30 November 2018
"In a case study on Mali, published last week ... [the GICHD and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute] have observed that anti-vehicle mine (AVM) casualties have been on the rise since 2016, with a spike in the first nine months of 2018. In particular, the number of civilian casualties has rapidly increased, while the AVM threat appears to have shifted from the northern part of the country to more populated areas of central Mali. Although being a tangible manifestation of AVM impact, casualties represent an incomplete picture thereof. Much less attention has been paid thus far to understand the wider humanitarian consequences of AVM contamination or its socio-economic impact."
The above is an extract from the statement that Pascal Rapillard, GICHD Head of External Relations delivered to the Meeting of High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Convention Weapons (CCW) last week in Geneva. This statement was timed with the release of the new GICHD-Sipri report that shows that the incidents of AVM accidents in the country are on the rise, spreading to new regions in the country and injuring in particular, peacekeepers and civilians. The report indicates that almost one in four AVM casualties in Mali have been peacekeepers -- a much higher global average of almost one in twenty.
Concurrent to the launch of this report, was the release of a publication by the HALO Trust, which looks at the impact and national response to AVM contamination in Afghanistan.
However, both the newest GICHD-Sipri and the HALO Trust findings are limited to the data of the target country; these reports call for more research at global level to inform discussions on AVM, in particular the socio-economic impact they may have on a region.