Between 1975 and 2002, Angola experienced one of Africa’s longest and most devastating civil wars. Tens of thousands of landmines were laid and today there are still 500,000 unexploded devices in various regions of the country. In the area around the village of Kanenguerere, in Benguela province (in the west of the country), the mines laid in the 1980s still pose a threat to local inhabitants and the semi-nomadic Mucubel people. In 2018, we helped create and train a team of female de-miners engaged in clearing land within the province.

The UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an action programme with 17 goals aimed at the social and economic development of communities and regions. Through the 100 Women in Demining project, we are helping to achieve the objectives of ensuring health and wellbeing (SDG 3) and gender equality (SDG 5).

Workplace safety is a fundamental principle that we share with employees, contract workers and local communities. For that reason, we implement all necessary measures to avoid accidents, including organisational models to assess and manage risk, training programmes, skills development and the promotion of a culture of safety. 

Through this initiative, we have been able to contribute to the emancipation of Angolan women, training 11 women (7 de-miners, 2 paramedics, 1 driver and 1 administrator) and giving them opportunities to work in the de-mining sector. We have also prevented many tragedies caused by exploding mines and restored land to the community.

In May 2018, our team visited the HALO “100 Women in De-mining” project, experiencing at first hand the difficult living conditions inside the mined perimeter of Kanenguerere. 

The HALO Trust, our partner in this project, is the largest humanitarian organisation dedicated to de-mining.