The Ottawa Convention, signed in 1997 to ban the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines, is going through one of the most critical phases since its inception. The Landmine Monitor Report 2025 records over 6,000 explosive-related incidents in 2024 alone, the highest number since 2020. The human toll is dramatic: nearly 2,000 people were killed and more than 4,300 injured. About 90% of the victims were civilians, with almost half being women and children. This shows how the burden of war continues to fall disproportionately on the civilian population.
The worst-affected areas are still major war zones. In Myanmar, there were more than 2,000 incidents in a single year, as both the army and armed groups increasingly used mines. In Syria, returning residents face daily danger from unexploded ordnance. Going home, working in the fields, or walking on roads and paths expose people to lethal risk every day.
The political situation around the treaty is also precarious. After the same move by Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland, Ukraine announced its withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention in June, against the backdrop of tensions and war with Russia. Finland has also started a legal process to exit. This process, as Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan of Landmine Monitor warned, risks seriously undermining the overall stability of the agreement.
Cuts to international funding are making the situation worse. Reduced donations, especially from the United States, have led to the suspension or reduction of mine clearance programs and victim support in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Colombia, Tajikistan, and Zimbabwe. Experts say 2026 could see even fewer resources available.
This alarm comes as states party to the Mine Ban Treaty recently met in Geneva to discuss the future of the Convention. At the same time, the UN notes that global military spending reached a record $2.7 trillion in 2024 - a “systemic shift” that risks pushing civilian protection and humanitarian disarmament cooperation further down the list of priorities.
