The International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action - A time for reflection and action (UN Today)
(Bruno Donat, current Chief of the UNMAS Geneva office, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres in Goma during an earlier assignment with MONUSCO. Copyright: UN Photo/Jacques Miroza) A time to remember the importance of…
Japan’s Commitment to Mideast Remains Vital
BAGHDAD — Japan has earned the well-deserved respect of the world, emerging from conflict to become an economic success at home and a strong proponent of socially responsible policies and actions both at home and abroad. I am…
Statement by Stephanie Williams, Acting SRSG UNSMIL, on the Death of Two Libyan Mine Clearance Workers in Southern Tripoli
Tripoli, 6 July 2020 - Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General (ASRSG) for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Stephanie Williams expresses her deep sadness and regret over…
Official handover ceremony for the regional ammunition depot in Bouar, Central African Republic
On 21 November 2020, the Central African Republic inaugurated its first regional ammunition depot in Bouar in the presence of the President of the Republic, Mr. Faustin-Archange Touadera, the Prime Minister, Mr. Firmin…
Women in Mine Action: Rose Muhindo, EORE Coordination Officer
What influenced you to work in explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) in Abyei? My journey started in 2004 in my country, Uganda. Given the historical background and the various conflicts which affected my country, many…
HUMANICEMOS DH, Mine Action Organization Formed by Ex-Combatants, Detects Its First Anti-Personnel Mine in Caquetá, Colombia
A week after its manual clearance operations began, a certified team from the civil humanitarian demining organization HUMANICEMOS DH found an anti-personnel mine with a pressure activation system in the Unión Cordillera…
First woman in the Central African Republic to destroy explosive ordnance
In 2019, UNMAS recruited Asnath Konaté as Weapons and Ammunitions Management (WAM) Assistant in the Central African Republic. Before joining UNMAS, Asnath didn’t have any experience in WAM. However, after completing a series…
Ex-combatant survivor of explosive ordnance in Colombia committed to mine action
It was the most traumatic experience I’ve ever had. In the middle of the conflict, one thinks that one is prepared to face an accident, to be in a hospital or in a jail, but when I lost my hands, everything changed. I just…
Message to the world: Pope Francis speaks on mine action
The International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action - 4 April - this year fell on Easter Sunday, the most important of Christian festivals and celebrated by more than 1 billion people across the globe. In…
Towards Zero Contamination in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Every year on 4th April, the world celebrates the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UNMAS, in collaboration with the Congolese Mine Action…
Elena, one of the women who contributes to the mine action sector in Colombia
The distances are long, the sun is inclement and strong in the department of Caquetá, and the terrain that must be covered to evaluate the training or to monitor the areas of humanitarian demining operations carried out by…
Developing Mine Action Capacity in the Central African Republic
The UNMAS programme in the Central African Republic (CAR) focuses on training security forces and encourages the professional development of its national personnel. Since the establishment of the UNMAS programme in 2014…