Getting to Completion: Funding Mine and Cluster Munition Clearance in Lebanon, Mauritania and Zimbabwe


A survey of clearance operators and national authorities provides insight into how close three countries are to removing all anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions.

This policy brief summarises data collected for Lebanon, Mauritania and Zimbabwe on budgets for clearing anti-personnel land mines and cluster munitions. This data has been collected for a pilot study funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which focused on the collection of detailed and disaggregated data directly from clearance operators via a questionnaire.

Read more…
Source: Peace Research Institute Oslo


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Texas: Fort Hood sappers breaching future with unmanned technology

    August 22, 2025

    FORT HOOD, Texas — On the battlefield, enemy forces often attempt to slow or halt an advance by setting up blockades and obstacles. When that happens, it is the Army’s combat engineers who are called in to clear the way and ensure the mission can move forward. They have the means and ability to detonate ...

  • Libya: Lack of funding hinders mine clearance despite efforts by international organizations

    August 20, 2025

    An analytical report published by the English-speaking Senegalese “African Press Agency” has highlighted the ongoing threat of explosive remnants of war in Libya, which have posed a direct danger to civilian lives since 2011. Widespread Presence of Unexploded Ordnance The report explained that tens of thousands of mines, improvised explosive devices, and heavy shells remain scattered ...

  • UNMAS in 2024: Protecting lives building peace

    August 18, 2025

    UNMAS delivers mandates assigned by the United Nations Security Council to peace operations and responds to requests for assistance from United Nations Resident Coordinators and national authorities in states affected by explosive ordnance. UNMAS responses are aligned to the objectives of the United Nations Mine Action Strategy and the United Nations vision of a world free ...

  • Ethiopia Requests UN to Extend Landmine Clearance Deadline for Third Time

    August 16, 2025

    Ethiopia has requested the UN to again extend a deadline to clear landmines left strewn by wars old and new, placing people at risk on more than 125 million hectares of land. Ethiopia acceded to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) in 2004 and was initially obligated to clear all known contamination before June 2015—a ...

  • UK continues support for mine clearance in Syria

    August 15, 2025

    The UK has stressed its continued support for efforts to clear Syrian territory of mines. The British envoy for Syria, Ann Snow, warned in a post on X platform that “Syria is set to record the highest number of civilian landmine casualties in the world’’. Snow noted that Britain supports the work of the Mine Advisory ...

  • Syria and Turkey strike new military deal

    August 13, 2025

    Syria and Turkey have struck a deal on military training and consultancy during a high-level Syrian delegation’s visit to Ankara on Wednesday, Turkey’s Defence Ministry announced. The agreement was signed for the regular exchange of personnel to enhance military co-operation; specialised skills training; and a series of programmes in counterterrorism, mine clearance, cyber defence, military engineering, ...

  • Lebanon: Hezbollah ammunition depot explosion kills 6 soldiers south of Litani

    August 9, 2025

    Six Lebanese army soldiers were killed and others wounded in an explosion while inspecting a weapons depot in Majdal Zoun and Wadi Zibqin, Tyre. The victims include four members from the 5th Infantry Brigade and two from the Engineering Regiment. The Lebanese army is dismantling and detonating weapons and ammunition confiscated south of the Litani River, ...

  • Ukrainian sappers to train at Middle East mine action school with funding from Paris

    August 4, 2025

    Ukraine will take another step toward the safe de-occupation and clearing of war remnants. On 4 August, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense announced that sappers from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the State Special Transport Service will be trained at the Regional School for Humanitarian Demining at the Lebanese Mine Action Center. The program will be funded ...

  • SLD 45 EOD Technician Aids in POW/MIA Mission in Vietnam

    August 4, 2025

    PATRICK SPACE FORCE BASE, Fla. — Earlier this year, a member of Space Launch Delta 45 was able to take part in a unique opportunity to assist in the accounting of missing personnel from the Vietnam War. During a mission lasting from mid May to late June of 2025, U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Brian Vosper, ...

  • Ukraine: Over 5,000 hectares cleared of explosives in de-occupied territories in July

    August 3, 2025

    In July, demining units of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense cleared 5,136 hectares of territory liberated from Russian occupation. This information was provided by the Main Department of Mine Action, Civil Protection, and Environmental Safety on Telegram, as reported by Ukrinform. The cleared areas included 4,850.46 hectares of agricultural land, 10.06 kilometers of highways, 0.6 kilometers of ...

  • Poland strengthens army with order for 25 US mine-clearing armored vehicles

    July 31, 2025

    Poland has signed a $115 million (€100 mln) deal for 25 US armored vehicles used for clearing minefields and fortifications, the Polish defense ministry has said. The purchase of the M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicles (ABV), signed on Thursday, is tied to a January 2023 agreement between Poland and the US for the delivery of 116 American ...

