Press Releases

US, Netherlands Ambassadors Co-host Mine Relief Fund-Raiser (Feb. 8, 2005)

Ambassador Sweder van Voorst tot Voorst of the Netherlands, representing the EU Presidency, and Ambassador Marcie Ries of the United States cohosted tonight at the Shtëpia Ushtarake a "Night of a Thousand Dinners" reception to raise funds for mine-victim assistance in Albania. Deputy Minister of Defense Besnik Baraj and mine survivor Izet Ademi also spoke at the event. Members of the Albanian business community, diplomatic corps, and NGOs attended.

Northeastern Albania has suffered from the effects of mines and unexploded ordnance since the 1999 Kosovo conflict. To date 34 people have been killed and 236 injured in 208 incidents; a third of the victims have been children. The mine and unexploded ordnance problem has exacerbated the poverty of northeastern Albania, as land crucial for economic survival has been made unusable. Over eleven million square meters of land has been returned to the community through clearance and survey, and about 4.4 million square meters remain to be cleared.

The United States and the European Union are the largest contributors to the UNDP-supported Albanian Mine Action Program, the goal of which is to clear the areas most severely impacted by mines and unexploded ordnance by 2006. This is the second Night of a Thousand Dinners reception in Albania. The first event, held in December 2003, raised over $16,000, mostly from the Albanian business community, for mine-victim assistance in northeastern Albania, including helping survivors establish home-based economies through animal husbandry, assisting children to continue their studies, and physical rehabilitation and treatment for eye injuries.