The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) has announced a grant contest for clearing lands of mines and other remnants of war in the frontline regions. Projects should focus on both non-technical and/or technical surveys of territories and include an element of informing the public about mine threats. Priority for the projects in this contest has been given to the Kharkiv region, where 55 out of 56 communities have been affected by the war. This region has also been chosen as a pilot area for an automated territory prioritization system based on an IT solution from Palantir.
"For the first time, one of our partner countries is allocating funds directly for clearing our lands, involving Ukrainian mine action operators in the process. I believe that such cooperation will help to restore and identify contaminated territories faster and enhance collaboration not only at the institutional level but also among organizations and companies from our countries that are striving to make Ukrainian land safer," said Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Yulia Svyrydenko.
The total contest budget is six million euros, with the amount for any single project not exceeding 1.8 million euros.
It is important to note that only Italian non-profit organizations can apply for this contest, although they may involve commercial mine action operators as partners in implementing the projects.
Applications will be accepted until May 11 of this year. The overall planned duration of the projects is up to 15 months.