DE FACTO MONITORING OF THE MINE BAN TREATY AND CONVENTION ON CLUSTER MUNITIONS
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 produces several research products including the annual Landmine Monitor and Cluster Munition Monitor reports, online country profile reports, as well as fact sheets and maps.
New report findings lead Nobel Peace Laureate to call for the defense of the 25-year-old ban
(Geneva, 1 December 2025) – The Landmine Monitor 2025 report, released today by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), reveals a stark reality: civilians are bearing the consequences, as efforts to clear mined areas face waning global donor support for essential humanitarian activities. Unprecedented challenges to the long-standing international ban on landmines have also emerged. However, the report also documents the treaty’s continued growth and underscores that its framework remains the world’s most effective tool to end the suffering caused by landmines.
Landmine Monitor 2025 reports a sharp rise in casualties, with 6,279 people killed or injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war in 2024, the highest annual total since 2020. The increase was largely due to mines in conflict-affected countries, particularly those outside the treaty ban—especially Myanmar, where massive use continues, and Syria, where civilians are increasingly at risk as they return home, either to or through contaminated lands, following the end of the Assad regime. Civilians made up 90% of global casualties in 2024, almost half of them children. Myanmar again recorded the highest number of casualties worldwide for the second consecutive year.
“This year’s findings make clear both the scale of new challenges and the need to stay united in upholding commitments and maintaining vital compliance efforts.” said Mark Hiznay, Landmine Monitor editor for ban policy. “Five states renounced their treaty obligations in a matter of months, when evidence shows if they use mines, it can take decades and enormous resources to clear contaminated land and assist the new victims, who will feel the impact of mine use long after the conflict has ceased.”
The 163-page report paints a complex picture. More than half of the affected States Parties succeeded in decreasing their known mine contamination in 2024. A total of 31 States Parties have completed clearance of all antipersonnel mines from their territory since the treaty entered into force on 1 March 1999, with Oman declaring completion in 2025. While the aspirational goal of a mine-free world by 2025 set by States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty at the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014 has not been met, the treaty itself is stronger than ever in numbers. The recent accession of the Marshall Islands and Tonga brings the number of States Parties to 166, meaning 85% of the world’s countries are bound by the ban.
At the same time progress towards a mine-free world is being tested in several significant ways. The report notes that the total area cleared declined compared with previous years, reflecting reduced donor funding and growing insecurity in affected regions. Even countries with small amounts of remaining contamination are struggling to complete their clearance obligations due to a lack of financial support. The report also highlights that donor contributions for victim assistance, representing just 5% of all mine action funding, fell by almost a quarter in 2024. Many mine survivors still lack access to essential medical care, rehabilitation, and psychosocial support, despite ongoing attempts by states and the international community to build sustainable services for the victims.
These challenges were further compounded in early 2025, when the largest donor to mine action, the United States, implemented a freeze on foreign assistance in the first quarter of the year. This was followed by the termination of several humanitarian mine action programs and ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of others, deepening the funding crisis in many affected countries.
“Behind each statistic is a family and a community still living with the consequences of landmines,” said Ruth Bottomley, Landmine Monitor editor for mine action funding. “The decline in funding for victim assistance is alarming and must be urgently reversed.”
The report documents continued and possible new use and production of antipersonnel mines. States not party Russia and Myanmar remain responsible for widespread use of antipersonnel mines. There are also indications of new use by States Party Ukraine and allegations of use by Cambodian armed forces. States not party India, Myanmar, Russia, and South Korea appear to be maintaining active production capacity. Additionally, the United States transferred antipersonnel mines to Ukraine in 2024, breaking its own 32-year moratorium on exports and undermining the global stigma against these weapons.
Despite the growing number of countries demonstrating their commitment to the humanitarian objectives of the Mine Ban Treaty, with the addition of two new States Parties in 2025, the norms of the Mine Ban Treaty are under direct threat as Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland are in the process of withdrawing under the treaty’s Article 20. Ukraine has attempted to “suspend the operation” of the Mine Ban Treaty while engaged in an international armed conflict, an action which is not permitted under the treaty. These developments, together with continued use and production, mark a dangerous erosion of the global norm that has saved countless lives since 1999.
