As highlighted by Ban, the UN continues to provide wide-ranging assistance to millions of people in 59 States and six other areas contaminated by landmines, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Colombia, Laos, Lebanon and South Sudan. “But more progress is needed,” he warned, most notably in Syria and Mali, where the devastating humanitarian impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas is growing.

Between May 2011 and May 2012, at least 4,286 people were killed or injured in incidents related to mines and explosive remnants of war, according to the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS).

Ban said he was “encouraged” by the 161 States that have agreed to the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention, which bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines. States who are parties to the Convention also agree to destroy anti-personnel mines and assist landmine victims.

He also noted the importance of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and called for universal adherence to these treaties.

Governments of mine-affected countries which receive UN assistance have the primary responsibility for mine action, UNMAS noted.

There are 14 UN departments, programmes, funds and agencies that provide various types of services, according to the agency. Some of these UN bodies target their services to a particular group of people, such as refugees, or to a special circumstance, such as a humanitarian crisis.

At the end of 2012, these entities agreed on a new strategy to guide UN mine action work through 2018. The new strategy includes for the first time a specific monitoring and evaluation framework to track and measure UN’s work.

The new strategy, Ban said, “sets out a series of steps towards a safer world where individuals and communities can pursue socio-economic development and where survivors are treated as equal members of their societies.”

At a press conference in New York, the Assistant Secretary-General of the Office of the Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI), Dmitry Titov, stressed to journalists that “mine action is about action” that includes humanitarian action and the removal of mines.

Also speaking to the media, the Chief of UNMAS Programmes, Paul Heslop, said “the battle against mines has been won” but needs sustained funding and international support to sustain it.

He noted the emerging threat caused by abandoned or poorly managed ammunition depots which UNMAS teams are increasingly encountering.

Heslop also spoke about the difficulties of identifying the origins of a landmine or unexploded ordinance, particularly in areas such as Syria where the insecurity prevents demining teams from working, and determining whether it is a new explosive or a legacy from earlier conflicts. If explosive materials had a stamp which read “produced in 2010 in x location, it would be easy, but they don’t,” he said.

“Civilians attempting to flee from fighting need urgent assistance and protection,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in an update. “Local resources are stretched and there is restricted access to basic services in areas affected by fighting.”

OCHA added that aid agencies continue to face significant access constraints to reaching people in need.

“Visits by UN relief agencies to Homs and Idlib over the past two weeks have found that increasing numbers of people are leaving their homes and communities’ vulnerability is growing,” OCHA said, noting that in the Idlib Governorate, where fighting continues, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) reports that 350,000 people now need assistance.

This is an increase of 150,000 people since the Government-led assessment of the humanitarian situation at the end of March, OCHA said. The 150,000 people include hundreds of families displaced from the Aleppo Governorate and from within the Idlib Governorate, and less than half of these people have received assistance.

Communities in the city of Homs have suffered increased violence in the past two weeks, OCHA noted. More than 100 public buildings are being used as temporary shelters for people who have fled their homes; and hundreds of people are reportedly trapped in the Old City, unable to leave because of ongoing violence.

OCHA said that a humanitarian pause negotiated by the International Committee of the Red Cross may provide an opportunity for civilians to leave and aid to be delivered.

“Local communities have so far provided the majority of assistance, including temporary housing, food and other basic items,” the UN agency said. “However, their ability to help has diminished and local donations to SARC are decreasing.”

Also today, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that it needs additional funds of around $14 million for its response to the crisis in Syria. Along with its partners, UNICEF is providing assistance to Syrian children in need in areas such as health, nutrition, education and child protection.

In late March, the UN and its partners issued an appeal for $84 million, under the so-called Syria Regional Response Plan, to help Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq, as well as future arrivals – UNICEF’s funding requirement from the plan is $7.4 million, with about $3.8 million received to date.

“UNICEF urgently requires additional funding to be able to continue to expand its programme outreach towards all Syrian children in need in the sub-region,” the agency said in a news release.

The UN estimates that more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 16 months ago. Tens of thousands have also been uprooted from their homes, with many having fled to neighbouring countries.