Peace operations are designed to create conditions for lasting peace and mine action has proven to be vital at all stages of the mission cycle. UNMAS helps to ensure that peace operations are fit for the purpose to implement their complex mandates in situations where there is an explosive threat.
As of 1 January 2026, UNMAS is an integrated component of seven peacekeeping missions, one support office and one special political mission.
In the planning stage, the Service advises on how to protect civilians and peacekeeping personnel from the threat of explosive ordnance providing pre-deployment training, in-country training, and technical assessments. Throughout mandate delivery, UNMAS enables mobility, builds capacity, and helps advance mandate implementation. As missions close, UNMAS ensures explosive ordnance does not become a legacy.
UNMAS not only enables freedom of movement and delivery of mission mandates – it also saves the lives of peacekeepers. In Somalia, UNMAS helped train more than 6,000 personnel of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in explosive hazard awareness. It also assessed 186 key supply routes spanning more than 1,800 kilometers to ensure the safe and secure movement of peacekeeping forces. UNMAS trained more than 2,700 peacekeepers from the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic in explosive risk awareness and mitigation, including 149 in search-and-detect operations and 125 in post-blast investigation, better preparing the Missions for operations in complex security environments.
The Improvised Explosive Device Threat Mitigation Advisory Team and the Mobile Training Team trained 328 peacekeepers and accredited 184 national instructors to deliver in-country pre-deployment training on countering the threat of improvised explosive devices. This led to reducing the time spent on in-mission training (all figures for period from August 2023 to July 2025).
Mine action also functions as a confidence-building measure and delivers rapid and tangible peace dividends. In Colombia, ex-combatants are trained as deminers as part of their reintegration and the land they clear will enable rural development.
“Peacekeeping operations rely on UNMAS to help ensure safe movement, provide training on addressing mine threats and support weapons and ammunition management.” Secretary-General, António Guterres. (UNMAS Annual Report 2024)