“Landmines and explosive ordnance and remnants of war directly threaten millions of people caught up in armed conflicts around the world — from Afghanistan to Myanmar to Sudan to Ukraine to Colombia to Gaza. Even after the fighting ends, these deadly devices can contaminate communities for decades to come, posing a daily and deadly danger to women, men and children alike, and blocking vital humanitarian and development assistance. The brave mine action personnel of the United Nations work with partners to remove these deadly weapons, ensure that people can travel safely in their communities, and provide education and threat assessments to keep people and humanitarian workers safe.
This year’s theme — Protecting Lives, Building Peace — reminds us of the need to safeguard those at particular risk, including people living with disabilities.
I also call on Member States to support the United Nations Mine Action Strategy, and ratify and fully implement the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Country by country, community by community, let’s rid the world of these weapons, once and for all.“
António Guterres
Protecting Lives. Building Peace.
Mines, explosive remnants of war, and improvised explosive devices continue to cause death and injury, especially in situations of armed conflict. On average, one person is killed or injured by such explosive device every hour. Many children are among the victims. The use of improvised explosive devices has expanded, terrorizing civilians and threatening humanitarian actors and United Nations missions and personnel.
In 2024 to commemorate the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, UNMAS is advocating for a greater awareness of the needs and rights of all people with disabilities in conflict and peacebuilding settings. Bringing attention to the five-year anniversary of Security Council resolution 2475, which calls upon Member States and Security Council members to protect persons with disabilities, ensure they have access to assistance and are included in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
In light of the appointment of Mr. Giles Duley as the United Nations Global Advocate for persons with disabilities in conflict and peacebuilding situations, the UN mine action community will seek to strengthen the implementation of resolution 2475 and focus attention on ensuring that no one, included persons with disabilities, is left behind.
Background
On 8 December 2005, the General Assembly declared that 4 April of each year shall be observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
It called for continued efforts by States, with the assistance of the United Nations and relevant organizations, to foster the establishment and development of national mine-action capacities in countries where mines and explosive remnants of war constitute a serious threat to the safety, health and lives of the civilian population, or an impediment to social and economic development at the national and local levels.
For over 20 years, the work of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has been driven by the needs of affected people and tailored to the threat of explosive hazards faced by civilians, peacekeepers and humanitarians.
UNMAS works to save lives, to facilitate deployment of UN missions and the delivery of humanitarian assistance, to protect civilians, to support the voluntary return of the internally displaced and refugees, to enable humanitarian and recovery activities and to advocate for international humanitarian and human rights law.
History
The United Nations advocates for the universalization of existing legal frameworks and encourages Member States to expand those regimes and develop new international instruments to protect civilians from the scourges of landmines and explosive remnants of war. It undertakes this work in collaboration with interested states, civil society, mine action and international organizations.
Since the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, commonly known as the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention opened for signature in 1997, 164 countries have ratified or acceded to it. Advocacy by this unprecedented coalition raised public awareness of the impact of anti-personnel landmines on civilians and rallied global support for a total ban.
Article 6 of the Mine Ban Treaty provided for “victim assistance”, making the care, rehabilitation and the social and economic reintegration of victims of mines an obligation of States Parties to the Convention. It set out that this assistance must meet the immediate and long-term needs of mine accident survivors, their families, mine-affected communities and persons with disabilities.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol (A/RES/61/106) was adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and was opened for signature on 30 March 2007. This Convention, which referred to the Mine Ban Convention, included all persons with disabilities.
In addition to anti-personnel mines, challenges remain with respect to all other explosive remnants of war. On 12 November 2006, the Secretary-General welcomed the entry into force of Protocol V on explosive remnants of war from the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and reiterated his call for its universalization and implementation. In December 2008, the Secretary-General welcomed the opening for signature of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was joined by 108 states.
Guided by its inter-agency policy, the United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Mine Action (IACG-MA), consisting of 12 departments, agencies, funds and programmes, and with observer entities, such as the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research and World Bank continue to ensure system-wide coherence in all mine action pillars and activities.
The United Nations Mine Action Strategy serves as an accountability framework for the United Nations system and participating entities, guiding efforts to prevent and address explosive ordnance threats during and after armed conflicts while supporting affected communities. As agreed by IACG-MA Principals in June 2023, this Strategy will no longer be timebound and will continue to be subject to periodic review every two years to coincide with the biennial report of the Secretary-General on assistance in mine action. The Principals of the IACG-MA endorsed the UN Strategy on 13 December 2023. The Strategy came into effect as of 1 January 2024.
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