The Republic of Macedonia Protection and Rescue Directorate (RMPRD) and International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF) marked the successful completion of the US supported project Establishing Macedonian Underwater UXO Clearance Capacity and Clearance of Lake Ohrid. The completion ceremony, attended also by the representatives of the US and Slovenian embassies in Skopje, was held on 19 February 2010 at Lake Ohrid.
In 2006, the Republic of Macedonia, as the first country in the region of South East Europe, declared its mine free status. The problem of underwater UXO originating from the first and second world wars, however, still remains. ITF is ready and willing to assist the Republic of Macedonia also in tackling this challenging issue.

Karlovac County and ITF signed the Memorandum of Understanding for 350.000 HRK (or 47,827.28 EUR) in the premises of Karlovac County today. The 2010 donation will be used for demining activities in the municipality Josipdol, Karlovac County and will be matched by the United States donation to ITF in the same amount. Josipdol is the second largest area in Karlovac County, with another 13.2 square kilometers of mine suspected area.

ITF signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the donation of 6.300 EUR. The donation will be matched with the same amout of the donor funds of the United States and will be used for rehabilitation of blind and visually impaired mine victims in the region of South East Europe. There were 20 members of the Lions Club Ankaran present at the signing ceremony on that occassion. Signing was also attended by Slovenian District Governor, Mrs. Polonca Kukec.

On Monday 1st February 2010, ITF launched five day regional workshop "Evaluating Mine Action" for 40 participants, experts working in mine action in the region of South East Europe from government and non-governmental sector in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Workshop have been also attended by the United Nation's technical advisers operating in the mine action programs in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Sudan.

The handover procedure of all ITF activities has been successfully carried out as we have once again recognized the importance of all the work that has been carried out by the Fund thus far.
"Based on a successful mutual cooperation in the past, I am very pleased to announce that Mr Gačnik has accepted my invitation to continue his work at ITF as my closest assistant. This will ensure the continuity of successful projects and the development orientation of the Fund and will guarantee the implementation of the new ITF strategy.  ITF's main objective remains commitment to solving the mine problem in South Eastern Europe in close cooperation with the donor community, as well as in other regions and other areas of work."
Dorijan Maršič
ITF Director

On Monday, 21 December 2009, a Celebration on the Completion of Demining Programme in Serbia was held in the border area with Croatia near Morović town, Municipality of Šid. The event was hosted by Mine Action Centre of Serbia (MACS) and the Embassy of Unites States of America in Serbia.

On Tuesday, 01 December 2009, Albania Declared Mine Free Status and Succesful Completion of Ottawa Convention Article 5 Obligations at Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World in Colombia. International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF), Albanian Mine Action Executive (AMAE) and DanChurchAid (DCA) held a very noted joint event 'Demining Albania 2000-2009' where achievements, challenges and lessons learnt from10 years of operation were presented from the perspective of the involved actors and partners.

Ljubljana, 24. novembra 2009 – Upravni odbor Mednarodne ustanove – fundacije za razminiranje in pomoč žrtvam min je na svoji 38. redni seji odločil, da se gospod Dorijan Maršič imenuje za novega direktorja ITF. Gospod Maršič bo nastopil z delom v ITF s 1.1.2010.

Ljubljana, 24 November 2009 – At its 38th regular Meeting, the Managing Board of the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance decided to appoint Mr. Dorijan Maršič to the position of the Director of ITF. Mr. Maršič will commence his  duties as the Director of the ITF on 1 January 2010.

On 23 November 2009, the official handover ceremony of seven mine detection dog teams to the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina was held at the „Dom Oružanih Snaga“ in Sarajevo. The donation for the training and equipping of the teams was provided by US Department of State through ITF. The official handover was made by Mr. Goran Gačnik, ITF Director and Mr. Ahmet Hadžiomerović, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mine detection dog teams were successfully trained at the Regional Mine Detection Dog Centre (MDDC) in Konjic, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Conference on Facilitation on Central Asian Regional Cooperation in Mine Action organized by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan together with the International Trust Fund (ITF) commenced at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dushanbe today.  This conference is part of the OSCE/ITF’s multi-phase project on the facilitation of regional cooperation in Mine Action with an overall objective of laying down a cooperation framework to address the land mine and related problems in Central Asia.

International Trust Fund (ITF) identified together with Georgian national authorities and other international actors the need to train the responsible national staff in management of mine action programmes. This need was also expressed by other mine action centres in the region, namely in Armenia and Azerbaijan. For this purpose ITF with the support of donor community – Czech Republic, Hungary and Republic of Slovenia - has organized a regional Middle Management Training Course in period 9 – 27 November 2009 at the hotel Old Metekhi. The training has been hosted by the Ministry of Defence of Georgia and will be implemented by renowned UK-based Cranfield University in partnership with Georgian Technical University.

The aim of the Middle Management Training course is to enhance the skills and capabilities of 27 mid level managers of mine action programmes within the South Caucasus region (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan) by educating, training and challenging them, in order to meet the needs and expectations of stakeholders. The majority of the trainees (80%) will come from the relevant institutions/organizations in Georgia, namely Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ERWCC/iMMAP, ICBL-Georgian Committee, IOM Georgia, National Red Cross Society, NATO NAMSA (Georgia) and Norwegian People’s Aid.