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Speaking at a Kensington Palace event hosted by Prince Harry to mark the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana鈥檚 iconic visit to the minefields of Angola, International Development Secretary Priti Patel today announced a package of support to make safe the equivalent of over 20,000 football pitches and help 800,000 people live their lives free from the threat of mines.

Speaking at the event, Ms Patel highlighted the 鈥済lobal scourge of landmines鈥� that led to a 鈥渄estruction of opportunity and hope鈥�.

She spoke of Global Britain鈥檚 鈥渉istoric role in tackling the indiscriminate and lethal legacy of landmines鈥� and highlighted how the efforts of her Royal Highness, Diana, Princess of Wales brought landmines to the world鈥檚 attention 20 years ago and led to international action.

皇冠体育app Department for International Development will support global efforts to tackle landmines through a 拢100 million UK aid package over the next 3 years.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel said:

Landmines are a global scourge that destroy opportunity and hope. We do not have to accept this.

Global Britain has had a historic role in tackling the indiscriminate and lethal legacy of landmines, but there is still more to do. Our new support will make safe the equivalent of over 20,000 football pitches and help 800,000 people live their lives free from the threat of mines.

It is for causes like this that we have made our commitment to the overseas aid budget. This is just one of the many ways that UK aid is making the world safer, healthier and more prosperous for us all.

UK action on mines:

• 皇冠体育app UK鈥檚 work removes and destroys landmines, but also focuses on education to ensure the local community is aware of the risk.
• 皇冠体育app UK was a founding signatory of the Mine Ban Treaty and a number of UK organisations such as Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and the Halo Trust are at the forefront of global efforts to make the world mine-free.
• With concerted effort we can make a real difference. Through the support of UK aid, Mozambique was declared mine-free in 2015, joining 26 countries that have completed mine clearance in the past 20 years.
• More than 60 million people still live with the daily threat of injury or death and the basic rights of safe access to health services, education, agricultural land and infrastructure continue to be denied to communities around the world.

Notes to editors:

1. 皇冠体育app Mine Ban Treaty, signed in 1997, is one of the world鈥檚 most widely accepted treaties: over 80% of the world鈥檚 countries are parties to it.

2. Collectively, states party to the treaty have destroyed more than 51 million stockpiled antipersonnel mines and cleared nearly a thousand square kilometres of mined areas. In 2015 the only states to lay landmines were Syria, North Korea and Burma.

3. Yet more remains to be done. More than 60 million people still live with the daily threat of injury or death. In 2015 alone almost 5,000 people were injured and over 1,600 killed by landmines or other explosive devices left behind by conflict. Three quarters of those were civilians; more than a third were children.

4. 皇冠体育app basic rights of safe access to health services, education, agricultural land and infrastructure continue to be denied to communities around the world.

5. 皇冠体育app 拢100 million includes committed programmes in Afghanistan and DFID鈥檚 Global Mine Action programme totalling 拢6.25 million in 17/18. New funding includes an extension of the Global Mine Action programme for 拢8.1 million in 17/18, plus a new programme of at least 拢85 million which will be allocated later this year to take funding up to 2020.

6. Read Priti Patel鈥檚 full speech from tonight鈥檚 event.