Attachments
Seventy-ninth session
Item 98 (jj) of the provisional agenda*
General and complete disarmament
Summary
The present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 77/64, entitled “Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices”, contains a discussion of the efforts and initiatives carried out within and outside the United Nations system to address related challenges.
I. Introduction
1. In its resolution 77/64, entitled “Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices”, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report to it at its seventy-ninth session on the implementation of that resolution, acknowledging and taking into account existing efforts, both inside and outside the United Nations, and seeking the views of Member States. The present report is submitted pursuant to that request. Views received from Member States are posted to the web page of the Office for Disarmament Affairs.
2. The present report contains an overview of significant trends and developments since the previous report (A/75/175) was issued in 2020. It addresses efforts of the United Nations system and other relevant international organizations, including the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the World Customs Organization (WCO), related to countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices.
II. Significant trends and developments
Humanitarian impact of improvised explosive devices
3. Improvised explosive devices are a direct threat to civilians, humanitarian actors and security forces around the world. Since the previous report, such devices have continued to kill and maim civilians; inhibit safe movement, access to services and delivery of humanitarian assistance; endanger United Nations mission personnel, threatening effective mandate delivery; hinder economic activity; and hamper the rehabilitation of public infrastructure.
4. In July 2023, the Secretary-General issued a policy brief on A New Agenda for Peace following extensive consultations with States, international and regional organizations and civil society. In the New Agenda for Peace, he called upon States to take action to reduce the human cost of weapons, including through measures to stop the use by terrorist and other non-State armed groups of improvised explosive devices. The Secretary-General also called upon States to implement the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas, adopted in 2022, and to establish mechanisms to mitigate and investigate harm to civilians and ensure accountability of perpetrators. The Political Declaration is aimed at strengthening compliance with and improving the implementation of international humanitarian law. It contains several commitments by States and practical measures, including the commitment to implement, review, develop or improve national policy and practice with regard to the protection of civilians during armed conflict involving the use of explosive weapons in populated areas; the commitment to restrict or refrain from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas; and measures to ensure that armed forces, in their policies and practices, take into account the direct and indirect effects of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, to ensure the marking, clearance and removal or destruction of explosive remnants of war, to support the provision of risk education and to provide, facilitate or support assistance to victims and affected communities.
5. The use of improvised explosive devices in urban settings and against civilian infrastructure has caused significant suffering among civilians globally. Data provided by United Nations programmes from 25 countries and territories identified 3,237 casualties (1,304 killed and 1,933 injured) from improvised explosive devices in 2023 alone. In addition, 684 casualties (134 killed and 550 injured) were caused by anti-personnel mines of an improvised nature. In 2023, civilians remained the most affected, constituting 68 per cent of all casualties from improvised explosive devices. Overall, in 2023, such devices accounted for 48 per cent of all casualties caused by explosive ordnance in 25 countries, which reflects an increase from 40 per cent in 2022. The highest number of casualties in regions with active United Nations mine action operations was reported in Somalia, followed by Mali and Burkina Faso.
6. Between 2020 and 2023, 65 countries and territories were affected by improvised explosive devices. Countries such as Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Mali, Myanmar, the Niger, Nigeria, the Philippines, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic experienced significant civilian casualties due to improvised explosive devices (S/2024/385). Meanwhile, the Central African Republic saw the first use of such devices. In Afghanistan, despite a reduction in civilian casualties following the Taliban takeover in August 2021, improvised explosive device attacks continued to inflict substantial civilian harm. Between 15 August 2021 and 30 May 2023, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) recorded a total of 3,774 civilian casualties (1,095 killed, 2,679 wounded), three quarters of which (701 killed, 2,113 wounded) were caused by indiscriminate attacks using improvised explosive devices in populated areas, including places of worship, schools and markets.
7. In Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia and elsewhere, civilians were indiscriminately killed and injured by improvised explosive devices placed on major roads. In the Central Sahel and Lake Chad basin regions, non-State armed groups reportedly employed improvised explosive devices as a tactic against national security forces, using the devices to cut off access and expand territorial control while also hampering humanitarian access and responses. In Burkina Faso, for example, road access to major urban centres has sharply diminished in recent years due to improvised explosive devices, requiring some humanitarian actors to establish air bridges (A/78/259).
8. The use of improvised explosive devices by non-State armed groups and organized criminal entities is a growing threat to refugees, internally displaced persons and host populations, in particular in the Sahel and Lake Chad basin regions, where the presence of such devices contributes to reduced humanitarian access.
9. Attacks using improvised explosive devices have significant gendered impacts, including distinct health effects and material harm for women and girls. Although men account for most direct casualties of attacks using the devices, there are often unique vulnerabilities facing women and girls. For example, attacks using improvised explosive devices in markets can disproportionately affect women in contexts where they have the primary responsibility for buying food and household goods. They are also affected by the long-term consequences of improvised explosive device attacks, including physical and psychological trauma, displacement, and disruption of social and economic networks. In addition, gender norms can limit their access to health services, assistance and recovery resources, exacerbating the challenges they face in the aftermath of an attack involving an improvised explosive device.
10. The use of improvised explosive devices has exacerbated the scale of grave violations committed against children. The Secretary-General has reported a steady increase in the killing and maiming of children and in attacks on schools and hospitals, in part as a result of the increased use of explosive weapons. The use of explosive ordnance, including improvised explosive devices, explosive remnants of war and landmines, represented some 26 per cent of the methods used in the killing and maiming of children (A/77/895-S/2023/363). Between 2020 and 2023, as verified by the United Nations, at least 2,811 children (67 per cent boys and 33 per cent girls among cases where the gender of the child was known) lost their lives or were seriously injured as a result of the use of improvised explosive devices. Attacks using such devices accounted for approximately 8 per cent of all verified incidents of killing and maiming of children and for approximately 14 per cent of children killed or maimed by explosive weapons between 2020 and 2023.
11. Men, women and children engage in the trafficking of components and in the manufacture and use of improvised explosive devices for various reasons, including a desire to support an ideology, financial reasons, coercion or a desire to protect themselves or their families. Research indicates that the decision to affiliate with non-State armed groups is often made along a continuum of coercion, especially in the case of women and children, who may experience social and family pressures. 9 The recruitment and use of children by non-State armed groups to act as carriers of person-borne improvised explosive devices or to manufacture, transport or plant devices, remained of serious concern, in particular in Afghanistan until August 2021 and in the Lake Chad basin region. In Afghanistan, children, especially boys, were used by the Taliban to carry out attacks involving person-borne improvised explosive devices and to manufacture and transport such devices. In 2021, the United Nations verified the recruitment and use of 58 boys in Afghanistan, some as young as 12, for combat purposes, including participation in attack squads that used person-borne improvised explosive devices, as well as for the manufacturing and transporting of improvised explosive devices. In the Lake Chad basin region, children were recruited by Boko Haram-affiliated and splinter groups to carry improvised explosive devices. In August 2020, a 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl were killed by the improvised explosive devices they were carrying, and another three children were killed and eight injured as a result of the detonation.