Historic mine ban treaty at risk as clearance rates plummet amid escalating global conflict


The HALO Trust, the international landmine clearance organisation, has called for global recommitment to the Landmine Ban Treaty following a 10 per cent drop in the number of anti-personnel mines cleared in 2023.

The steep fall in landmines cleared is reported in Mine Action Review’s “Clearing the Mines” report, which will be published today by a group of charities, ahead of a key global summit in Cambodia this month. The report finds that 192,563 anti-personnel landmines were destroyed in the course of 2023. This is 21,193 fewer than 2022. Meanwhile, the think tank, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, reports that global funding to clear landmines fell by 18 per cent in the decade to 2022 – a drop of $1.18 billion.

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Source: Reliefweb News


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