The Issues

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

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 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 did the Convention on Cluster Munitions enter into force?
4. How is the Convention on Cluster Munitions related the negotiations for a protocol on cluster munitions within the Convention of Conventional Weapons?

1. How many mines, cluster munitions, and other explosives were cleared in 2009?
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?
3. How many stockpiled cluster munitions have been destroyed and how many remain?
4. How many cluster munitions have been retained for training purposes?

1. How many people were injured or killed by mines, cluster munition and other explosive remnants of war in 2009 compared to previous years?
2. Who was injured or killed by mines, cluster munitions and other ERW in 2009?
3. Which type of explosive devices cause the most casualties?
4. Which countries and regions had the most new casualties in 2009?

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

1. How much international funding was provided for mine action in 2009 and which countries provided funding?
2. How much national funding was provided for mine action in 2009 and which countries provided funding?
3. Which countries received funding for mine action in 2009?

Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor is an initiative providing research for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC). It is the de facto monitoring regime for the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

The 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.

The Monitor produces the following research products:

• Landmine Monitor Annual Report
• Cluster Munition Monitor Annual Report
• Online Country Profiles summarizing developments in each country
• Factsheets
• Online version of all publications

The 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. The first annual Cluster Munition Monitor Report was published in 2010.

Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor produces a variety of research products and resources.

Country Profiles include summaries of developments in each country related to mine ban policy, cluster munition ban policy, mine action, casualties and victim assistance, and support for mine action, as well as country maps and links to key resources. Major new developments are updated regularly, and programmatic information (for example casualties and mine clearance statistics) are updated annually. Annual updates are made to online Country Profiles between June and September. Visit the profile of your choice to sign up to receive a notification as soon as it is updated.

Landmine Monitoris released annually and provides a global overview of developments in mine ban policy, use, production, trade, and stockpiling, and also includes information on contamination, clearance, casualties, victim assistance, and support for mine action.The most recent report is Landmine Monitor 2010. The next report will be released in November 2011.

Cluster Munition Monitor provides a global overview of developments in cluster munition ban policy, use, production, trade, and stockpiling for every country in the world, and also includes information on cluster munition contamination, casualties, clearance, and victim assistance. The most recent report is Cluster Munition Monitor 2010. The next report will be released in November 2011.

Monitor factsheets are issued several times per year, usually surrounding major international meetings. Factsheet content is primarily drawn from most recent report findings.

The Monitor's online Treaty Status Table provides up-to-date information about the latest ratifications of the Mine Ban Treaty, Convention on Cluster Munitions, UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

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

The 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.

The 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.

As of September 2010, 66 states, as well as seven areas not internationally recognized, were confirmed or suspected to be affected by landmines. Click here for a list of affected countries.

As of September 2010, at least 23 states and three other areas are believed to have cluster munition remnants on their territory. Click here for a list of affected countries.

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 or cluster munition 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 or cluster munition remnants is to look at the number of people killed or injured by these weapons. This gives a rough picture, but it is important to keep in mind that many victims of mines, cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war (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.

To read the latest information about mine, cluster munition remnant and other ERW casualties click here.

Landmines

It is very difficult to estimate to total amount of land contaminated by mines/explosive remnants of war (ERW) worldwide, however, the Monitor believes that less than 3,000km2 of land remained contaminated with mines as of September 2010. Click here for the latest information on landmine/ERW contamination.

Cluster Munitions

As of September 2010, at least 23 states and three other areas are believed to have cluster munition remnants on their territory, however no credible estimate of total amount of land contaminated exists. Click here for the latest information on cluster munition contamination.

Landmines

No governments that have joined the Mine Ban Treaty currently use mines.

Landmine Monitor Report 2010 reported that one state which has not joined the Mine Ban Treaty—Myanmar/Burma—has used mines every year since the Monitor began reporting in 1999.

Landmine Monitor Report 2010 for the first time did not identify Russia as an ongoing, active user of antipersonnel mines. There have been no confirmed instances—or even serious allegations—of new use of antipersonnel mines by Russian forces in 2009 or 2010 in Chechnya or elsewhere.

In 2009, mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which work like mines, were used by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in at least six countries, including three States Parties (Afghanistan, Colombia, and Yemen) and three states not party to the treaty (India, Myanmar, and Pakistan).