“The Mine Ban Treaty remains a powerful instrument, and its obligations and principles must be actively defended,” said Tamar Gabelnick, Director of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. “Governments must speak out to uphold the treaty, prevent further departures, reinforce its provisions globally, and ensure no more countries use, produce, or acquire antipersonnel mines. Turning back is not an option; we have come too far, and the human cost is simply too high.” She added.
The Mine Ban Treaty entered into force on 1 March 1999. It prohibits the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of antipersonnel landmines and requires States Parties to provide victim assistance, to clear mined areas, and to destroy stockpiles. As of 1 December 2025, 166 countries are bound by the treaty, following the ratification by the Marshall Islands in March 2025 and Tonga’s accession in June 2025. Thirty-one states have yet to join.
This year’s Landmine Monitor report is being released on the first day of the Twenty-Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, which opens in Geneva on 1 December 2025.
Maps can be found at: https://www.the-monitor.org/reports/landmine-monitor-2025/maps
Major Findings in Arabic, English, French, Russian, Spanish are also available.
CLUSTER MUNITION MONITOR 2024
Launched Monday, 9 September, this is the 15th annual Cluster Munition Monitor report. It focuses on calendar year 2023, with information included up to August 2024 where possible.
https://www.the-monitor.org/reports/cluster-munition-monitor-2024
LANDMINE MONITOR 2023
Launched Tuesday, 14 November, this is the 25th annual Landmine Monitor report. It focuses on calendar year 2022, with information included up to October 2023 where possible.
https://www.the-monitor.org/reports/landmine-monitor-2023
Chapters on developments in specific countries and other areas are available in online Country Profiles, found here.
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Landmine Monitor 2021
| The 23nd annual Landmine Monitor report provides a global overview of efforts to universalize and fully implement the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, ensure clearance of mine contaminated areas, deliver risk education to affected communities, and assist victims of these weapons.More generally, the report assesses the international community’s response to the global landmine situation, focusing on calendar year 2020 with information included up to October 2021. It covers mine ban policy, use, production, trade, and stockpiling globally; contains information on developments and challenges in assessing and addressing the impact of mine contamination and casualties through clearance, risk education, and victim assistance; and documents global trends in support for mine action.Chapters on developments in specific countries and other areas are available in online Country Profiles, found here. | |
Cluster Munition Monitor 2021
| This is the 12th annual Cluster Munition Monitor report. http://www.the-monitor.org/en-gb/reports/2021/cluster-munition-monitor-2021.aspxCluster Munition Monitor 2021 covers cluster munition ban policy, use, production, transfers, and stockpiling globally, and also contains information on the impact of cluster munition contamination and casualties, as well as developments and challenges in addressing such impact through clearance, risk education and victim assistance. |  |
Landmine Monitor 2019
| Published: 21 November 2019This is the 21th annual Landmine Monitor Report. It is the sister publication to the Cluster Munition Monitor Report, first published in November 2010. Landmine Monitor 2019 provides a global overview of efforts over the past 20 years, and up to November 2019 where possible, to implement and universalize the Mine Ban Treaty. Chapters on developments in specific countries and other areas are available in online Country Profiles, found here.Landmine Monitor covers mine ban policy, use, production, trade, and stockpiling in every country in the world, and also includes information on contamination, clearance, casualties, victim assistance, and support for mine action. Including a 20-year review, the reporting period covered in this report is calendar year 2018, with information included up to November 2019 when possible. |  |
Cluster Munition Monitor 2019
| Published 29 August 2019This is the tenth annual Cluster Munition Monitor report. It is the sister publication to the Landmine Monitor report, which has been issued annually since 1999.Using the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions as its principal frame of reference, the report covers global trends in ban policy and practice, contamination and clearance, cluster munition casualties, and efforts to guarantee the rights and meet the needs of cluster munition victims. Profiles published online provide additional country-specific findings on these topics. Thematic maps are also published in the report and available online.
The report focuses on calendar year 2018 with some information updated into August 2019 where possible. |
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Cluster Munition Monitor 2018