Tackling the threats posed by Improvised Explosive Devices

Following a successful side event organised by France on 14th October 2024, held alongside the First Committee of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the responses to the threats posed by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), Sebastian Read More …

German UNIFIL ship downs drone off Lebanese coast

A German Navy warship participating in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has downed a drone off Lebanon’s coast, a military spokesman told dpa on Thursday. The Ludwigshafen am Rhein corvette repelled an approaching drone at around 7 Read More …

UNDP identifies most promising innovative approaches to financing mine action in Ukraine

The issuance of thematic bonds linked to sustainable development and result-oriented public-private partnerships are the most promising innovative tools for financing mine action in Ukraine. This is stated in a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) based on Read More …

Supporting humanitarian mine action in Yemen

UNOPS and the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Yemen are working to scale-up much-needed mine action operations across the country. Years of conflict in Yemen have left a devastating mark on the country, including the widespread contamination of explosive remnants Read More …

UN: 1,500 Somalis killed or injured by explosive devices in 2023

At least 1,500 civilians were killed or injured by 600 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Somalia over the past year, the UN reported late Thursday. UN Secretary-General’s Acting Special Representative for Somalia James Swan said that the threat of IEDs Read More …

French peacekeepers conduct joint training with LAF on first aid, improvised explosive devices

UNIFIL’s French peacekeepers hosted members of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in their main base in the south Lebanese village of Dayr Kifa for joint training last week. The three-day activity saw 10 Lebanese soldiers learn skills together with their Read More …

New IAEA Publication about Detecting Nuclear and Other Radioactive Material out of Regulatory Control

A new IAEA publication titled Detection in a State’s Interior of Nuclear and Other Radioactive Material out of Regulatory Control offers law enforcement agencies and frontline officers detailed guidance to support them in combatting criminal acts involving nuclear or other Read More …

Bringing Drone Technology to Iraqi Police

“In 2021, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Salman Pak Training Center received 20 drones from UNMAS Iraq. These drones were distributed to relevant departments across the Iraqi governorates in order to ensure the best use of Read More …

Supporting Iraqi Women in Mine Action

Noor is a qualified Iraqi woman working in the Iraqi mine action sector. She joined an explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) team nine years ago with an international mine action NGO. Since then, she has been developing her skills to Read More …

Sahel: UN Security Council must call out “Ukraine’s support for terrorism”

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have petitioned the president of the UN Security Council to denounce what they call the Ukrainian government’s “open support for international terrorism” in the Sahel. A letter dated August 19 and signed by the envoys Read More …

“The Largest Landmine Field” and its Youngest Victims: Harrowing Tales of Suffering in Yemen

Seventeen-year-old Yemeni Muhanad Mubarak Al-Aqili lost his life after a stray shrapnel from a landmine explosion settled in his abdomen. Muhanad was returning home from school in Harib district when the incident occurred last year. In January 2024 alone, 17 Read More …

WHO declares mpox virus a public health emergency of international concern

The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the rise in mpox cases constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), following advice from members at Wednesday’s International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee meeting. A PHEIC is Read More …

UNIFIL Chief of Operations inspects Chinese Peacekeeping Troops to Lebanon

Recently, French Colonel Peyrecave, J3 Chief of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), inspected the 22nd Chinese Peacekeeping Troops to UNIFIL and expressed his appreciation for China’s outstanding contribution to UNIFIL. Upon arriving at the camp, Peyrecave and Read More …

Mali is still unsafe under the military: why it hasn’t made progress against rebels and terrorists

The scale of casualties suffered by the Wagner group and Malian forces during a recent assault in the Tinzaouaten region reveal vulnerability in Mali’s counterinsurgency posture. The attack was reported in the media as the biggest loss for Russian paramilitaries Read More …

UNDP collaborates with FAO and WFP to test innovative demining technologies in Kharkiv Oblast

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is partnering with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to test cutting-edge demining technologies in the previously occupied community of Kamianka in Kharkiv Oblast. This collaboration between the Read More …

Pakistan: National Workshop on Evolving responses to Countering IEDs in terrorism-related offences through downstream network disruption

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, in collaboration with the National Action to Counter Terrorism (NACTA) and with financial support from the U.S. Embassy’s Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL), organized a three-day National Workshop Read More …

Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices – report of the Secretary-General, United Nations

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 Read More …

OCHA reports 110 die in landmine explosions in Afghanistan every month

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan (OCHA) says that explosive devices kill 110 people every month across the country. This report states that since 1989, 45,000 people have been victims of landmines and explosive remnants in Read More …

UN Establishes Ukraine Community Recovery Fund

The United Nations in Ukraine, in coordination with the government, has established a flexible Ukraine Community Recovery Fund (UCRF), which has already attracted $7.25 million for mine action. It is specified that the UCRF, established in November 2023, is expected Read More …

Cyprus: Record violations in buffer zone amid growing distrust, UN report says

In his latest Unficyp report on Cyprus, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday expressed his strong concerns over the ‘significant’ militarisation of the buffer zone which undermine Unficyp’s peacekeeping efforts. Guterres highlighted a record number of violations in the buffer Read More …