III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 609 

Recognizing April 4, 2024, as the International Day for Mine Awareness 

and Assistance in Mine Action, and reaffirming the leadership of the 

United States in eliminating landmines and unexploded ordnance. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2024 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. MORAN, and Mr. WELCH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing April 4, 2024, as the International Day for 

Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, and 

reaffirming the leadership of the United States in eliminating landmines and unexploded ordnance. 

Whereas landmines and unexploded ordnance threaten the 

safety, health, and lives of civilian populations and create 

humanitarian and development challenges that have serious and lasting social, economic, and security consequences for effected populations; 

Whereas demining and clearance of unexploded ordnance enables displaced people to return to their homes and has 

a direct impact on development outcomes such as food security, school attendance, and economic development; 


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•SRES 609 IS 

Whereas people in at least 60 countries and other areas are 

at risk from mines and unexploded ordnance in their 

communities; 

Whereas more than 135,000 deaths and injuries resulting 

from anti-personnel or anti-vehicle mines and other explosive remnants of war have been recorded in the Landmine Monitor database since 2001, and thousands more 

individuals around the world are killed and injured by 

such mines and remnants each year; 

Whereas, over the past 3 decades, the United States has been 

the global leader in supporting efforts to clear mine-contaminated areas around the world, dedicating more than 

$4,600,000,000 for demining and related programs in 

120 countries and territories since 1993; 

Whereas, since 1989, the United States Agency for International Development has allocated more than 

$337,000,000 through the Leahy War Victims Fund in 

more than 50 countries to provide artificial limbs, wheelchairs, rehabilitation, vocational training, and other assistance to survivors of accidents caused by landmines 

and unexploded ordnance; 

Whereas the United States Government expressed its support 

for the Maputo +15 declaration of June 27, 2014, which 

established the goal ‘‘to destroy all stockpiled anti-personnel mines and clear all mined areas as soon as possible’’; 

Whereas there are 164 States Parties to the Convention on 

the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and 

Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, done at the Oslo Landmine Conference, September 

18, 1997; 


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•SRES 609 IS 

Whereas the recent use of landmines, cluster bombs, and 

other munitions, particularly in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Burma, and Ukraine, has created new humanitarian priorities and funding requirements for demining, 

while legacy mine contamination remains an urgent challenge impacting millions of people globally; 

Whereas Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has resulted in an 

estimated one third of the territory being contaminated 

with landmines and unexploded ordnance, creating a 

massive need for clearance operations as a prerequisite 

for Ukraine’s recovery; 

Whereas these needs in Ukraine do not diminish the similarly 

urgent need for humanitarian demining in other parts of 

the world; 

Whereas additional resources for demining will be needed to 

achieve a world free of the threat of landmines and other 

explosive hazards; and 

Whereas, on December 8, 2005, the United Nations General 

Assembly declared that April 4th of each year shall be 

observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness 

and Assistance in Mine Action: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

3 States to support international humanitarian efforts 

4 to eliminate landmines and unexploded ordnance; 

5 (2) recognizes those individuals in numerous 

6 countries who, at great risk to their personal safety, 

7 work to locate and remove anti-personnel landmines 

8 and unexploded ordnance; 


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•SRES 609 IS 

1 (3) affirms its support for the goal, as ex2 pressed by the Maputo +15 declaration of June 27, 

3 2014, to intensify efforts to clear mined areas to the 

4 fullest extent possible by 2025; 

5 (4) calls upon the United States Government— 

6 (A) to continue providing the funding nec7 essary to support international humanitarian 

8 demining activities; 

9 (B) to maintain its international leadership 

10 role in seeking to rid the world of areas con11 taminated by landmines and unexploded ord12 nance; and 

13 (C) to rededicate itself to addressing legacy 

14 mine contamination as an urgent humanitarian 

15 priority; and 

16 (5) reaffirms the goals of the International Day 

17 for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. 

Æ 


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