19 January 2000

Text: U.S. Public-Private Demining Team Visiting Croatia

(January 16-22 mission to support Croatian demining program)

A public-private team from the U.S. State Department, non-governmental
organizations (NGO), and U.S. corporations is visiting Croatia from
January 16-22 to support the Croatian Government's Croatian Mine
Action Center (CROMAC) with its humanitarian demining program,
according to a press statement issued by the State Department January
18.

In addition to touring mine-affected areas in Croatia, the team will
assess how to develop an action plan to raise funds in the United
States for the Croatian demining effort.

Following is the text of the statement:

(begin text)

U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.
Office of the Spokesman
January 18, 2000

STATE DEPARTMENT AND PRIVATE PARTNERS JOIN IN DEMINING FACT-FINDING
MISSION TO CROATIA

A public-private partnership team of State Department,
non-governmental organization (NGO) and U.S. corporate representatives
is visiting Croatia from January 16 - 22 to support the Croatian
Government's Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) with its
humanitarian demining program.

The U.S. Government members include James Lawrence, Director of
Public-Private Partnerships for the Office of the Special
Representative of the President and Secretary of State for Global
Humanitarian Demining; Pat Patierno, Director of the State
Department's Humanitarian Demining Program; and William Wood, Director
of the State Department's Office of the Geographer and Global Issues.

The private sector members of the team include Heidi Kuhn, Director of
Roots of Peace; Ann Laurence, Treasurer of the San Rafael [California]
Rotary Club; Bill Rus, Senior Analyst for AutoDesk; Richard Koch,
Director of Public Relations for AutoDesk; Victoria Stack, President
of International Communication Initiative; and Ali Gallagher, Landmine
Consultant for the University of Texas in Austin.

The team will tour mine-affected areas in Croatia, accompanied by
representatives of CROMAC. Team members will visit agricultural areas,
including vineyards, contaminated with landmines from recent
conflicts. The goal is to clear these lands of mines and help their
owners return them to use. The team will also assess how to develop an
action plan to raise funds for CROMAC in the U.S.

This visit has been made possible by generous contributions of money,
equipment and services valued at more than $30,000 from The North
Face, Royal Robbins, FedEx, the Rotary Chapter of San Rafael,
California, and the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine. Clothing
from North Face and Royal Robbins will be turned over to Croatian
deminers and landmine victims, shipped by FedEx at no cost. AutoDesk,
a California-based software company, is donating its Global
Information System software and related hardware to support mine
action programs. Rotary International and local Rotary Chapters such
as the San Rafael Chapter are contributing to rehabilitation of
landmine accident survivors. Roots of Peace, a California based,
non-profit NGO dedicated to returning demined land to productive
agricultural use, helped coordinate this visit.

The Office of the Special Representative of the President and
Secretary of State for Global Humanitarian Demining (GHD) was
established in October 1997. It seeks to create conditions that will
eliminate the threat of landmines to civilians around the world by the
year 2010. The Office supports efforts in the U.S. and abroad to
accelerate landmine detection and clearance programs, promote landmine
awareness in affected nations, assist survivors of landmine accidents,
enhance research and development of new demining technologies, and
develop public-private partnerships to support these programs.

(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State)