Colombia

Cluster Munition Remnants

Anti-Personnel Mines

  • Article 5 deadline

    31 December 2025

  • Performance

    Average

Key Developments

Clearance output in 2023 dropped slightly compared to the previous year and Colombia will certainly not meet its extended clearance deadline under Article 5 of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) of end-December 2025. Moreover, almost two thirds of the total mine clearance in 2023 found no explosive ordnance, underscoring the problems with survey in Colombia. An updated and revised Operational Plan for Mine Action 2023–2025 was presented to the Committee on Article 5 Implementation in May 2023. A total of 1.89km2 was released in 2023, exceeding the planned land release for the year of 1.78km2. Fulfilment of  Article 5 will be contingent on the Colombian national authorities having access to all mined areas—which is currently not the case due to the security situation in many municipalities—and also on the complete cessation of use of anti-personnel (AP) mines by non-state armed groups (NSAGs).


Five-Year Overview

Colombia has made solid but not spectacular progress in identifying and releasing mined area since 2019. A nationwide survey is not feasible while the ongoing conflict involving NSAGs continues to prevent full and safe access to many of the remaining mined areas and is resulting in new mine contamination, sometimes of areas previously released through survey and clearance. Nonetheless, Colombia is endeavouring to conduct survey and clearance of mined areas that can be safely accessed—something  which has been enhanced by adoption of a new national mine action standard which aims to facilitate access to areas of instability to enable humanitarian mine action interventions in some of the most impacted communities. Recent efforts by national authorities to strengthen coordination within the Mine Action sector are long overdue and welcome, but with annual clearance output of below 2km2 in recent years, many years of demining beckon even if safe access to all mined areas becomes possible.


Recommendations for Action

  • It is impossible for Colombia to establish a comprehensive baseline of mined area, due to the ongoing conflict involving multiple NSAGs which severely hinders access to mined areas and adds new contamination. However, Colombia should nonetheless strive to analyse and clean “events” data in the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database, in order to improve operational efficiency once operators are able to physically access mined areas.
  • Colombia should continue to build on positive new initiatives by the national mine action authority, such as the Knowledge Management Platform, to convene and unify the sector. It  should consider establishing a National Mine Action Platform to provide a forum for collective dialogue biannually among all stakeholders, including donors. This would also support sustained donor engagement.
  • A National Mine Action Platform should also serve to exchange lessons learned, including on the role of demining in peacebuilding – an issue of international interest.

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