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
Related:
- Ukraine: Over 100,000 sq km of land still potentially dangerous due to mines
April 5, 2026
More than 100,000 square kilometers of Ukraine’s territory remain potentially hazardous. The Office of the President of Ukraine reported this on Facebook on the occasion of the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. “More than 100,000 square kilometers of our country still remain potentially dangerous. But Ukraine is doing everything to increase ...
- Iraq reports 30K casualties from unexploded ordnance since 2003
April 4, 2026
Landmines and unexploded ordnance continue to kill and maim in Iraq, where thousands of victims over decades underscore one of the country’s most persistent post-war dangers. The threat has lingered for years despite international awareness campaigns and clearance efforts, with the United Nations marking April 4 as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in ...
- Syria: Over 110,000 Mines and war remnants cleared since the start of 2026
April 4, 2026
More than 110,000 mines and explosive remnants of war have been dismantled or destroyed across Syria since the beginning of 2026 by engineering units of the Syrian Arab Army, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Defense on the occasion of the International Day for Mine Awareness. The Ministry’s Media and Communication Department told SANA ...
- Mine action clearing the path to climate resilience and lasting peace
April 2, 2026
In parts of Cambodia, land that once lay unused for years is slowly being reclaimed. For those living decades with the legacy of conflict, fields and forests were not simply unproductive–they were unsafe. Families avoided their own land, knowing that what lay beneath the soil could be deadly. Across many parts of the world this reality ...
- Invest in Peace; Invest in Mine Action
April 1, 2026
The world marks the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on 4 April, reaffirming the essential role mine action plays in securing peace, enabling recovery, and driving sustainable development. This year’s global theme, “Invest in Peace, Invest in Mine Action,” highlights a fundamental truth: peace cannot be sustained where landmines, cluster munition ...
- Every Step Could be a Threat: Children and Explosive Remnants of War
April 1, 2026
In conflict and post-conflict settings, children face daily the risk of being killed or maimed from mines and explosive remnants of war. On the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Vanessa Frazier, calls for urgent and renewed attention and resources for ...
- UN: Sea mines clearance, a new dimension of difficulty
March 30, 2026
It is still not clear whether mines, which can sink vessels of all types if activated, have been deployed in the Strait of Hormuz, as part of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Most shipping has not been able to pass through the strategically important strait as Iran continues its war with the United States, ...
- Thailand: Mine clearance stepped up on Sa Kaeo border as more than 60,000 sq m remain high-risk
March 28, 2026
Burapha Task Force says it has cleared 39,100 sq m of a nearly 100,000-sq-m suspected hazardous area on the Thai-Cambodian border in Sa Kaeo, but more than 60% remains dangerous. A POMZ-2 anti-personnel mine was recently found and removed. Burapha Task Force, through Humanitarian Mine Action Unit 1, on Saturday entered the Thai-Cambodian border area to ...
- Nigeria: Federal Government mulls civilian de-mining teams to curb rising IED threats
March 24, 2026
Christopher Musa, minister of defence, says the federal government will establish civilian de-mining teams comprising retired military personnel, other security veterans, and civilians, including youths and medical professionals, to tackle threats of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday at the national mine action stakeholders’ workshop, the minister said the threat posed by anti-personnel ...
- Vietnam: Party chief calls for modernised Engineering Corps to meet evolving defence demand
March 22, 2026
Party General Secretary To Lam has underscored the need for the Engineering Corps, an arm of the Vietnam People’s Army, to enhance its overall capacity to meet increasingly demanding national defence tasks amid a rapidly evolving global and regional landscape. In his keynote address at the 80th anniversary ceremony of Vietnam’s Engineering Corps in Hanoi on ...
- UN mine action chiefs for Ethiopia and Sudan call for more funding
March 19, 2026
The heads of United Nations landmine action programmes in Ethiopia and Sudan have called for more funding and awareness of contamination by munitions. Both say mines kill and maim a disproportionate number of children, adding that people cannot return to safety without addressing explosive hazards. Speaking at UN headquarters in New York, the Ethiopia chief said ...
