Mauritania

Mauritania reported clearance of three small mined areas in 2023, resulting in the destruction of 170 anti-personnel (AP) mines. Two areas were cleared by the international NGO HAMAP-Humanitaire in the Nouadhibou peninsula, and the other was released by the Programme National de Déminage Humanitaire pour le Développement (PNDHD) in Tiris Zemmour region, completing mine clearance in that region. The PNDHD reported the discovery of six new mined areas during non-technical survey (NTS): five in Dakhlet Nouadhibou and the other in Adrar, adding 6.9km² of confirmed hazardous area (CHA) to the contamination baseline. In 2024, HAMAP continued clearance of one mined area and Mines Advisory Group (MAG) initiated NTS and risk education in Dakhlet Nouadhibou.

In June 2020, two years after declaring it had fulfilled its Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) Article 5 clearance obligations, Mauritania reported the discovery of previously unknown mined areas in the regions of Dakhlet Nouadhibou (the north-west of the country), Tiris Zemmour (the north), and Adrar (the centre). It also reported that some areas of the Nouadhibou peninsula that were previously inaccessible had been redefined as falling under its jurisdiction or control. To better identify the extent of its contamination and submit a “final” request for extension, Mauritania received a one-year interim extension. In February 2021, it carried out a joint assessment with Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which identified almost 15.47km² of mined areas across ten suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) in Dakhlet Nouadhibou and Tiris Zemmour. This mined area included two SHAs covering an estimated 4.56km², which were contaminated only with anti-vehicle (AV) mines. Later in 2021, Mauritania was granted a fourth deadline extension until the end of 2026. In 2023, the PNDHD discovered newly contaminated areas in Nouadhibou and Adrar, bringing the national estimate of AP mined area to 17.89km².

• Mauritania should report on its AP mine contamination accurately and in accordance with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), disaggregating areas containing AP mines from those containing only AV mines.
• Mauritania should indicate in its Article 7 report the number of mines (disaggregated by type) destroyed during land release operations.
• Mauritania should accelerate technical survey (TS) to establish a more accurate baseline of AP mined area and better determine the perimeter of CHAs.
• Mauritania should establish a sustainable national capacity to address any residual AP mine contamination discovered following the fulfilment of Article 5 obligations.

Click here to download the "Clearing the Mines 2024" report for Mauritania.