The Issues

1. What is Landmine Monitor?
2. How can I get involved?
3. What is the difference between a landmine, cluster munition, and explosive remnant of war?
4. Which countries are affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW)?
5. How many mines are planted in the ground?
6. Which countries are most severely affected by mines?
7. How much land is contaminated by mines?
8. How many countries use mines?
9. How many countries produce mines?
10. How many people are killed or injured by mines?

1. How does a country join the Mine Ban Treaty, and what must it do to comply with it?
2. How many countries have signed and ratified or acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty?
3. What are the current challenges and successes of the Mine Ban Treaty?

1. How many mines and other explosives were cleared in 2008?
2. Have Mine Ban Treaty States Parties finished clearing all the mines in their country?

1. How many stockpiled mines have been destroyed and how many remain?
2. How many mines have been retained for training purposes?

1. How many people were injured or killed by mines and explosive remnants of war in 2008 compared to previous years?
2. Who was injured by mines in 2008?
3. Which type of explosive devices cause the most casualties?
4. Which countries and regions had the most new casualties in 2008?

1. What is the VA26 and which countries are members?

1. How many people were warned of the risk of mines in 2008?
2. Where was risk education adequate or inadequate in 2007?

1. How much international funding was provided for mine action in 2008 and which countries provided funding?
2. How much national funding was provided for mine action in 2008 and which countries provided funding?
3. Which countries received funding for mine action in 2008?

1. How does a country join the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and what must it do to comply with it?
2. How many countries have signed and/or ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions?
3. When will the Convention on Cluster Munitions enter into force?
4. Which countries have used cluster munitions?
5. Which countries produce cluster munitions?
6. Which countries have stockpiles of cluster munitions?
7. Which countries are affected by cluster munitions?
8. How is the Convention on Cluster Munitions related the negotiations for a protocol on cluster munitions within the Convention of Conventional Weapons?

Landmine Monitor is the de facto monitoring regime for the Mine Ban Treaty, a role it has begun to undertake for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Landmine Monitor is a civil society-based program providing research and monitoring on progress made in eliminating landmines, cluster munitions, and other explosive remnants of war. Landmine Monitor provides research for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC).

Landmine Monitor has published an annual Landmine Monitor Report since 1999, and published its first report on cluster munitions, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice in May 2009.

Donations to support the important work of the ICBL and Landmine Monitor can be made here.

Landmine Monitor is a research and reporting initiative. If you wish to contribute to our work please see our Opportunities section to find out how you can be involved.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) are advocacy and campaigning organizations with many opportunities to take action for a world free of landmines and cluster munitions. Visit the ICBL and CMC websites to get started.

Landmine Monitor, the ICBL and the CMC do not carry out any mine clearance operations. If you are looking for opportunities to be involved in mine clearance activities, please directly contact an organization engaged in field projects.

Antipersonnel landmines are explosive devices designed to injure or kill people. Antivehicle or antitank mines are designed to explode when triggered by a vehicle.

Cluster bombs, or cluster munitions, are weapons containing from several to hundreds of explosive submunitions. They are dropped from the air or fired from the ground and are designed to break open in mid-air, releasing the submunitions and saturating an area that can be as wide as several football fields.

Unexploded ordnance (UXO) are weapons that for some reason fail to detonate as intended become unexploded ordnance. These unstable explosive devices are left behind during and after conflicts and pose dangers similar to landmines.

Abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO) is explosive ordnance that has not been used during armed conflict and has been left behind and is no longer under control of the party that left it behind. It may or may not have been primed, fuzed, armed, or otherwise prepared for use.

Explosive remnants of war (ERW) are explosive munitions left behind after a conflict has ended. They include unexploded artillery shells, grenades, mortars, rockets, air-dropped bombs, and cluster munitions. Under the international legal definition, ERW consist of UXO and AXO, but not mines.

More than 70 states, as well as seven areas not internationally recognized, were believed to be mine-affected as of August 2009. Click here for a list of affected countries.

In 2009 Landmine Monitor reported that the Gambia and Tunisia were taken off the mine-affected list as they cleared all mined areas under their control.

There is no credible estimate of the total number of mines emplaced worldwide. Looking at the quantity of mines in the ground is not the best measure when trying to determine the impact of mines and ERW on people. To get a better indication of the impact of mines it is better measure the amount of area that is contaminated, and in addition, it is important to consider what type of land is contaminated, whether it is land that is needed for people to live on, farm, or travel through to reach services.

There are several different factors to be considered when measuring the severity of mine contamination. Some countries have a large number of mines located in areas that are not heavily populated or traveled, meaning that the impact of mines on people is minimal. In other countries, a relatively small number of mines can have a disproportionately high impact on people if they are located in areas that are densely populated or on land that is needed for livelihood activities like farming and grazing animals.