- Thailand: Over 300 Landmines Found In Surin Border Clearance Operations
March 18, 2026
The Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters has uncovered more than 300 landmines during ongoing clearance operations along the Thai–Cambodian border in Kap Choeng district, as efforts continue to secure the area for local residents. On 17 March, the Thai Mine Action Center under the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters reported progress in demining operations at Ban ...
- Hormuz Strait tensions: How navies detect and clear marine mines
March 13, 2026
With the US racing to unblock the Strait of Hormuz and stabilise soaring oil prices, a report emerged that Iran has sown an “estimated 10 mines” in the vital chokepoint, where 20% of global oil exports pass through. Deployed stealthily, often by frogmen from small boats masquerading as fishing vessels, these weapons evade detection, rendering clearance ...
- Vietnam destroys 27 unexploded bombs in operation backed by Norway
March 11, 2026
A total of 27 pieces of unexploded wartime ordnance were safely destroyed in central Vietnam on 10 March, Vietnam National Mine Action Center reports. The demolition marked another step in the long effort to clear unexploded ordnance that still threatens communities decades after the war. The operation was carried out by the Vietnam National Mine Action ...
- Belgium: Bomb disposal unit begins removal of WWII sea mines off the coast of Wenduine
March 10, 2026
Off the coast of Wenduine, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Destruction Service (DOVO) and grid operator Elia Group have begun the safe removal of twelve German sea mines dating from the Second World War. The mines lie on the seabed along the planned cable route that will carry green electricity from the Princess Elisabeth energy island ...
- Cambodia: CMAC, NPA sign deal to bolster demining efforts
March 9, 2026
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Friday to expand training and technical support for mine detection dogs and explosive ordnance clearance. The agreement, titled “Capacity development and partnership project on mine and explosive detection dog programme”, was signed at CMAC headquarters by CMAC Director-General Heng ...
- Ukraine: Demining Units Clear 767 Hectares in February 2026
March 4, 2026
During February 2026, the demining units of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine cleared 767 hectares of liberated territories from explosive remnants of war. According to the press service of the Main Directorate for Mine Action, Civil Protection and Environmental Safety, this message came through the official Telegram channel. In particular, safety was restored on 743.49 ...
- Cambodia celebrates 33 years of progress in clearing 3,541 square kilometers of landmines
March 3, 2026
Over the past 33 years, from 1992 to 2025, Cambodia has successfully cleared and repurposed 3,541 square kilometers of land formerly contaminated by landmines and explosive remnants of war. This significant achievement was highlighted in a special message from Prime Minister Hun Manet on February 23, 2026, marking the occasion of the 27th National Mine ...
- Croatia declared free of landmines after 31 years
February 27, 2026
Interior Minister Davor Božinović announced Friday that Croatia is officially free of landmines. Thirty-one years after the end of the Homeland War, all known minefields have been cleared — a major milestone for the country. The decades-long effort came at a heavy cost. Over three decades of painstaking and dangerous work, 208 people lost their lives, ...
- Syria begins mine clearance at UNESCO-listed Ruwayha site in Idlib
February 25, 2026
Engineering teams have begun removing mines and unexploded ordnance from the archaeological site of Ruwayha in southern Idlib, the Syrian Arab Republic’s state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday. The operation is part of a broader plan by the Idlib Directorate of Antiquities to protect and preserve historical sites across the Jabal Al-Zawiya region, which includes ...
- Syria, Ukraine discuss cooperation on landmine clearance
February 24, 2026
Syria’s Minister of Emergency Management and Disaster Response, Raed al-Saleh, met a Ukrainian delegation in Damascus to discuss expanding cooperation on clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), the ministry said. The Ukrainian delegation was led by Ihor Bezkrovainyi, director of Ukraine’s Humanitarian Demining Center and deputy minister of economy and agriculture. Talks focused on strengthening Syria’s ...
- Belgium gives €1.35 million to UN mine clearance in Iraq and Syria
February 18, 2026
Belgium contributed €1.35 million last year to mine clearance work by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq and Syria, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday. Since 2019, Belgium has invested more than €13 million in mine action projects in the two countries. After years of heavy conflict, Iraq and Syria remain contaminated ...