- HALO and BP expand ambitions in the Benguela region
- Increased cash injection will help safely clear mines from land equivalent to almost 200 football pitches
- Will support 129 staff, including 85 female deminers
BP Angola today announced it has increased its financial grant to $6.1 million over three years to support the work in Angola of British landmine clearance charity the HALO Trust.
An additional $4.9million of funding has been agreed to bolster the $1.2million grant announced in May 2019 as the pair widen their ambitions for the region.
The new funding will support HALO’s 100 Women in Demining project. The initiative was launched in 2017 in recognition that rural women in Angola suffer disproportionately from poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunities. The project clears minefields safely while empowering women through jobs, skills and training.
The new funding will support the employment of 129 staff, including at least 85 women in the western Angolan province of Benguela. In total, the project aims to return 338 acres of land – equivalent to 191 football pitches – to local people for safe use and help remove the threat of landmines from the province by 2023.
Cristina Nimba Cesar, Deminer
Cristina added: “Demining is important to me because there are lots of accidents caused by mines in places where there was fighting in the war. I am sending money home to my mother so she can build a new house. We never tire of each other in the demining camp because we are going to make Angola free of mines.”