With the collaboration of Campagna Italiana Contro le Mine Onlus (Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines), this year the ANVCG will promote a conference entitled “Mine Action: An Investment in Humanity”. The aim of its title is to stress that actions against antipersonnel landmines and unexploded devices are not limited to mere demining, but include a number of humanitarian operations geared towards the overall recovery of those territories and communities touched by the war.
As for this subject, the two-year period 2016-2017 represents a particularly significant moment for Italy, since our country has been chairing the MASG – Mine Action Support Group, that is the body which internationally coordinates demining and the humanitarian activities related to it.
This nomination is the result of long years of combined efforts undertaken by Italy for its commitment and sensitivity towards this delicate field. In recent years, the ANVCG has played a highly active part in sensitising and providing the general public with information about the scope and seriousness of the problem connected with unexploded war ordnances, in Italy and worldwide. This is a topic which cannot but personally involve the civilian war victims.
Given the importance of this initiative, and courtesy of the Senate of the Republic, the conference will be held at the prestigious Zuccari Hall (Via della Dogana Vecchia 29, Rome) on April 4, from 9.30 am to 1.00 pm. The event is under the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence.
Parliamentarians, Government authorities, associations and civil society organisations which campaign against landmines and unexploded war, students and journalists have been invited to participate in the conference.
Participation is by invitation only, due to the limited capacity of Zuccari Hall and in accordance with the rigid security protocols required by the Senate about the maximum number of persons allowed to stay. Whoever may be interested in attending the conference can kindly contact the ANVGC National Presidency.
(Provisional) Conference Programme
Mine Action: An Investment in Humanity
4 April 2017, 9.30 a.m.-1.00 p.m.
The Senate of the Republic – Zuccari Hall (Via della Dogana Vecchia 29, Rome)
- Opening session;
- Greetings of the authorities;
- Speech by Dr. Giuseppe Castronovo, National President of ANVCG;
- Screening of a short film;
- Speech by Sen. Benedetto della Vedova (CNAUMA), State Secretary for Foreign Affairs;
- Speech by Dr. Laura Frigenti, Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation;
- Speech by Dr. Alberto Cairo, Delegate of the International Committee of the Italian Red Cross in Afghanistan;
- Speech by Sen. Silvana Amati, first signatory of the draft law on “Misure per contrastare il finanziamento delle imprese produttrici di mine antipersona, di munizioni e sub-munizioni a grappolo”;
- Speech by the Representatives of the Ministry of Defence (presentation of the Agreement Protocol between ANVCG and the Ministry of Defence about the Italian implementation of mine actions);
- Witness by Nicolas Marzolino (victim of a war engine in Novalesa, March 2013);
- Presentation of the book Ho visto gli angeli volare by Giovanni Lafirenze, Representative of the ANVCG Department Of Defence Unexploded Ordnance;
- Speech by Santina Bianchini, National President of the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines;
- Conclusions.
