Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action Day being observed

International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action is being observed on Tuesday (April 4).

The day aims to raise awareness about landmines, seek assistance for mine action work, and advance towards removing them.

This year, the United Nations Mine Action Service observe the day under the campaign “Mine Action Cannot Wait”.

In his message on the occasion, the UN Secretary General has urged for action to rid the world of landmines that continue to kill innocent people.

According to a UN estimate, landmines still lay hidden in nearly 70 countries that continue to kill or maim innocent people, despite the destruction of millions of booby traps globally by the UN personnel over past two decades.

The latest estimates show that in 2021, more than 5,500 people were killed or maimed by landmines, most of them were civilians, half of whom were children. More than two decades after the adoption of the Mine Ban Treaty, about sixty million people in nearly 70 countries and territories still live with the risk of landmines on a daily basis.