Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday that the use of improvised explosive devices is increasing as conflicts become more urbanized and armed groups proliferate, and he urged nations to work together to curb the threat from those weapons as well as land mines and other remnants of war.
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The UN chief told the Security Council that in the preceding three years UN funding made more than 560 square kilometers (215 square miles) safe from IEDs in global hotspots from Afghanistan and Iraq to Cambodia and Colombia. That's an area equivalent to 10 times the size of Manhattan that can now be used for buildings, farming, markets, schools and roads, he said.
But he added that despite progress by the UN and other organizations, "challenges have intensified," including from the COVID-19 pandemic limiting access for mine clearing operations.
Guterres said IEDs represent the greatest threat to African Union peacekeepers in both Somalia and Mali. He said mines and other explosive remnants of war hinder the mobility of UN peacekeepers in South Sudan and "new explosive threats" are emerging in Central African Republic and Congo.
