BP gives $1.2 million for mine clearance and women's empowerment in Angola

• Cash injection will support the HALO Trust’s 100 Women in Demining project, designed to employ and empower more women in humanitarian mine action in rural Angola

• The project aims to safely clear the land equivalent of 40 football fields

• Supports the Angolan Government’s goal to be mine-impact free by 2025, in line with its obligations to the Ottawa Landmine Treaty

BP Angola today committed a $1.2 million grant for the British landmine clearance charity, the HALO Trust in Angola.

The donation will be used to support HALO’s 100 Women in Demining project. The initiative supports two teams of women, recruited from communities directly affected by landmines in the coastal province of Benguela.

Since 1994, HALO has safely cleared more than 850 minefields and 95,000 landmines across Angola; however, more than1,000 known minefields remain.

The funding will enable women with typically limited employment prospects to gain financial independence and to develop transferable skills, in logistics, fleet support, IT and financial management. All of this is targeted at supporting the educational and health needs of the participants and their dependents.

One of the deminers working in the initiative, Inês Chipuco, said: "I think it’s really important that women are clearing the landmines in Angola because it saves the lives of both people and animals. In the future if the fields are free we can build roads and schools here. What I earn supports my entire family and I can buy the things that my little boy needs."

The funding continues BP Angola’s investments to meet social and community needs in the areas of education, enterprise development and capacity building for health, safety and the environment in Angola. In the past 15 years, BP Angola has invested $100 million in local communities and social initiatives.