Guterres To Launch Life-Saving Campaign Strengthening Mine Action Worldwide
16 June 2025
António Guterres announced the move in a statement issued on Monday, in response to plans by several UN Member States to withdraw from the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.
The 1997 treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of these weapons.
Landmark global agreeement
Since then, it 'has led to a virtual halt in global production of anti-personnel mines, and a drastic reduction in their deployment,' and 'more than 40 million stockpiled mines have been destroyed,' according to the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA).
To date, 165 States are party to the treaty and 133 have signed it.
Five European countries – Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland – have recently announced that they intend to leave, or taken steps in this direction, reportedly due to security concerns related to Russia.
Weakening protection, undermining progress
Without naming countries, the Secretary-General expressed grave concern over the development.
'At a time when civilians face heightened risks from widening conflicts, it is imperative that we strengthen the frameworks that protect human life and dignity,' he said.
'These announcements are particularly troubling, as it risks weakening civilian protection and undermining two decades of a normative framework that has saved countless lives.'
He urged all States 'to adhere to humanitarian disarmament treaties and immediately halt any steps towards their withdrawal,' and appealed to the 32 States that have yet to join the treaty to do so without delay.
These countries include China, Iran, Israel, Russia, and the United States.
About the campaign
The Secretary-General's campaign will centre around upholding the norms of humanitarian disarmament, accelerating mine action as an enabler of human rights and sustainable development, and driving forward the vision of a mine-free world.
'To achieve these aims, over the next six months this campaign will aim to re-energise public support for disarmament and will also facilitate concrete actions by States to uphold humanitarian norms and strengthen mine action,' he said.
He concluded by stressing that ' the urgency of this matter cannot be overstated,' saying 'the protection of innocent lives depends on our collective action and commitment.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
32 minutes ago
- NZ Herald
Destiny Church's Brian Tamaki protests against foreign religions in NZ
Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki is leading a march down Queen St, claiming 'the spread of non-Christian religions is now out of control' in New Zealand. The march started at 12pm in Aotea Square on Queen St. Story continues after live blog Load more Story continues 'It's time to take aim and launch a full assault - exposing Islam, the UN, and every foreign religion and ideology hijacking our country,' Tamaki claimed earlier in a press release. In November last year, Tamaki led a 'Make New Zealand Great Again' rally from Waikato to Auckland. Tamaki was condemned by the Prime Minister when his Destiny Church groups Man Up and Legacy stormed a children's library event in February last year. Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.
NZ Herald
19 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Israel-Iran war: Hospital hit, nuclear sites targeted in ongoing conflict
Israel and Iran exchanged fire again on Friday, a week into the war between the longtime enemies. Here are the latest developments: Iran meetings European top diplomats are meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday to discuss Iran's nuclear programme. Foreign ministers from France, Germany, Britain
Scoop
a day ago
- Scoop
Groups Representing Millions Have A Message To Those At UN Climate Talks In Bonn
June 18, 2025 Climate justice and human rights activists gather to condemn the UN climate talk's failure to end the corporate stranglehold over climate action. Climate justice groups, women and gender activists, youth, Indigenous and local community leaders, artivists, and members of the global campaign to Kick Big Polluters Out gather outside conference venue where Big Polluters and Global North governments seek to orchestrate their get out of jail free card and escape accountability for the climate crisis. Today, the climate justice movement, youth from around the world, human rights activists, women and gender groups, and members of the Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO) coalition joined forces to protest outside of the UN climate talks taking place over these two weeks. The start of the climate talks happening in Bonn were delayed due to an agenda fight where polluting Global North governments like the EU refused to even discuss the need for them to do their fair share of climate action. While the United States– the worlds' largest historical emitter–is notably absent from these talks, their fingerprints of obstruction and undermining are all over these halls, as is the poisonous influence of the fossil fuel industry, industrial agriculture, and other polluting industries. While corporations and governments that are knowingly fueling the climate crisis and directly enabling systemic violence in Palestine, Sudan, and elsewhere act as though it's 'business as usual,' activists rallied to make clear that they refuse to be silenced. Advertisement - scroll to continue reading During the protest, people dressed up in suits as corporate executives were slowly covered in coal, oil, blood, and money–clearly illustrating Big Polluters' deadly profit-at-all-costs agenda. The protest featured visuals by the Artivists Network. 'We implore the UNFCCC to let us know who you really serve. Do you have us come from all corners of the world and all walks of life with little to no resources or support…just to be reminded that when we enter these halls, we are expected, yet again, to play your games?' said Analyah Schlaeger dos Santos of Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light. 'What sort of business are you doing behind closed doors? Our lives are not pawns for you to move around, letting us think that we come here to actualize real solutions, only for you to allow for the ones that have caused these problems to slither silently through the halls.' Civil society and protestors also called out the organizers of the talks specifically for their decades-long failures to address the undue influence of Big Polluters. For three decades, the UNFCCC has done next to nothing to protect these talks from undue influence. Even more, they invite Big Polluters to sponsor and bankroll the climate talks, and to have a heavy hand in the outcomes of the talks. This is a primary reason for the failure of global climate collaboration. According to Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network: 'The UNFCCC must shift its focus away from the false solutions of the fossil fuel industry and towards centering Indigenous Peoples and our solutions. Fossil fuels as well as agribusiness and pharma have no place in these decision-making halls. The UNFCCC must be about people-centered solutions from the world's majority and not a handful of powerful executives.' The activists, who hail from all around the world, are echoing their demands for: An Accountability Framework that ends the ability of Big Polluters to write the rules of climate action. Next steps must include requiring a publicly available conflict-of-interest disclosure for all participants in climate talks, discussion between governments and civil society on how to protect these talks, and agreeing a Roadmap to Accountability that can reinstill faith and integrity of this process by ensuring Big Polluters cannot continue to undermine and obstruct. No more allowing Big Polluters to bankroll the climate talks. End Big Polluter-fueled genocide and systemic violence, including a Global Energy Embargo for Palestine. Center the lived experiences and expertise of communities on the frontlines and reset the capitalist, colonial system so it protects people and the planet. 'We are still here fighting back. We are still here to raise the voices of our communities from back home,' said Pang Delgra, Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development. 'We know that if we do not hold the line, if we do not continue to speak the truth, they are going to lock us into extinction.' Note: Kick Big Polluters Out is a coalition of more than 450 organizations across the globe united in demanding an end to the ability of Big Polluters to write the rules of climate action. We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine as well as with all those who face systemic injustice and fossil-fueled violence around the world.