Cluster Munitions

At least 18 government armed forces have used cluster munitions since the end of World War II. The latest reported cluster munition use occurred in December 2009 in Yemen, where Amnesty International alleged the US used cluster munitions. Click here for more information about cluster munition use.

Landmines

The Monitor identifies 12 states as producers of antipersonnel mines, none of which have joined the Mine Ban Treaty: China, Cuba, India, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, South Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, the US, and Vietnam.

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

Cluster Munitions

The Monitor reports that it is likely that 17 states are producers of cluster munitions, none of which have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions: Brazil, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, South Korea, North Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Turkey, and the US.

Countries on this list may actively produce or maintain the ability to produce cluster munitions.

Data collection on mine or cluster munition 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, cluster munitions or other explosive remnants of war. Click here to see information about recorded casualties in 2009.

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 22 states have received or were formally seeking 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 2009, however data collection continued to be inadequate, meaning that many unrecorded casualties exist.
• In 2009, international funding remained steady and was the third highest level of international funding recorded. National funding increased in 2009. 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.

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 108 countries have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions and 57 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 entered into force (ie. become law) on 1 August 2010, six months after the 30th state submitted their Instrument of Ratification to the Secretary General of the United Nations.

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.

In 2009:

• mine action programs cleared almost 198km2 of mined areas the highest total ever recorded by Landmine Monitor, which involved the destruction of 255,000 antipersonnel mines and 37,000 antivehicle mines
• 359km2 of battle areas were cleared, which involved the destruction of 2.2 million items of explosive remnants of war (other than cluster munition remnants)
• 38km2 of cluster munition remnant contaminated land was cleared, involving the destruction of 55,156 cluster submunitions

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 September 2010, more than 70 states and areas were believed to be mine-affected. Sixteen states have cleared all known mined areas from their territory: Albania, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, El Salvador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, FYR Macedonia, Malawi, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Suriname, Swaziland, Tunisia, and Zambia.

There are 36 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 over 45 million stockpiled mines altogether, and 64 States Parties declared that they have never possessed stockpiles. One state has not made an official declaration but is not thought to possess stocks (Equatorial Guinea).

The most recent states to complete destruction were Kuwait (declared in July 2009) and Ethiopia (April 2009).

Five States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty hold more than 11 million antipersonnel mines in stockpiles. In the table below, the states that missed their stockpile destruction deadlines are indicated in bold:

There are an estimated 160 million antipersonnel mines held in stockpiles in as many as 35 states not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. The majority belong to China (est. 110 million), Russia (est. 24.5 million) and the US (possibly as many as 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-seven States Parties retain mines for training; for details click here.

Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor estimates that 74 countries currently possess cluster munition stockpiles.

A total of 17 countries that are either States Parties or signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions have disclosed that, prior to any destruction activities, they stockpiled a total of at least 1.1 million cluster munitions containing more than 146 million submunitions.

Four States Parties (Belgium, Moldova, Norway, and Spain) and two signatories (Colombia and Portugal) have already completed destruction of their stockpiles of cluster munitions. Collectively, they destroyed about 176,000 cluster munitions with more than 13.8 million submunitions. In addition, signatories Afghanistan and Angola reported in 2010 that their cluster munition stocks had been destroyed in recent years as part of broader weapons disposal programs.

The vast majority of states outside of the Convention on Cluster Munitions that stockpile the weapon have not disclosed detailed information on the quantities, types, or other information. Thus it is not possible, given what is known, to make a valid global estimate of quantities in stockpiles.

Click here for more information on stockpiles of cluster munitions.

Although the Convention on Cluster Munitions permits the retention of some cluster munitions and submunitions for training and development purposes, most stockpilers thus far have chosen not to retain any, including: Afghanistan, Angola, Austria, Colombia, Honduras, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Portugal, and Slovenia.

Belgium, France, and Spain have indicated they each intend to keep hundreds of cluster munitions and more than 20,000 submunitions.

Click here for more information about cluster munition retention.

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 2009, 3,956 casualties were recorded, which represents by far the lowest number of recorded casualties worldwide since the Monitor began reporting in 1999 and it is the first time the global casualty figure has fallen below 5,000.

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

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

The countries with over 100 new casualties of mines, cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war in 2009 were:

(increase from 2008 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.

International funding for mine action is funding from one state to another.

The top contributors of international funding in 2009 were:

National funding for mine action is funding allocated by mine or explosive remnant of war-affected states to their own mine action programs.

The top recipients of funding in 2009 were: