SARAJEVO, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- The government of Norway contributes 630,000 U.S. dollars to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) for unstable ammunition disposal, United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) in BiH said in a statement on Thursday.
The agreement signed by Guri Rusten, ambassador of Norway to BiH and Sukhrob Khoshmukhamedov, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Deputy Resident Representative in BiH, emphasized the continuation of Project EXPLODE+, which aims at disarmament for a safer BiH.
Under the deal, Norway will join the EXPLODE+ project activities of unstable ammunition disposal that will be implemented until Nov. 30, 2019.
Rusten pointed out that the disposal of ammunition in BiH is a humanitarian and security priority.
"This is a direct contribution to the efforts of BiH Ministry of Defense in reducing the ammunition stock and establishing a sustainable management system," Rusten said, adding that the Ministry will be able to handle large volumes of old and unsafe ammunition of various calibers and models that pose a direct security threat to storage sites, not only to local communities but to the region as well.
Khoshmukhamedov also said that the agreement signed is an additional acknowledgment of the successful implementation of managing the unstable ammunition conducted in partnership with local and international institutions.
"The support of government of Norway will undoubtedly contribute to a faster resolution of the problem of unsafe and unstable ammunition in the context of the security of local communities and military personnel," Khoshmukhamedov added.
Currently, EU STAR project to the tune of 2.8 million euros (3.1 million U.S. dollars), implemented by UNDP in partnership with the BiH Ministry of Defense, and Project EXPLODE+, co-financed by the funds provided by the governments of the Germany, Netherlands and Norway, are two main projects that handle destruction of unstable ammunition in BiH.
The project is the successor to the EXPLODE project which witnessed the disposal of more than 1,800 tonnes of ammunition and will see close cooperation between local authorities and international actors.
Due to the 1990s war, BiH has a large stock of excess weapons and ammunition. In BiH, there are still about 15,000 tons of ammunition stock and 40,000 pieces of weapons.
Approximately 14,600 tons of ammunition have been destroyed in the past ten years in BiH.
