ALGERIAN'S FOREIGN POLICY 

Algeria elected to chair Committee on Assistance to Victims of Anti-Personnel Mines for 2022

GENEVA- Algeria has been elected to chair the Committee on the Assistance to the Victims of Anti-Personnel Mines for 2022, on the occasion of the 19th Assembly of States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention that is held from 15 to 19 November 2021, in Geneva.

The mandate of this Committee, whose new formation comprises Algeria, Equator, Italy and Uganda, consists in supporting the efforts of the States parties in order to strengthen and advance the assistance to the victims, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention and the resulting action plans.

In his speech before the Assembly, the ambassador, Algeria's permanent representatives to Geneva Lazhar Soualem underlined that the Committee's priorities for 2022 will focus notably on the promotion of a coherent approach, in accordance with the Oslo Action Plan (2019-2024), integrating "the assistance to the victims into broader national legal frameworks, plans and policies covering the rights of disabled people, health, education, employment, development, poverty reduction and the support to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

In this regard, he stressed "the necessity of taking advantage of the exchange platform offered by the Committee to the experts of the States Parties and other stakeholders, while calling for the consolidation of efforts aimed at weakening the effects of the Covid-19 crisis on the assistance to the victims of mines."

The chairmanship will be the opportunity for Algeria to affirm its pioneering role in the fight against the anti-personnel mines and to share its experience in dealing with the victims' concerns, dating back to the national liberation war.