Global efforts are key to saving lives from the ‘terrifying legacy’ of unexploded ordnance, as it wreaks daily havoc in war-torn and post-conflict communities alike, UN officials said, as Mine Action Week kicked off on Monday.
More than two decades since the adoption of the landmark Mine Ban Treaty and the creation of the UN Mine Action Service, millions of landmines have been destroyed, but land in nearly 70 countries globally is still contaminated and innocent people continue to be killed or maimed.
Hello, in this week’s show: an alert over fighting in Yemen’s north and the inevitable toll on the country’s war-weary people, grassroots solutions to gender-based violence among refugees and the latest from the UN health agency about rare multi-organ inflammation in children with COVID.
Stay with us too to hear about progress on the global eradication of landmines, and not forgetting closing comments from regular guest, Solange Behoteguy-Cortes.
Global casualties from anti-personnel landmines were “exceptionally high” last year, with Syrians and Afghans worst-hit, a UN-backed civil society report said on Wednesday
The United Nations on Wednesday called for an investigation into the deadly attack in northern Afghanistan against the HALO Trust, a humanitarian group working to rid the country of landmines. In a statement issued on Friday, the UN Security Council described the attack as "atrocious and cowardly", underlining the need to hold the terrorist perpetrators to account.
Lethal cluster munitions are still being used in old and new conflicts around the world, from Syria to Libya, to Nagorno-Karabakh, a UN-backed civil society report said on Wednesday.
Thousands of people continue to be killed and injured every year by landmines and explosive weapons in conflicts around the world, while the COVID-19 pandemic has forced mine-clearance efforts to be scaled back, a UN-backed civil society report on the issue said on Thursday.
Ongoing hostilities in Libya have left numerous cities severely “re-contaminated” with unexploded ordnance, threatening schools, universities and hospitals, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said on Wednesday.
A world without landmines is possible - and sooner than you think.
That’s the message from mine clearance experts helping to make communities safe with the UN Mine Action Service, or UNMAS.
In an interview with UN News’s Daniel Johnson, they explain that although contaminated land is being cleared in more than two dozen countries, this fulfils only a small part of their future development needs.
A recap of Monday’s stories in brief: Guterres holds “focused and frank” informal talks over Cyprus, responds to Colombia protests; Violence targeting women impedes peace; UN Mission, community condemn South Sudan violence; UN weather watchdog sounds climate alarm; Norway hosts anti-landmine summit.
