Afghanistan

Afghanistan was granted an interim two-year extension to its Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) Article 5 deadline in 2022. The request was prepared and submitted by the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations in Geneva representing the former government and consequently of questionable validity but it was endorsed by Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA)-appointed management of the Directorate of Mine Action Coordination (DMAC).

In June 2022, three months after DMAC terminated a United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) emergency coordination centre, UNMAS established a Liaison Office to provide coordination and information management. The Liaison Office closed in November 2022 due to lack of funding, reopened in January 2023 with funding for the year but closed again in April after the IEA required it to co-locate with DMAC, an action seen as prohibited by international sanctions on the IEA. DMAC resumed control of information management and the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database in February 2023. The Liaison Office suspension was lifted by DMAC on 2 October 2023 and technical assistance provided to DMAC through what is now known as the Mine Action Technical Cell (MATC). UNMAS decided in November 2022 to halt funding for survey and clearance operations through the Voluntary Trust Fund for mine action (VTF) with effect from end-March 2023. In September 2023, UNMAS agreed to resume resource mobilisation for operational activities through the VTF.

• The Afghan government and DMAC should engage constructively with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) through the Mine Action Technical Cell (MATC).
• DMAC should similarly collaborate with the UN, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), and implementing partners (IPs) to strengthen information management, update Afghanistan’s IMSMA database and resume annual submission of Article 7 reports.
• DMAC in collaboration with the Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan (MAPA) IPs and the UN should conduct a nationwide survey, taking advantage of improved security and access to all provinces, in order to establish an up-to-date baseline estimate of mine contamination, including from anti-personnel (AP) mines of an improvised nature.
• The IEA and DMAC should support the participation of women in mine action.

Click here to download the "Clearing the Mines 2023" report for Afghanistan.