It recently became known that the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) has signed a procurement contract worth 7,024,230 manats with the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF).
This information has raised a number of questions—particularly how an organization long known solely for its active work in the media sphere began close cooperation with ANAMA and why it appears among the agency’s partners on the Unified Internet Portal of State Procurement.
To clarify this issue and obtain more detailed information about the organization’s activities in the field of mine action, we spoke with Umud Mirzayev, President of the IEPF, public figure, and Honored Cultural Worker.
Could you please provide detailed information about this new project?
A press fund and mine clearance?
First of all, I would like to thank you for your interest in the activities of the International Eurasia Press Fund and, in particular, in the mine threat mitigation program being carried out in Azerbaijan. As you know, the global mine problem is one of the most serious humanitarian challenges threatening populations worldwide. The mine threat is also among the most urgent and serious problems in Azerbaijan today and is an issue to which President Ilham Aliyev pays special attention.
The International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF), which I founded and lead, was registered in 1992 and is the only non-governmental organization in the region holding the highest General Consultative Status with the UN NGO Branch. Using this status, IEPF regularly organizes a series of events and parallel sessions at the UN offices in Geneva, New York, and Vienna, as well as other prestigious international venues—particularly to convey Azerbaijan’s historical realities.
IEPF was established to disseminate objective information from global hotspots and conflict zones. During the First Karabakh War alone, the organization facilitated more than 100 visits by foreign journalists and diplomats to Karabakh. Today, IEPF implements projects across five key areas: media and civil society development; peacebuilding actions and conflict resolution; refugee and internally displaced persons (IDPs) issues; community development; and education.
As for how we became involved in mine action, for many years IEPF has implemented socially oriented humanitarian projects aimed at addressing problems caused by war and conflict and supporting sustainable development, in line with its charter. IEPF first joined the Mine Action Program implemented jointly by the Government of Azerbaijan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2000. Subsequently, we became the implementing organization for nationally significant projects forming the backbone of Azerbaijan’s mine action efforts, including “Level One Survey” (2000), “Landmine Impact Survey” (2002), and “Assessment of Mine Victims’ Needs” (2004).
These studies and surveys stemmed directly from our charter mandate to collect and disseminate objective information from conflict zones.
In 2002, while implementing the Landmine Impact Survey, we conducted surveys among more than one million citizensacross the country, including Nakhchivan. The survey results and all supporting documentation remain archived at IEPF to this day. At that time, during a meeting in Topalhasanli village of the Goygol district, an 84-year-old elderly woman who had lost one eye and one leg due to a mine explosion tearfully asked us to help free them from the mine threat. It turned out she had fallen victim to a mine left behind by a former Soviet military unit while grazing her livestock.
At that time, ANAMA was newly established and had far more limited resources than it does today. Following numerous similar appeals, we developed a project proposal, and with the support of the Japanese Embassy, we formed the IEPF “Community Mine Action” team, consisting of 11 selected individuals from war-affected regions. The approved project included 11 sets of protective gear, 11 detectors, and one ambulance.
The cooperation agreement you asked about—most recently signed with ANAMA for 2026—is, in fact, an extension of this team’s decades-long activities. We have maintained successful cooperation with ANAMA for nearly 25 years, and today we are the agency’s only NGO partner.
Achievements and Impact
In 2025 alone, the IEPF “Community Mine Action” team cleared 2,058 hectares of land. Since 2002, the total cleared area amounts to 16,274 hectares, during which 2,118 anti-personnel mines, 1,841 anti-tank mines, and 17,869 unexploded ordnance items were discovered.
Large settlements for IDPs have since been built in these cleared areas; social infrastructure facilities constructed; agriculture and irrigation systems developed—making tangible contributions to the country’s economy and social development. In Azerbaijan’s liberated and war-affected districts, hundreds of thousands of citizens have received Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) training conducted by IEPF’s professional instructors.
Beyond ANAMA, the IEPF “Community Mine Action” team has successfully cooperated with UNICEF, UNDP, as well as the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Defense, State Border Service, Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Labor Inspectorate Service, and other national institutions.
Is the project expected to expand further?
Yes, it is possible. However, there are critical considerations. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan today ranks among the countries most heavily contaminated with mines. Based on research and estimates by international and local experts, there may be up to 1.5 million mines in the country. As someone who has led teams working in minefields for many years, I can say this figure is realistic—and possibly even higher.
This means Azerbaijan’s mine problem may persist for 10, 15, or even 20 years. Under these circumstances, we want to contribute using our human resources, long-standing experience, and regional knowledge. Mine clearance operations and regional projects of the IEPF “Community Mine Action” team have long been managed from our Tartar regional office, which provides access to operations in Aghdam, Aghdara, Sugovushan, Kalbajar, and other directions.