  • Cambodia: CMAC launches emergency response to clear UXOs after ceasefire

    July 30, 2025

    In the wake of the ceasefire agreement between Cambodia and Thailand that took effect at midnight on July 28, the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) has received multiple emergency explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) requests from conflict-affected communities, according to CMAC Director General Heng Ratana. The requests—primarily from border provinces Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey—highlight growing concerns ...

  • Japan’s aid agency, U.N. sign deal to expand mine action cooperation

    July 21, 2025

    The government-backed Japan International Cooperation Agency and a U.N. unit in charge of landmine countermeasures have concluded an agreement to expand their cooperation in disposing of the munitions in Africa and other areas. JICA said the deal with the United Nations Mine Action Service, or UNMAS, aims to cement their collaborative ties in the field, particularly ...

  • Thailand: Three soldiers injured in landmine explosion during patrol at Thai-Cambodian border

    July 17, 2025

    On July 16 at 9:45 AM, three soldiers from the 2302 Ranger Battalion were injured after stepping on a landmine while patrolling from the Morakot Operation Base to Hill 481, located along the Thai-Cambodian border. The incident occurred at coordinates WA 220 861 in an area known for unexploded ordnance left over from past conflicts. The ...

  • Ukraine: How Technology Is Transforming Humanitarian Demining

    July 15, 2025

    Over 137,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory are potentially contaminated with explosive ordnance. In such a heavily mine-contaminated environment, Ukraine can no longer treat demining as a narrowly technical or purely security-related task. Today, it is a fundamental pillar of national recovery. And it is technology that has become the key to large-scale, rapid, and safe ...

  • Afghanistan: The deadly threat to children as mine action faces funding shortfalls

    July 14, 2025

    As recently as June 24, 2025, two children were killed and two injured after one of them struck an unexploded device with an axe in Dar-e-Noor, Nagahar province. 6.4 million Afghans live at risk of unexploded ordnance (UXO), with children making up 80 percent of blast casualties and injuries. Whether playing in the streets or on ...

  • Ukraine: In the first half of 2025, Ministry of Defence demining specialists cleared over 41,000 hectares of land

    July 1, 2025

    From January to June 2025, mine clearance units of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine cleared 41,243 hectares of land of explosive ordnance in areas previously liberated from russian occupation. This is nearly half the area of Kyiv or more than 57,000 standard football fields. Over the six-month period, 39,401.64 hectares of agricultural land were cleared, ...

  • Syria: Emergency Minister, International Organizations discuss structure of National Mine Action Center

    June 29, 2025

    Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed al-Saleh discussed with representatives of international organizations and UN agencies the draft work plan for the National Mine Action Center in Syria and its structure, in line with humanitarian priorities and international practices. During the meeting, the participants underlined the importance of completing a review of the center’s scope ...

  • Italy bolsters Ukraine’s humanitarian demining efforts with EUR 1.5 million contribution via UNDP

    June 20, 2025

    Italy has announced a new significant contribution to Ukraine’s humanitarian demining efforts, formalized today through the official signing of a EUR 1.5 million agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine. The agreement, the principle beneficiary of which will be the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, aims to bolster the UNDP Mine Action Programme ...

  • The European Union donates 15 off-road vehicles to BiH Mine Action Centre to strengthen mine clearance efforts

    June 19, 2025

    The European Union donated 15 off-road vehicles to Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Centre (BHMAC) today in Sarajevo. These vehicles will support the safe transport of demining teams and equipment to remote and hard-to-reach mine-suspected areas, enabling more efficient demining operations on the ground. The vehicles are procured under the larger EU funded Mine Action project, ...

  • Russia: North Korea to send 1,000 sappers, 5,000 builders to restore Kursk Region

    June 17, 2025

    North Korean leader Kim Jong un will send 1,000 combat engineers and 5,000 military builders to help restore the Kursk Region, Russia’s Security Council quoted its Secretary Sergey Shoigu as saying after a visit to North Korea. “Chairman of the State Affairs of the DPRK Kim Jong un has decided to send 1,000 sappers to Russia ...

  • Ukraine faces $25 billion bill for farmland demining

    June 16, 2025

    Demining agricultural lands in Ukraine contaminated with explosive devices could cost nearly ₴1 trillion (about $25 billion), MP Nina Yuzhanina wrote on Telegram on June 14. “Economy Ministry data indicated that 30 auctions for demining agricultural lands totaling 5,370 hectares have been held since the beginning of 2025,” she wrote. “The final price of the work ...