The decades of brutal civil war that ravaged South Sudan left behind a terrible legacy of land littered by landmines, cluster munitions, and unexploded ordnances. Since 2004, more than 1,500 people have been killed or injured by explosions from these devices.
The total remaining contamination area is estimated to be around 20.6 km² (approximately 2,897 football pitches). The presence of explosive hazards in these areas threatens the safety of civilians in terms of physical harm from explosion and creates barriers between communities and the resources or services they need.
As a component of UNMISS, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) protects civilians by clearing explosive hazards and providing risk education, enabling communities to live safely, access healthcare and education, as well conduct livelihood activities such as farming, all of which are key pillars for recovery and resilience. These efforts, not only save lives, but also restore dignity, freedom of movement and socio-economic opportunity.
In the past 20 years, UNMAS has released 1,300km2 of land, destroyed more than 1.2 million explosive items, and delivered risk education to more than seven million people in South Sudan.
Its specific activities include using manual, mechanical, and canine capacities to survey and clear mines, explosive remnants of war, and ammunition stockpiles, conducting route verification and clearance to allow safe access and enable the delivery of humanitarian assistance, investigating, verifying and reporting on the use of indiscriminate explosive weapons, such as cluster munitions; collecting data and mapping new hazards, and conducting entry point control and search activities with explosives detection dogs.
UNMAS also provides technical advice and assistance to South Sudan’s National Mine Action Authority, including overseeing its Information Management database for Mine Action and assisting it to meet reporting obligations under relevant international treaties.