EU Statement - Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention 22nd Meeting of States Parties - Statement on Victim Assistance
Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention
22nd Meeting of States Parties
Geneva, 1-5 December 2025
EU Statement on Victim Assistance
Madam President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union (EU) and its Member States.
The candidate countries Türkiye, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Republic of Moldova[1] as well as the EFTA country Iceland, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.
At the outset, I would like to seize this opportunity, Madam President, to express the appreciation of the European Union for your personal engagement and command your leadership in guiding this meeting. You may be assured of the strongest engagement of the European Union in support of your efforts. We would like also to welcome the Marshall Islands and Tonga as new States Parties to the Convention, and to join others in wishing them all success.
The European Union would like also to thank the members of the Committee on Victim Assistance for your work, and for the update on your activities.
Madam President,
The EU has been resolutely engaged in supporting mine victims and persons with disabilities through its policies and assistance for decades.
As long as anti-personnel mines, including those of an improvised nature and explosive remnants of war, continue to affect the lives of millions of civilians across the world, the EU will continue to engage and to support victims and survivors. We recognise the devastating humanitarian, social, economic and developmental impact of these weapons, and we will continue to work on victim assistance in our efforts towards achieving a mine-free world. In 2024, the EU remained a major donor to mine action across the globe, having contributed over 110 million EUR to humanitarian mine action, including 13.2 million EUR specifically for victim assistance.
On April 14th, 2025, the EU reaffirmed its continuous financial support to the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) of the Convention by adopting Council Decision (CFSP) 2025/781. This allocates 2.7 million EUR to the ISU for 2025-2029 to contribute to the full implementation of the Siem Reap-Angkor Action Plan, including victim assistance commitments under actions 30 to 39. The EU commends the ISU for its continued efforts in this regard.
Madam President,
The EU has been, and continues to be, engaged in support of mine victims, survivors and persons with disabilities through its policies and assistance.
We support full, equal, effective, and non-discriminatory participation of mine victims and survivors in society. Furthermore, we will continue to provide sustained and continuous assistance to victims to fulfil their rights in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and strengthen synergies with this important instrument. In this regard, mainstreaming a gender perspective into mine action work, supporting the efforts of stakeholders, and taking into consideration the diverse needs and experiences of people in affected communities for humanitarian mine action policies remain a top priority for the EU.
We support States Parties in developing clear, measurable victim assistance plans and promoting international and regional cooperation with civil society to build sustainable capacities, while ensuring the meaningful participation of affected communities in all matters that affect them. In this matter, the EU will support regional and national stakeholder dialogues, as well as expert meetings to advance victim assistance in line with the Siem Reap-Angkor Action Plan. The EU intends to support the Committee on Victim Assistance and the Convention President in convening a Fourth Global Conference on Victim Assistance building on the successes of previous Conferences held in Colombia (2014), Jordan (2019), and Cambodia (2023).
Madam President,
The EU encourages the development of policies to best assist mine victims and survivors in a non-discriminatory manner, addressing the specific needs of all and leaving no one behind. We also encourage commitments by all States Parties to fully implement their obligations under the Convention, including by taking appropriate assistance measures beyond mine clearance, when they are in a position to do so, to ensure social and economic rehabilitation of mine victims and survivors.
We underline the necessity to provide context-specific emergency medical care and early rehabilitation services to new casualties that are both effective and efficient. We must continue to improve national capacities through training and risk education and ensure that mine and other explosive ordnance survivors, as well as affected families and communities, have access to psychological and psychosocial support services in line with the Siem Reap-Angkor Action Plan.
Madam President,
Let me conclude that, as long as there are victims and survivors, the EU will provide them with sustained assistance to fulfil their rights. We encourage all international stakeholders to continue to provide funding to, and support, capacity-building in States Parties with reported mine victims. We call on all States Parties to intensify their efforts and to implement fully the actions of the Siem Reap-Angkor Action Plan.
Thank you, Madam President.
[1] North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.