Friends Of Europe Podcasts

After years of experience in active theatres of war, including in Ukraine, Amir Omeragic, the Director of the Peace and Security Cluster of UNOPS, can confidently say that “we know what we’re doing” in Gaza. Before the latest outbreak of conflict, a team from UNOPS was already on the ground in Gaza due to the ongoing “cycles of violence” but Amir admits that, now, “it’s nearly impossible [to provide assistance] because conflict is ongoing”. The Peace and Security Cluster directed by Amir is responsible for clearing landmines in conflict zones and the impact of this work goes beyond the more immediate life-saving, as Amir explains in this episode of Policy Voices. Amir is no stranger to conflict having spent time in Bosnia and Herzegovina, his home country, during the war, as well as six years in Afghanistan. He reminds us that civilians are always the ones carrying the brunt of war and that the consequences of conflict are “far-reaching”.