United Nations Mine Action Service
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is a service located within the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations that specializes in coordinating and implementing activities to limit the threat posed by mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices. The Service operates under United Nations legislative mandates of both the General Assembly and the Security Council, as well as by request of affected Member States, the United Nations Secretary-General or their designated official. In 2015, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon designated actor Daniel Craig as the first United Nations Global Advocate for the Elimination of Mines and Explosive Hazards. They last released their annual report in 2021, highlighting how UNMAS programmes made progress in the removal and destruction of tens of thousands of items of explosive ordnance, improved the safety of millions of people, strengthened the national capacity of multiple governments and reduced the threat and impact of explosive ordnance attacks carried out against United Nations peace operations. History Origins The United Nations had been involved in mine action since it established the Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan in 1989. Additionally, in the early 1990s the organization was conducting various mine action activities in Cambodia,