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Assistance in mine action - Report of the Secretary-General (A/72/226) [EN/AR]

Attachments

I. Introduction

1. The present report, covering the period from August 2015 to July 2017, is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/80, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of that resolution, including on relevant United Nations policies and activities.

2. The report describes the activities and achievements of the 12 United Nations entities comprising the Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Mine Action, which is chaired by the United Nations Mine Action Service. Specifically, it charts the progress made in realizing the objectives of the Strategy of the United Nations on Mine Action 2013-2018. The development of a follow-up strategy will be initiated in 2018.

3. The year 2017 marks the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention) and the establishment of both the Mine Action Service and the Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Mine Action. Employing a needs-driven, people-centred approach, the United Nations has produced tangible results in mine action across continents for two decades.

4. Humanitarian mine action demonstrates how the United Nations is responding, in a holistic and tangible manner, to threats to human life and peace. The response involves actors across the “peace continuum” of the United Nations system and extends to partnership with regional organizations, civil society and the private sector. Mine action strengthens the nexus between peace and security, sustainable development and human rights. As I noted on 4 April 2017, the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, “peace without mine action is incomplete peace”.

Global trends in conflict

5. According to a study by the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research, deaths due to conflict increased six-fold between 2011 and today. The study also identifies today’s conflicts as more intractable, more asymmetric and harder to resolve using traditional models of political settlement.

6. Conflicts today tend to be concentrated in urban areas, affecting an estimated 50 million people who live in cities. Armed conflict is a major driver of displacement, as civilians are forced to flee violence and attacks that can injure or kill, damage or destroy homes and hinder access to essential services. In 2016, UNHCR reported that forced displacement had hit record levels, with a total of 65.3 million people globally displaced from their homes owing to conflict or persecution. Many had crossed international borders in search of protection and assistance as refugees, although the majority were displaced within their own countries, where they remained at risk of violence and other threats to their welfare.

7. Over the last two years, there has been a reversal in the previously downward trend of casualties of landmines and explosive remnants of war. Among 18 countries and territories that provide data to the United Nations, the number of casualties (persons injured or killed) from landmines, victim-activated improvised explosive devices, cluster munitions and explosive remnants of war increased by almost 40 per cent from 2015 (2,615 casualties) to 2016 (3,608 casualties).

8. Similarly, in Landmine Monitor 2016, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines reported a 75 per cent increase in casualties from landmines and related devices, from 3,695 in 2014 to 6,461 in 2015. The latter figure was the highest number of casualties registered since 2006. While casualties due to anti-personnel mines decreased, the overall increase was driven by casualties from victim-activated improvised explosive devices, anti-vehicle mines and explosive remnants of war. The casualties of “unknown mines or explosive remnants of war” more than quadrupled, highlighting the increased challenges of data collection in active conflicts where insecurity hinders access and populations are unfamiliar with the devices they encounter. The countries with the highest casualty numbers were Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, the Syrian Arab Republic and Ukraine; in response, the United Nations prioritized assistance to those five countries during the reporting period.