When we speak of human capacity, we emphasize the dedication and decades-long experience of our personnel who have worked in mine action since day one. I should also note that our team has three martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the homeland.
During the 44-day Second Karabakh War, our team continuously cleared shell impact sites in the Tartar, Aghdara, and Sugovushan directions. I personally spent those 44 days in Karabakh, at the front line, accompanying the Al Jazeera Media Network.
On contracts with ANAMA
Each annual contract with ANAMA sets specific clearance obligations. For example, last year the target was 2,000 hectares. By year’s end, we cleared 2,058 hectares, exceeding the target and fully fulfilling our contractual obligations. This performance was the main reason our cooperation continued and a new contract was signed.
If we successfully complete the obligations of the current 2026 contract, I believe this cooperation will continue. Considering the acceleration of the return to Karabakh process under presidential directives, expansion of the project is not excluded.
Addressing public concerns
I would like to clarify that the IEPF “Community Mine Action” team operates at significantly lower costs than international mine action standards. Globally, mine clearance is often carried out by NGOs precisely because they are non-profit and operate with lower overheads.
Unfortunately, misleading and unpleasant opinions sometimes appear in the media regarding contract amounts and the use of the single-source procurement method. I want to clarify these issues. Nearly 90% of our contract budgets go toward salaries, payroll deductions, and insurance. The remaining 10% covers food, accommodation, transportation, essential field materials, and bank costs. In our most recent contract, salary-related expenses alone account for 85% of the budget.
As for the single-source procurement method, the IEPF team’s decades-long experience, skilled personnel, sustainable infrastructure, material-technical base, and consistent fulfillment of annual obligations provide the most accurate answer.
How does this affect the return of IDPs?
The answer is clear: without mine clearance, safe return is impossible. The primary prerequisite for the safe, planned, and sustainable return of IDPs is the complete clearance of mines and unexploded ordnance. In this regard, the implementation of the contract with ANAMA plays a decisive role.
ANAMA works day and night, alongside four commercial companies, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Defense, State Border Service, Ministry of Internal Affairs engineering units, and IEPF as the only civil society organization.
In areas where clearance is intensive, settlements are built, roads and communications laid, and social infrastructure restored. This is why mine action is a cornerstone of the state’s “Great Return” program.
Over the past 25 years, and especially since the Second Karabakh War, thousands of IDPs have been resettled in areas cleared by our team. These include Ganja International Airport, Sevinc settlement, Topalhasanli and Gushgara in Goygol, Agjakend refugee camps in Goranboy, various camps in Tartar, Barda, and Aghdam, as well as Talish village, Sugovushan settlement, Aghdara district, and liberated border villages of Gazakh.
Immediately after the war, our team cleared the most difficult and heavily contaminated routes to Talish and Sugovushan. Even today, we are tasked with clearing the most strategic and contaminated areas—sometimes discovering 7–8 or more mines in just one square meter.
International cooperation
IEPF joined mine action with the support of the Azerbaijani government and UNDP, and our team was created with support from the Government of Japan. In recent years, with support from UNICEF, UNHCR, and UNDP, our EORE projects have reached nearly 1,000,000 citizens and distributed over 150,000 printed materials in the past five years.
From 2022 to 2024, with EU funding, UNDP facilitation, and ANAMA’s mandate, IEPF implemented non-technical survey (NTS) and EOD projects across 310,000 hectares in more than 200 communities, uploading all reports to ANAMA’s IMSMA database. The EOD team responded to over 600 calls, neutralizing hundreds of mines and UXO.
Women deminers
For the first time in Azerbaijan, women deminer teams were established through a partnership between IEPF, ANAMA, UNDP, and the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), with support from the EU and U.S. State Department. Today, 20 women deminers are part of the IEPF team. In 2025 alone, they cleared 450 hectares, and more than 650 hectares in total, discovering 155 anti-tank mines and 333 UXO in 2025.
Final message to society
Most importantly, the mine problem must never be treated with indifference. Mine clearance is sometimes portrayed as “ordinary technical work,” but it is one of the world’s most dangerous professions, where every step is measured by human life.
Despite strict safety measures, in the last five years two IEPF team members were injured by mines. Today, they work as EORE trainers, sharing their experiences to prevent others from suffering similar tragedies. Many of our staff are mine survivors, family members of victims, or individuals deeply affected by war.
We approach this work not merely as a job, but as a humanitarian, social, and moral responsibility.
My appeal to society is to be more sensitive, attentive, and responsible regarding the mine problem. Every 1 square meter cleared can save a life or prevent a family tragedy. Without eliminating the mine threat, there can be neither safe return nor sustainable development. This is a shared challenge for all of Azerbaijani society.
