United Nations Mine Action Service

United Nations Mine Action Service
AbbreviationUNMAS
FormationOctober 1997; 27 years ago (1997-10)
Legal statusActive
HeadquartersUnited Nations Headquarters
New York, USA
Head
Director of UNMAS
Ilene Cohn
Parent organization
United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations
Websitewww.unmas.org/en
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UN Secretary-General António Guterres (right) meets with former UNMAS Director Agnès Marcaillou (centre) and UN Global Advocate Daniel Craig (left) on 18 October 2017.

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.[1]

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.[2]

  1. ^ "Daniel Craig, Global Advocate for Elimination of Mines".
  2. ^ "UNMAS Annual Report 2021".