LUANDA, Oct 13 - Angola's National Institute of Demining (INAD) has signed an agreement with two organisations from the United States and Europe to obtain technical assistance to introduce the use of mine detecting dogs in this country.
The accord was signed by INAD Director Leonardo Severino Sapalo, Perry Franklin, the chairman of Marshall Legacy Institute, a non-profit organisation from the US, and Nermin Hadzimujagic, director of the Mine Detection Dog Centre for Southeast Europe (MDDC), an institution of the Bosnia-Herzegovina government.
The main purpose of the accord is to provide INAD technical assistance for the development of skills of mine detection dogs.
Under the agreement, INAD will build 12 kennels for the Viana demining school here and secure training and accreditation for local trainers of mine detection dogs as part of efforts to speed up demining operations in Angola, one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, a legacy of its 27-year civil war which only ended in 2002.
The MDDC will supply two professional teams of dogs for detection of landmines to work in Angola for two months, under INAD's demining operations while the MLI will operate as programme co-ordinator and help INAD choose a programme manager in the country.
Franklin said the MLI had so far supplied 165 explosive detecting dogs to various countries of the world. The Marshall Legacy Institute is a non-profit organisation which provides resources and training as well as landmine detection dogs to affected countries.
The MDDC in Borci, near Konjic, was founded with help from the international community, and has been active since early 2003 as a response to the increasing needs for enhancement in demining methods in the Eastern Europe region. Its activities have recently spread to other parts of the world as well.
Via | Agency
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