The territories of more than 60 countries around the world are contaminated with unexploded ordnance, improvised explosive devices and landmines.
Explosives whether real or suspected hinder and in many places stop all development, from growing wheat in Ukraine, rice in Laos PDR, to sorghum in Sudan.
Since 1989, the United Nations has developed and managed humanitarian demining operations. As the number of operations expanded and more and more UN Member States established national mine action authorities, it became evident that there needed to be a global coordination mechanism.
The UN Mine Action Services (UNMAS), established in 1997, convened the first International Meeting of Mine Action National Directors and United Nations Advisers the following year.
The 26th meeting recently took place in Geneva, co-organized by the United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Mine Action, under the coordination of UNMAS, with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
Under the theme “Mine Action Cannot Wait”, the meeting addressed the leading challenges facing the mine action sector, from the record high number of internally displaced persons who often are in jeopardy from explosive ordnance to the rights of survivors, to land release liability and new approaches to addressing clearance.
The event featured a special session on strengthening cooperation between mine action and emergency health response to improve the care of people injured.
More than 460 specialists from 75 countries attended the meeting, which included a keynote address delivered by Robert Piper, the Sectary-General’s Special Advisor on Solutions to Internal Displacement.
“As a sector and as individual professionals you are impacting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people,” said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, who opened the event with Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the UN Office in Geneva, and Alexandre Zouev, Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions.
“You are protecting civilians caught up in armed conflict, making it possible for schools, hospitals, roads, and businesses to re-open, ensuring that refugees and internally displaced persons can return home safely, and advocating for the rights of survivors of explosive ordnance,” he said.
