UK will triple its financial commitment to disarming landmines, Prince Harry to announce

The UK will spend £100m over the next three years removing landmines from conflict zones

International Development Secretary Priti Patel visited the HALO landmine decomissioning training centre in Afghanistan earlier this year

The UK is to triple its funding commitment to the disarming of landmines around the world, as Prince Harry launched an initiative building on the work of his later mother Princess Diana.

The Department for International Development has announced it will spend £100m over the next three years removing landmines from former conflict zones around the world, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.

Speaking at an event at Kensington Palace, Ms Patel highlighted the "global scourge of landmines" that lead to a "destruction of opportunity and hope."

She spoke of Global Britain’s "historic role in tackling the indiscriminate and lethal legacy of landmines" and highlighted how the efforts of her Royal Highness, Diana, Princess of Wales brought landmines to the world’s attention twenty years ago and led to international action.

It is twenty years since Princess Diana memorably met victims who had lost limbs in landmine explosions, drawing the world’s attention to the highly controversial issue.

The Princess's last overseas tour was to Bosnia in August 1997, when she met victims of the weapons.

Nearly 30 countries have been declared mine-free in the last 20 years, but more than 60 million people are estimated to still live with the daily fear of unexploded munitions.