Mine Action Symposium 2023

Speakers will include the former Foreign Minister of Canada Mr. Lloyd Axworthy, who was instrumental in the creation of the Mine Ban Convention, former US Senator Mr. Patrick Leahy, a key player in funding mine action, the Permanent Representatives of Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic and Viet Nam, Under-Secretaries-General Fleming, Lacroix and Gamba, film director Richard Fitoussi, Global Advocate Giles Duley, International Crisis Group journalist Richard Gowan and many more.

Latest estimates show that in 2021, more than 5,500 people lost their lives or were injured due to landmines, with civilians, mostly children bearing the brunt of the devastation. Today, nearly 70 countries and territories are still contaminated by landmines. Every day, explosive ordnance contamination threatens lives, curtails freedom of movement, limits access to airable land, disenfranchises communities and above all instills fear and insecurity.

Focusing on the urgent need for a world free from the threat of landmines, explosive remnants of war (ERW) and IEDs, this global campaign aims to bring attention to areas of the world that remain contaminated, needlessly affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people.