Civilian deaths and injuries from landmines and explosive remnants of war have risen to their highest level in four years, according to the Landmine Monitor 2025 report launched in Geneva, Decemeber 4th, 2025.
It documents 6,279 casualties in 2024. Children remain especially vulnerable, particularly in conflict-affected countries where displaced families are returning to heavily contaminated areas.
“Civilians made up 90 per cent of casualties in 2024,” said Loren Persi, Impact Team Lead for the report. “And children remained a significant portion of all casualties, almost half…In Afghanistan, 77 per cent, so over three-quarters of all casualties, were children, which is horrific.”
Funding crisis
A worsening funding shortfall is already undermining mine-action programs. Ruth Bottomley, the Monitor’s Mine Action Funding Research Lead, said heavy dependence on a few major donors – particularly the United States – has left the sector vulnerable.
“In 2025, the US imposed a sector-wide funding freeze,” she said. “This stalled some mine-action programs and terminated others…highlighting the vulnerability of mine-action funding with its dependence on a few major donors.”
Programs in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Colombia, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe have already shut down. Victim assistance has been hit especially hard, with international support falling 23 per cent. Conflict-weakened health systems in countries such as Ukraine and Palestine are struggling amid a sharp rise in amputations.
Call for renewed commitment
Without stronger funding, political resolve and compliance, mine contamination will grow faster than humanitarian organizations can respond – leaving millions at risk for decades to come.