On 18 June, UNIDIR – with support from the European Union (EU) –  together with partners including the Mines Advisory Group launched a new initiative aimed at enabling States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) from the African region in fulfilling obligations and advancing towards a continent free from the threats posed by anti-personnel mines.  

Introduced on the sidelines of the APMBC Intersessional Meetings in Geneva, the initiative “Working towards a mine-free Africa: Building African capacity to remove threats posed by anti-personnel landmines to peace, security and development” comes at a critical time.

Since 1997, the APMBC has achieved significant progress – facilitating widespread mine clearance and reducing human costs of weapons. Yet, challenges persist. Thirty-three States Parties have outstanding Article 5 (mine clearance) obligations. Sixteen of these are from Africa, and many face constraints in securing domestic resources and international cooperation including assistance.

These challenges have been compounded by broader pressures on arms control and humanitarian disarmament instruments, which in turn underscores the importance of the effective implementation by all States Parties of the APMBC and its universalization.

Strengthening capacity and accelerating progress towards completion

As part of this initiative, a dedicated project aims to support five of the African States that are receiving low levels of international cooperation and assistance to fulfill their APMBC Article 5 obligations. It has two, interconnected objectives:

• First, to build national capacity in up to five African States to fulfil their APMBC Article 5 obligations related to mine clearance and land release; and
• Second, to promote and support the exchange of knowledge and experience on building African national capacity to implement APMBC obligations.

It will focus on African States Parties that have existing extensions granted by the Meeting of States Parties, established national action plans, and comparatively small or medium levels of contamination. These include Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, South Sudan, and Zimbabwe. The diversity and uniqueness of each context can help generate knowledge and understanding of how targeted support can be adapted to different country settings.

In addition to strengthening national capacities, the initiative will help ensure that the knowledge and experiences generated are socialized among key stakeholders. This includes other APMBC States Parties, African Union (AU) and UN Member States, other regional organizations such as the AU, regional economic communities, expert non-governmental organizations, and the public at large.

Ultimately, this will benefit communities and individuals – including women, men, girls and boys – who continue to suffer from the negative, age-differentiated and gendered impacts of anti-personnel landmines on the African continent, and elsewhere.

The project is implemented by UNIDIR’s Conventional Weapons Programme, in cooperation with the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), and in close coordination with the APMBC Implementation Support Unit (ISU), other stakeholders and partners.

Speaking at the launch event, and joined by all partners and the APMBC Zambia presidency, the EU highlighted its commitment to humanitarian disarmament and its concrete support for the initiative:

The EU Council has committed 3 million EUR under the Common Foreign and Security Policy budget to support five African States close to completion in fulfilling their Article 5 obligations through a 36-month project, implemented by UNIDIR in partnership with MAG.

Ambassador Michele Cervone d’Urso, Deputy Head, EU Delegation to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva

The EU further emphasized the initiative’s alignment with its broader strategic priorities on peace, security and sustainable development, as outlined in its Global Strategy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.