One way to assess the impact of mines is to look at the number of people killed or injured by mines. This gives a rough picture, but it is important to keep in mind that many victims of mines/ERW are not included in these figures because of poor data collection. Additionally, risk education programs may reduce the number of casualties, while communities continue to suffer grave consequences of mine contamination, such as an inability to work, farm, go to school, access health care and many other vital activities.

For a list of the countries with the largest number of mine and explosive remnant of war casualties click here.

It is very difficult to estimate to total amount of land contaminated by mines/ERW worldwide. Based on current data from surveys available, Landmine Monitor is able to estimate that global mine and ERW contamination affects many thousands—but likely not tens of thousands—of square kilometers.

For more information about mine contamination and clearance listen to the interview with Stuart Casey-Maslen, Landmine Monitor’s Mine Action Editor, available on our Multimedia Audio page.

No governments that have joined the Mine Ban Treaty currently use mines. Landmine Monitor Report 2009 reported that two states which have not joined the Mine Ban Treaty (Myanmar/Burma and the Russian Federation) used mines.

Mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which work like mines, were used by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in at least seven countries, including in states not party to the Mine Ban Treaty (India, Myanmar/Burma, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) and in States Parties (Afghanistan, Colombia, and Peru).

There are 13 countries on the list of mine producers, none of which have joined the Mine Ban Treaty: China, Cuba, India, Iran, Korea (Democratic People’s Republic), Korea (Republic), Myanmar/Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam.

Countries on this list may produce or maintain the ability to produce mines.

Data collection on mine incidents and survivors is largely inadequate so it is not possible to give a total number of people worldwide who have been killed or injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war. Click here to see information about recorded casualties in 2008.

The Mine Ban Treaty opened for signature on 3 December 1997 and entered into force (ie. became law) on 1 March 1999, six months after the 40th country ratified it.

Before the treaty entered into force, states joined the Mine Ban Treaty by carrying out two steps: signing and ratifying the treaty. Since the treaty entered into force, states have been able to join the treaty by carrying out a one-step process called accession. A country that has ratified or acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty is called a State Party and is legally bound to comply with the treaty.

Click here for more information about the Mine Ban Treaty and the obligations of States Parties.

There are 156 States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty and 39 states not party, including two countries (the Marshall Islands and Poland) that have signed but not yet ratified the treaty.

Click here for a list of these countries, as well as their signature, ratification or accession dates.

• Ensuring full compliance with Article 5 clearance deadlines is the greatest challenge facing the Mine Ban Treaty as a total of 19 states have now requested Article 5 clearance deadline extensions indicating that they will be unable to meet their clearance deadlines.
• Failure of three states to meet stockpile destruction deadlines is the first major violation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
• Numbers of recorded casualties continued to decrease in 2007, however data collection continued to be inadequate, meaning that many unrecorded casualties exist.
• In 2008, international funding increased, and was the highest level of funding recorded. National funding decreased slightly in 2008. Significant support for mine action will continue to be needed for many years if the Mine Ban Treaty is to be fully implemented—especially for demining as well as for assistance to survivors.

In 2008:

• In 2008, mine action programs cleared almost 160km2 of mined areas—the size of Brussels—the highest total ever recorded by Landmine Monitor.
• 270km² of battle areas were cleared in 2008.

States which join the Mine Ban Treaty have 10 years to clear known mined areas under their jurisdiction and control within their countries.

As of August 2009, more than 70 states were believed to be mine-affected. Eleven states have cleared all known mined areas from their territory: Bulgaria, Costa Rica, El Salvador, France, Guatemala, Honduras, FYR Macedonia, Malawi, Suriname, Swaziland, and Tunisia.

There are 41 States Parties that still need to complete mine clearance. They are listed here in order of their clearance deadlines. The countries which have made Article 5 mine clearance deadline Extension Requests stating that they will not be able to complete the clearance of mined areas in time to meet their deadlines are indicated in bold:

States that have joined the treaty must destroy stockpiled mines within four years of entry into force of the treaty. Of the 156 States Parties, 86 have completed stockpile destruction, destroying about 44 million stockpiled mines altogether, and 61 States Parties declared that they have never possessed stockpiles.

Five countries completed stockpile destruction in 2008-2009: Burundi and Sudan (both completed in March 2008), Indonesia (November 2008), Ethiopia (April 2009), and Kuwait (declared in July 2009).

Four States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty hold more than 12 million antipersonnel mines in stockpiles. In the table below, the states that missed their stockpile destruction deadlines are indicated in bold:

Two further States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty may have stockpiles of mines. Ethiopia has not reported on whether it possesses a stockpile, but must destroy any antipersonnel mines it holds by 1 June 2009. Iraq has declared that it does not have stockpiles, but continues to investigate. Any stockpiled mines discovered by Iraq must be destroyed by 1 February 2012.

There are an estimated 160 million antipersonnel mines held in stockpiles in states that have not joined the Mine Ban Treaty. The majority belong to China (est. 110 million), Russia (est. 24.5 million) and the US (10.4 million).

Article 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty allows states to keep a limited number of mines for the purpose of training.

Seventy-one States Parties retain a total of approximately 197,000 antipersonnel mines for research and training. The latest additions to this list are: Ethiopia (303 mines retained), Indonesia (4,978) and Iraq (1,234). Of these 71 states with retained mines,

• 10 States Parties retain between 5,000–15,200 mines (Turkey, Bangladesh, Brazil, Sweden, Greece, Australia, Algeria, Croatia, and Belarus.)
• 38 States Parties retain between 1,000–5,000 mines
• 24 States Parties retain fewer than 1,000 mines

Data collection on mine incidents and survivors is largely inadequate so it is not possible to give a total number of people worldwide who have been killed or injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war.

In 2008, 5,197 casualties were recorded, which is a 5% decrease compared to 2007.

*recorded mine/ERW/IED (victim-activated device) casualties

Learn more about mine casualties by listening to an interview with Katleen Maes, Landmine Monitor’s Casualty Data, Risk Education and Victim Assistance Editor, available on our Multimedia Audio page.

The 10 countries with most new casualties of mines and explosive remnants of war in 2008 were:

(increase from 2007 indicated in bold)

At the Mine Ban Treaty’s First Review Conference, 24 States Parties with the greatest number of survivors formed a group and accepted that they had “the greatest responsibility to act, but also the greatest needs and expectations for assistance” in providing victim assistance. They were later joined by Jordan and Iraq, which brought their number to 26. This group referred to as the VA26 is made up of Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Chad, Colombia, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Jordan, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru, Senegal, Serbia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uganda, and Yemen.

A total of 8.4 million people received direct risk education in 2007, the highest level ever recorded by Landmine Monitor, and an increase from 7.3 million people in 2006.

In 2008 risk education took place in 57 countries and areas— including 36 States Parties and 14 states not party.

Risk education was deemed:
Inadequate in 40 states and areas — 24 States Parties, 14 states not party, 2 Other Areas
Adequate in 27 states and areas — 18 States Parties, 5 states not party, 4 Other Areas

Risk Education in the Countries with the Highest Casualty Rates
Risk education (RE) was deemed inadequate in 7 of the “top 10 casualty countries” (those with the most casualties in 2007). Additionally, in all 5 of the “top 10 casualty countries” where casualty numbers increased in 2007, RE was deemed inadequate.

International funding for mine action is funding from one state to another. There was an increase of $87.9 million (20%) in international funding for mine action in 2008 compared to 2007.

The top contributors of international funding in 2007 were:

In 2008, combined funding provided by the European Community and the European Union member states amounted to: $264.2 million (€179.4 million)

The following countries donated more in 2008 than in 2007 (in US$ terms):
Italy (138% increase), Austria (132%), the EC (96%), Spain (74%), Finland (47%), Germany (45%), Japan (45%), New Zealand (31%), Switzerland (26%), the US (22%), Denmark (21%), the Netherlands (21%), Australia (9%), Sweden (8%) and Ireland (3%).

The following countries donated less in 2008 than in 2007 (in US$ terms):
Norway (27% decrease), Canada (6%), Belgium (3%), and the UK (1%).

Learn more about mine action funding listening to the interview with Anthony Forrest, Landmine Monitor’s Mine Action Funding Coordinator, available on our Multimedia Audio page.

National funding for mine action is funding allocated by mine or explosive remnant of war-affected states to their own mine action programs. There was a decrease of $8.7 million (7%) in 2008 compared to 2007.

States/areas reporting funding in 2007 but not 2008:
Algeria, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chechnya, Republic of the Congo, Cyprus, Djibouti, Ecuador, Gabon, Guinea, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, and Zambia.

States/areas reporting funding in 2008 but not 2007:
Armenia, Eritrea, Georgia, Palestine, the Philippines, and Rwanda.

The top recipients of funding in 2008 were:

States with an increase of at least $5 million in national funding in 2008:
Afghanistan (up $19 million), Ethiopia ($13.1 million), Sudan ($9.9 million), Georgia ($8.7 million), BiH ($6.5 million), and the DRC ($6.5 million).

States with a reduction of at least $2 million in national funding in 2008:
Azerbaijan (down $2 million), Cambodia ($2.7 million), Nicaragua ($3 million), Guinea-Bissau ($4 million), Jordan ($5 million), Somalia ($5.5 million), Belarus ($5.5 million), Cyprus ($5.5 million), and Senegal ($7.3 million).

In 2008, 31 countries and other areas received at least $1 million in funding, compared to 34 countries and other areas in 2007.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions opened for signature in Oslo, Norway on 3 December 2008. Until its entry into force, it is open for signature at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. It will enter into force six months after the 30th country ratifies it.

Before the convention enters into force, states can join by carrying out two steps: signing and then ratifying the treaty. Once the treaty enters into force, states will able to join the treaty by carrying out a one-step process called accession.

Click here for more information about the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the obligations of States Parties.

A total of 104 countries have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions and 24 of these signatories have ratified the convention.

Click here for a list of signatories and states that have ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

The Convention will enter into force (ie. become law) six months after the 30th state has submitted their Instrument of Ratification to the Secretary General of the United Nations.

At least 14 government armed forces have used cluster munitions.

In several cases it is unclear which belligerent party used cluster munitions, including in Angola, Azerbaijan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nagorno-Karabakh, Tajikistan, Uganda, and Zambia.

In addition to use by the armed forces of states, non-state armed groups (NSAGs) have used cluster munitions in Afghanistan (by the Northern Alliance), Croatia (by a Serb militia), Israel (by Hezbollah), and BiH (by a Serb militia).

A total of 34 states have developed or produced more than 200 types of cluster munitions. Fourteen of those states have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, thus agreeing not to engage in future production.

A total of 17 non-signatories are believed to continue to produce today: Brazil, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, South Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Turkey, and the US.

Three more non-signatories—Argentina, Iraq, and Serbia—apparently no longer produce cluster munitions.

A total of 79 countries are believed to possess stockpiles of cluster munitions, 31 signatories of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and 48 non-signatories.This is a decrease from a total of 85 countries that have possessed stockpiles of cluster munitions at some point in time.

Signatories Australia, Honduras, Mali, and Spain, and non-signatories Argentina and Iraq have completed stockpile destruction.

The 32 signatory states that possess stockpiles are:

Angola, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Uganda, and the United Kingdom.

The 47 non-signatory states that possess stockpiles are:

Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Brazil, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, North, Korea, South, Kuwait, Libya, Mongolia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, the United States, Uzbekistan, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

The total global stockpiles of submunitions contained in cluster munitions likely number into the billions. It is not possible to arrive at a more specific figure, as information about the numbers of submunitions in stockpiles is very limited.

Cluster munitions have been used during armed conflict in 33 countries and disputed territories since the end of World War II, including Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chad, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zambia, as well as Chechnya, Falkland Islands/Malvinas, Kosovo, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Western Sahara.

At a December 1999 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) meeting, Human Rights Watch first called for a global moratorium on the use of all cluster munitions. From 2000–2003, CCW States Parties initially discussed and then negotiated on the issue of explosive remnants of war (ERW).

On 28 November 2003, States Parties to the CCW adopted Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War. This protocol reinforced the principle that states bear a responsibility for the post-conflict harm caused by their weapons, but it was insufficient for tackling the specific challenges caused by cluster munitions both during and after attacks.

From 2004–2006, the Cluster Munition Coalition continued to press for meaningful work specifically on cluster munitions in the CCW, but with only minimal progress. Israel’s extensive use of cluster munitions in Lebanon July and August 2006 provided a catalyst for diplomatic action.

At the CCW’s Third Review Conference in November 2006, 26 nations supported a proposal for a mandate to negotiate a legally-binding instrument “that addresses the humanitarian concerns posed by cluster munitions.” After the proposal was rejected, 25 countries issued a joint declaration calling for an agreement that would prohibit the use of cluster munitions “within concentrations of civilians,” prohibit the use of cluster munitions that “pose serious humanitarian hazards because they are for example unreliable and/or inaccurate,” and require destruction of stockpiles of such cluster munitions.

On 17 November 2006, the final day of the Review Conference, Norway announced that it would start an independent process outside the CCW to negotiate a cluster munition treaty and invited other governments to join, thus initiating what became known as the Oslo Process.

Concurrent with the Oslo Process, throughout 2007, the CCW Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) met to discuss explosive remnants of war, with particular focus on cluster munitions. At the November 2007 Meeting of States Parties to the CCW it was decided that the GGE would meet throughout 2008 to “negotiate a proposal to address urgently the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions, while striking a balance between military and humanitarian considerations.” The GGE met five times in 2008, however negotiations were unsuccessful and have continued into 2009.

The Oslo Process was concluded successfully with the opening for signature of the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008.