Demining experts from around the world have been sharing their collective shock at the widespread and growing threat from unexploded ordnance, the new head of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said this week.
“They’re telling me, ‘Never in my career have I ever seen so many conflicts,’” said Kazumi Ogawa, speaking at the close of a Mine Action National Directors and UN advisers meeting in Geneva. Despite the clear need to continue demining work in the world’s conflict zones and those now at peace, “for various reasons, the level of funding has gone down in terms of humanitarian assistance”, Ms. Ogawa noted.
Read more…
Source: United Nations
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- UNODC Organizes Expert Group Meeting to Standardize Procedures on Evidence Collection in Terrorism-related Incidents in Remote Border Areas in Bénin
January 13, 2026
Northern Benin faces growing security challenges as terrorist groups exploit remote border areas to carry out attacks against civilians and security forces, including incidents involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs). While military operations have strengthened security in these regions, significant gaps remain in ensuring that evidence collected during counter-terrorism interventions is admissible before national courts. Limited access ...
- Lebanon: Chinese peacekeepers obtain UN mine clearance, EOD qualifications
January 7, 2026
BEIRUT, Jan. 7 — A total of 69 members of the 24th Chinese peacekeeping force to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) successfully passed the assessment by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and obtained the UN mine clearance and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) qualifications on January 5, 2026. The mine clearance and ...
- UN, US sign $2 billion humanitarian funding agreement for 17 crisis-hit countries
December 29, 2025
The United Nations and the United States on Monday formalized an agreement under which the US committed $2 billion in humanitarian assistance for global relief programmes, a move the UN’s top relief official hailed as a landmark commitment to saving lives amid escalating humanitarian needs worldwide. Speaking at the signing in Geneva, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator ...
- Somalia, AU mission and UN appeal for urgent funding to support security forces
December 16, 2025
Somali federal government, the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), and the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) have jointly appealed for urgent donor contributions to sustain support for Somali Security Forces. The appeal was made during a Somali Security Forces (SSF) Trust Fund event held in Mogadishu on Tuesday. The meeting ...
- Sudan: Six peacekeepers killed in drone attack on UN logistics base in South Kordofan
December 15, 2025
A solemn farewell ceremony was held on Monday at the headquarters of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to honour six Bangladeshi peacekeepers killed in a drone attack on a UN logistics base in Kadugli, South Kordofan. Providing an update at the daily noon briefing, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told correspondents that the ...
- Ukraine: UN FAO, Qatar Fund for Development allocate $10 mln to support rural communities affected by mine risk
December 9, 2025
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) have signed an agreement worth $10 million to support rural communities affected by potential contamination of agricultural land with mines and explosive remnants of war in Ukraine, the FAO press service reported. “The programme aims to restore safe use ...
- Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention to hold its Twenty-Second Meeting of States Parties from 1 to 5 December 2025
December 1, 2025
The Twenty-Second Meeting of States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is being held from 1 to 5 December 2025 at the Palais des Nations, Geneva. The Meeting opened at 10 a.m. on Monday, 1 December, under the Presidency of Ambassador Tomiko Ichikawa of Japan. The opening session featured a video-message from the United Nations ...
- India-UK joint drill intensifies with high-end combat training in Rajasthan
November 26, 2025
The Indo-UK Joint Military Exercise Ajeya Warrior-25, currently underway at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges, Rajasthan, continues to progress with high professional intensity as troops from the Indian Army’s Sikh Regiment and the UK Army engage in a focussed training curriculum aimed at strengthening interoperability under a United Nations mandate. According to an army spokesperson, both ...
- UAE Federal Public Prosecution launches regional programme on CBRN criminal investigations
November 24, 2025
The UAE Federal Public Prosecution has launched the regional programme on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) criminal investigations, in partnership with the European Union CBRN Centres of Excellence and in cooperation with the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), with wide participation from national, regional and international experts and specialists. The opening ...
- Kenya: UK trains KDF on how to handle improvised explosives
November 21, 2025
The United Kingdom has reaffirmed its commitment to regional security after supporting Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) personnel through a five-week Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) course at the Humanitarian Peace Support School (HPSS) in Nairobi. According to the British High Commission’s statement on Friday, November 21, 2025, the newly trained specialists are now equipped to counter ...
- Clearing the Mines 2025 – Report Reveals Worst-Ever Violations of the Mine Ban Convention and Urges Action by States Parties
November 17, 2025
Mine Action Review today published Clearing the Mines 2025, its annual global assessment of anti-personnel (AP) mine contamination, survey, and clearance, ahead of the TwentySecond Meeting of States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC), taking place in Geneva on 1–5 December. The report warns that the APMBC is facing the most serious challenges in ...
- Ukraine to create interagency national underwater mine clearance group
November 12, 2025
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, in partnership with the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture and other key mine action stakeholders, will create the first interagency national group of underwater mine clearance instructors, the press service of the Ministry of Economy reported. According to the report, the group consists of fifteen instructors who ...
- Togo: Protecting civilians from the risks of Improvised Explosive Devices
November 11, 2025
As part of its support to the Togolese government to strengthen the protection of civilian populations in the north of the country against the risk posed by explosive devices, including Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), implemented several activities, ...
- Switzerland submits objection to Ukraine’s suspension of the Ottawa Convention
October 17, 2025
Switzerland will object to Ukraine’s decision to suspend the Ottawa Convention, which prohibits the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel mines. At its meeting on 15 October, the Federal Council considered that such a suspension would be incompatible with international law. As a state party to the convention, Switzerland was informed of Ukraine’s decision on ...
- UNOCT: Supporting Eastern Africa in countering terrorist use of improvised explosive devices
September 12, 2025
The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) will launch the project: “Supporting Eastern Africa in countering terrorist use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs)”, on 11 September 2025. By improving the application of legislative frameworks and building capacities of national authorities to prevent and respond to terrorist activities involving IEDs, the three-year project aims to enhance the ...