In November, the Mine Free Sarajevo project hit a crucial milestone, as the City of Sarajevo and the entire municipality of East Stari Grad, which include the famous Olympic mountain of Trebević (see photo below), was finally declared as mine impact free. This important project is generously funded by the U.S. Department of State, and implemented in partnership with ITF Enhancing Human Security (ITF) and the Mine Detection Dog Center in Bosnia-Herzegovina (MDDC). Mr. Abdulah Skaka, the Mayor of Sarajevo, stated the importance of this project, sharing that “It is vital to provide a safe life for all residents and visitors to Sarajevo and the wider region.”
The MDDC’s brave and dedicated teams worked diligently through the challenges posed by COVID-19 as well as difficult terrain to reach this critical project milestone, which comes 25 years after the end of the war. Efforts to release contaminated land in the remaining municipality of Vogošća are underway. MLI is grateful to our project partners: ITF Enhancing Human Security and the MDDC, and to the U.S. Department of State for funding this vital project.
An in-depth look at the Mine Free Sarajevo project, written by MLI's Vice President of Operations, Elise Becker, along with Mine Detection Dog Center in Bosnia & Herzegovina Project Manager, Marija Trlin, and at ITF Enhancing Human Security Project Manager, Nataša Uršic was published in the December 2020 Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction.