The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Civilians accounted for 85 per cent of casualties by landmine and explosive remnants of war in 2022, half of them were children
More than 4,710 people were injured or killed by landmines and other explosive remnants in 2022 across 49 states, a UN-backed civil society report said on Tuesday.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), a network of over 1,000 NGOs, stated in its latest Landmine Monitor 2023 report that “there were significant increases in some countries, primarily Ukraine, where the number of civilian casualties recorded increased tenfold from around 60 in 2021 to around 600 in 2022,” said Loren Persi, one of the authors of the report, speaking at UN Geneva.
The Landmine Monitor 2023 report has been released ahead of the Mine Ban Treaty’s 21st Meeting of States Parties, which takes place at UN Geneva from 20 to 24 November.
The report states that civilians accounted for 85 per cent of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties recorded in 2022, half of them children (1,171). The highest number of casualties over the course of the year was recorded in Syria (834) and Ukraine (608).
“The effects of landmines and explosive remnants of war continue to mostly harm civilians and particularly children. It was the case that children accounted for basically half of civilian casualties and civilians were the vast majority of casualties in 2022,” said Mr. Persi.
Antipersonnel landmines are explosive devices that kill and wound people during and long after conflicts. They are placed above, under, or on the ground and explode from a person’s presence, proximity, or contact.
Antipersonnel mines are typically placed by hand, but they can also be scattered by aircraft, rockets, and artillery, or dispersed from specialized vehicles.
Amidst the conflict in Ukraine, the country saw a tenfold increase in the number of civilian landmine and ERW casualties compared to 2021 (58), said the report. Yemen and Myanmar both recorded more than 500 casualties in 2022.
New use of the weapon represents one of the greatest challenges to eradicating antipersonnel landmines globally. The 2023 Landmine Monitor report finds that “Ukrainian government forces used anti-personnel mines in violation of the treaty in and around the city of Izium during 2022 when the city was under Russian control.”
Mark Hiznay, Policy Editor of the Landmine Monitor 2023 report, said that Russia had “extensively used anti-personnel mines since its invasion (of Ukraine) in February of 2022. This has created an unprecedented situation where we have a non-State party using the weapon on the territory of a State party.”
In the 20-plus years since the international Ottowa mine ban treaty was signed, “this has really never occurred before”, Mr. Hiznay added.
A total of 30 States Parties have reported clearance of all mined areas from their territory since the Mine Ban Treaty came into force in 1999.
Affected States Parties continued to clear contaminated land in 2022, collectively clearing 219.31km² and destroying 169,276 antipersonnel landmines. Almost 60 per cent of the land cleared in 2022 was cleared in just two countries: Cambodia and Croatia.
However, there are still uncleared landmines in more than 60 countries and territories that destroy livelihoods, deny land use, and disrupt access to essential services.
“At least 60 states or other areas, including 33 state parties that are contaminated by anti-personnel landmines,” said Katrin Atkins, Landmine Monitor 2023 Impact Team Senior Researcher. “We also have ten states parties that should provide more information with regard to a possible or a confirmed contamination with improvised mines.”
Adopted on 18 September 1997, the Mine Ban Treaty prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of antipersonnel mines and requires victim assistance, mine clearance and stockpile destruction. Currently there are 164 States Parties to the treaty; the last countries to join it were Palestine and Sri Lanka in 2017.
-ends-
STORY: UNIDIR - Press Conference - 14 November 2023
TRT: 2:36”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 14 November 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN building with UN flag, UN Geneva.
- Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Loren Persi, Landmine Monitor 2023 Impact Team Lead: “In the previous year there was 4,710 casualties recorded. It was down from 5,544. But there were significant increases in some countries, primarily Ukraine. And in Ukraine, the number of civilian casualties recorded increased tenfold from around 60 in 2021 to around 600 in 2022.”
- Cutaway: Close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Loren Persi, Landmine Monitor 2023 Impact Team Lead: “The effects of landmines and explosive remnants of war continue to mostly harm civilians and particularly children. And it was the case that children accounted for basically half of civilian casualties and civilians were the vast majority of casualties in 2022.”
- Cutaway: Medium shot, podium and speakers, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Mark Hiznay, Landmine Monitor 2023 Ban Policy Editor: “Ukrainian government forces used anti-personnel mines in violation of the treaty in and around the city of Izium during 2022 when the city was under Russian control.”
- Cutaway: Close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Mark Hiznay, Landmine Monitor 2023 Ban Policy Editor: “Russia has extensively used anti-personnel mines since its invasion in February of 2022. This has created an unprecedented situation where we have a non-state party using the weapon on the territory of a state party. In the 20 plus years, this has really never occurred before.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Katrin Atkins, Landmine Monitor 2023 Impact Team Senior Researcher: “At least 60 states or other areas, including 33 state parties that are contaminated by anti-personnel landmines. We also have ten states parties that should provide more information with regard to a possible or a confirmed contamination with improvised mines.”
- Cutaway: Medium shot, podium and speakers, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: medium shot, journalist listening, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Press Conferences | BRS
Outcomes of the 2025 BRS Conventions Conference of the Parties (COPs)
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNRWA , UNICEF , OCHA , WHO , ITU , WFP , UNHCR
Rolando Gómez of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Telecommunications Union.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF , UNRWA
Israel’s aid plan will force Gaza families to choose ‘between displacement and death’ – UN humanitarians
Israel’s plan to take control of relief assistance in Gaza risks increasing the suffering of families already exhausted by 18 months of war by putting their lives in danger and inciting more displacement, using aid as “bait”, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNDP , UNHCR , WHO , UNECE , OCHA , WMO
Rolando Gómez, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
UN Humanitarians reject Israeli plan to take over aid delivery
The reported Israeli proposal to deliver humanitarian supplies through hubs controlled by the military would be a breach of the core principles of neutral, impartial and independent aid delivery, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News , B-roll | OCHA
Gaza: ‘Worst-case scenario’ unfolds as two-month aid blockade deepens suffering - OCHA
Two months into a devastating aid blockade of Gaza food has run out and people are fighting over water amid relentless bombing, the UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday.
/Includes OCHA footage from Gaza City/
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNDP , OCHA , UNHCR
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the United Nations Refugee Agency.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Children in Gaza are going to bed starving, says aid agency
The biggest UN aid agency in Gaza on Tuesday condemned the two-month Israeli blockade on Gaza that has left families sharing a single tin of food at mealtime and the sick and injured without lifesaving medical help, amid daily bombardment.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IFRC , UNHCR , UNRWA
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine force frontline areas to empty: UNHCR
With Ukrainian cities still reeling from this week’s deadly Russian missile and drone attacks, communities on the front line continue to be targeted too, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday. “We also see attacks on frontline regions increasing and it's, as always, civilians that are bearing the highest cost of the war,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | BRS
2025 BRS Conventions Conference of the Parties (COPs)
1
1
2
Press Conferences | WFP , UNHCR , WHO
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the World Food Programme, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Health Organization.