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
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Children shot, stabbed and pepper-sprayed in occupied West Bank; scores of Gaza amputees denied prosthetics, aid teams warn
Israeli military operations and surging settler attacks in the occupied West Bank are killing and maiming Palestinian children, while in Gaza tens of thousands with life-changing injuries lack access to treatment and rehabilitation, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.
1
1
2
Press Conferences | UN WOMEN , UNDP , UNEP , UNICEF , WHO
UN WOMEN - The war in Ukraine is becoming deadlier for women and girls; UNICEF Children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, targeted through direct violence and the dismantling of essential systems and services; WHO - Update on medical rehabilitation needs in Gaza; UNDP - South Sudan: fragility amid elections and crises, alongside sustained local peacebuilding, justice access, and community resilience gains; UNEP - Sand and Sustainability: An Essential Resource for Nature and Development report.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNEP
Launch of the United Nations Environment Programme’s report: ‘2026 Sand and Sustainability: An Essential Resource for Nature and Development’.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The risk of hantavirus spreading to the general population is “absolutely low”, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) stressed on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UN WOMEN , WFP , WHO
UN Women - The situation of women and girls in Lebanon; WFP - Deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Somalia; WHO - Hantavirus interim update
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , IFRC
Death and destruction have continued unabated in Lebanon while communities are still unable to return to their homes despite a ceasefire that began on 17 April, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Deadly hantavirus on board cruise ship may be transmitted among humans - WHO
Hantavirus victims on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean may have been infected prior to joining the cruise and human-to-human transmission on board cannot be ruled out – although it is rare - the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ILO , UNHCR , IFRC , WHO , OHCHR , UNECE
ILO - Report on Skills and Lifelong Learning; UNHCR, IFRC - Humanitarian Needs Rise in Lebanon; WHO Cruise Ship Hantavirus; OHCHR - Civilians Impacted Amid Clashes in Mali; UNECE - Call for Water Cooperation in Central Africa; IFRC - Call for Protection of Humanitarian Personnel on the Anniversary of the Founding of IFRC
1
7
1
1
Press Conferences | ITU , UNDRR
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary-General and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Kamal Kishore, will brief the media on the launch a joint report titled "When Digital Systems Fail: The Hidden Risks of our Digital World."
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN rights chief concerned by upheld convictions of Cambodian activists.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , OHCHR
Middle East crisis puts aid, food, fuel further out of reach for millions already struggling – UN agencies
As the Middle East crisis continues the humanitarian fallout is worsening, with aid route disruptions and food and fuel price hikes wrecking the lives and rights of the most vulnerable, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNHCR , OHCHR
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section, United Nations Information Service (UNIS) at Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.