More than 25 years have passed since the Mine Ban Treaty was established and the UN Mine Action Service was created.
Since then, more than 55 million landmines have been destroyed and over 30 countries have become mine-free. However, significant challenges remain.
As of 1 November 2024, 58 States and 2 other areas were contaminated by anti-personnel mines globally (Clearing the Mines 2024).
What is the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty?
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction is the international agreement that bans antipersonnel landmines. It is usually referred to as the Ottawa Convention or the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty.
The Convention was concluded by the Diplomatic Conference on an International Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Land Mines at Oslo on 18 September 1997. In accordance with its article 15, the Convention was opened for signature at Ottawa, Canada, by all States from 3 December 1997 until 4 December 1997, and remained open thereafter at the United Nations Headquarters in New York until its entry into force on 1 March 1999. To date, 165 States are party to the treaty and 133 have signed it.
Since its inception more than two decades ago, the Convention has led to a virtual halt in global production of anti-personnel mines, and a drastic reduction in their deployment. More than 40 million stockpiled mines have been destroyed, and assistance has been provided to survivors and populations living in the affected areas. Vast numbers of mined and suspected hazardous areas have been declared free of landmines and released for productive use. As a result of these efforts, the number of casualties has sharply declined. Other welcome trends include: increases in national capacity to manage complex mine action programmes; the great progress in framing victim assistance in the wider context of disability; and the development of improved risk-reduction tools. The Mine Ban Convention has been a central framework for States in conducting mine action activities that led to all these remarkable achievements.
What are anti-personnel landmines?
Landmines come predominantly in two varieties: anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines. Both have caused great suffering in the past decades and continue to kill and injure civilians and by-standers long after conflicts have ended. Anti-personnel mines are prohibited under the Ottawa Convention.
Anti-personnel mines are obsolete, inhumane and indiscriminate. Their devastating humanitarian, huamn rights, social and economic impact far outweighs any perceived military utility.
Forward Not Fragmented
About the campaign
The Secretary-General campaign on mine action launched on 16 June 2025 aims to uphold the norms of humanitarian disarmament and accelerate mine action to advance human rights and sustainable development.
The campaign is a call to action to strengthen international disarmament efforts, protect civilians from the impact of explosive ordnance and drive forward the vision of a mine-free world.
It is jointly led by the United Nations Office of Disarmament (UNODA) and the United Nations Department of Peace Operations (DPO), represented by UNMAS, in close consultation with the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Department of Global Communications. The campaign will be implemented through the Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Mine Action (IACG-MA).
Digital resources for the Mine Action Advocacy Campaign can be found on Trello or following the conversation on social media via the hashtags #MineAction and #ForwardNotFragmented.