{"id":113285,"date":"2026-04-04T18:33:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T13:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/?p=113285"},"modified":"2026-04-04T18:33:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T13:03:54","slug":"world-commemorates-the-21st-international-day-for-mine-awareness-and-assistance-in-mine-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/?p=113285","title":{"rendered":"World Commemorates The 21st International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New York; April 2026<\/strong>: On 08th December 2005, the United Nations General Assembly declared that 04th April each year shall be observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. This year (21st) in 2026 it is commemorated under the theme \u201cInvest in Peace; Invest in Mine Action”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It called for continued efforts by States, with the assistance of the United Nations and relevant organisations, to foster the establishment and development of national mine-action capacities in countries where mines and explosive remnants of war constitute a serious threat to the safety, health and lives of the civilian population, or an impediment to social and economic development at the national and local levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Established in 1997, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) functions to eliminate the threat posed by mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices by coordinating United Nations mine action, leading operational responses at the country level, and in support of peace operations, as well as through the development of standards, policies and norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United Nations advocates for the universalisation of existing legal frameworks and encourages Member States to expand those regimes and develop new international instruments to protect civilians from the scourges of landmines and explosive remnants of war. It undertakes this work in collaboration with interested states, civil society, mine action and international organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, commonly known as the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention opened for signature in 1997, 164 countries have ratified or acceded to it. Advocacy by this unprecedented coalition raised public awareness of the impact of anti-personnel landmines on civilians and rallied global support for a total ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 6 of the Mine Ban Treaty provided for “victim assistance”, making the care, rehabilitation and the social and economic reintegration of victims of mines an obligation of States Parties to the Convention. It set out that this assistance must meet the immediate and long-term needs of mine accident survivors, their families, mine-affected communities and persons with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol (A\/RES\/61\/106) was adopted on 13th December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and was opened for signature on 30th March 2007. This Convention, which referred to the Mine Ban Convention, included all persons with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to anti-personnel mines, challenges remain with respect to all other explosive remnants of war. On 12th November 2006, the Secretary-General welcomed the entry into force of Protocol V on explosive remnants of war from the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and reiterated his call for its universalization and implementation. In December 2008, the Secretary-General welcomed the opening for signature of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was joined by 108 states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guided by its inter-agency policy, the United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Mine Action (IACG-MA), consisting of 12 departments, agencies, funds and programmes, and with observer entities, such as the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research and World Bank continue to ensure system-wide coherence in all mine action pillars and activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United Nations Mine Action Strategy serves as an accountability framework for the United Nations system and participating entities, guiding efforts to prevent and address explosive ordnance threats during and after armed conflicts while supporting affected communities. As agreed by IACG-MA Principals in June 2023, this Strategy will no longer be timebound and will continue to be subject to periodic review every two years to coincide with the biennial report of the Secretary-General on assistance in mine action. The Principals of the IACG-MA endorsed the UN Strategy on 13th December 2023. The Strategy came into effect as of 01st January 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations has said in his speech:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Landmines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices exact a devastating toll on civilians, especially children. As conflicts multiply and military spending skyrockets, these dangers are deepening.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These weapons do not disappear when the fighting is over. They lurk in fields in Colombia, Ethiopia, Lebanon and Myanmar; amid the rubble in Gaza; and in communities across Syria. They kill thousands each year and injure a great many more \u2013 often long after conflict ends.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mine action plays a critical role in places where peace is fragile, the humanitarian response urgent, and development precarious. It allows the UN and its partners to work in greater safety and enables ravaged communities to recover and rebuild.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, I call on all Member States to join and adhere to the relevant instruments \u2013 including the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention \u2013 and urge those that have withdrawn to rejoin. Failing to preserve these vital instruments will only weaken civilian protections and add to the 100 million innocent lives already in peril.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s theme \u2013 \u201cInvest in peace, Invest in mine action\u201d \u2013 highlights the need to accelerate mine clearance, enhance risk education, expand victim assistance, reduce weapons stockpiles and advocate for a mine-free world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must eradicate the threat posed by these weapons \u2013 so all people everywhere can live in safety and with hope”<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team Maverick<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York; April 2026: On 08th December 2005, the United Nations General Assembly declared that 04th April each year shall be observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. This year (21st) in 2026 it is commemorated under the theme \u201cInvest in Peace; Invest in Mine Action”. It called for …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":113286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[81],"post_format":[],"flags":[],"class_list":["post-113285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","tag-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113285"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113287,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113285\/revisions\/113287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/113286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113285"},{"taxonomy":"post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_format&post=113285"},{"taxonomy":"flags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fflags&post=113285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}