The number of civilians killed or injured by bombing and shelling in urban areas globally soared by 83 percent in 2022, largely driven by the increased use of explosive weapons by Russian armed forces in Ukraine, and rising incidents in Ethiopia, Myanmar and Somalia, a new report by the Explosive Weapons Monitor (EWM) has revealed.
Humanity & Inclusion and its partners in the International Explosive Weapons Network invite media representatives to an online launch event to mark the release of the first global Explosive Weapons Monitor report on the human catastrophes of bombing and shelling of cities.
Humanity & Inclusion (HI) Canada is responding urgently to help families and individuals affected by the major earthquakes in southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria.
n view of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, Humanity & Inclusion (HI) Canada is organizing a visit in Canada for three key figures in the anti-personnel landmine movement to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Ottawa Treaty. Since then, 55 million stockpiled mines have been destroyed, and over 3,300 square kilometres of land have been rehabilitated. Nevertheless, between 2001 and 2020, 130,000 people, mostly civilians, half of them children, were killed or injured by landmines or explosive remnants of war.
States, including Canada and many allies, will meet at Dublin Castle this Friday, to sign the “Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas”. The landmark agreement addresses the widespread civilian suffering and devastation resulting from the bombing and shelling of cities, towns, and other populated areas. Mines Action Canada, Project Ploughshares and Humanity & Inclusion Canada, the Canadian members of International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW), welcome the declaration and call on all states to sign and implement it.
The Board of Directors of Humanity & Inclusion (HI) Canada is proud to announce the appointment of Anne Delorme as Executive Director. She takes over the leadership of the Canadian association this week.
States will meet on November 18 at the Dublin Conference to approve the international agreement to strengthen the protection of civilians against explosive weapons in populated areas. Humanity & Inclusion (HI) calls on states to implement military policies and practices to ensure better protection of civilians from explosive weapons.
HI is celebrating its 40th anniversary as an international solidarity organization working with the most vulnerable: people with disabilities.
HI receives a major donation of $100,000 from the Mirella & Lino Saputo Foundation. The donation will strengthen HI's emergency activities with vulnerable and disabled people in Ukraine.
United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), Glasgow
HI’s report “No safe recovery: The impact of Explosive Ordnance contamination on affected populations in Iraq” paints a harrowing picture of the daily lives of Iraqis, some of whom are too nervous to let their children walk to school, or so desperate for income that they’ll risk working in places known to be polluted with explosives.
Afghanistan: assisting the most vulnerable
Fighting in Palma, Mozambique.
Violences in Myanmar
4 April, International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action
6 years of war in Yemen
As the conflict enters its seventh year on 26 March, new offensives have ignited in Hodeidah, Taiz, Hajjah and Marib, attacks on civilians are on the rise, and the country is at imminent risk of famine. 21 aid agencies in Yemen are calling for an immediate nationwide ceasefire and for warring parties to return to the negotiating table.
10-year Syrian conflict
10-year Syrian conflict
Diplomatic discussions against bombing in urban areas
1 December 2020
Cluster Munition Monitor 2020
Ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Saudi Arabia on 21 November, 11 aid organisations are calling for early action to prevent soaring rates of hunger and malnutrition resulting from the pandemic-related global economic recession.
Landmine Monitor 2020 report
Humanity & Inclusion (HI) expresses its deep concern about reported civilian suffering in the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. The violence rapidly escalates in populated areas, putting the lives of civilians in grave danger. Humanity & Inclusion supports the international call for a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh and call on states to develop a strong international agreement against bombing in populated areas in 2021.
INEW statement
The European Union awards HI two prizes as part of the Horizon 2020 Prize for its Odyssey2025 project on the use of UAVs in demining operations and the project on tele-rehabilitation for all.
States will gather at the online panel discussion "Protecting Civilians in Urban Warfare" on 7 September to address issues, policies and practices related to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. In Yemen, Libya, Syria, daily bombing has devastating consequences for the civilians.
Since the explosion on August 4 that rocked the port city of Beirut, Canadians have been uniting their efforts to raise funds in order to provide emergency assistance to affected populations.
International agencies call for Brussels Conference to address fall-out from the pandemic
Diplomatic process against bombing in populated areas
Covid-19 pandemic
Over five years of brutal war in Yemen have left millions of Yemenis weakened by malnutrition and disease, and decimated Yemen’s health system. The imminent threat of COVID-19 will exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation.
4 April: International Mine Awareness Day
COVID-19
5 years of war in Yemen
9 years of indiscriminate war in Syria
We are shocked and saddened to hear about the deaths of as many as 31 civilians, and 12 other people injured, in strikes on Al Jawf governorate in northern Yemen on 15 February.
As violence continues to escalate in northwest Syria, 10 Canadian aid agencies are warning that the number of people displaced could reach one million by next week unless immediate action is taken.
On Monday, February 10, States’ delegations, militaries, United Nations agencies and civil society gather at the United Nations in Geneva to discuss on a political declaration against the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Humanity & Inclusion and members of the International Network of Explosive Weapons (INEW) are working with States to convince them to create a strong political declaration to end human suffering caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and support victims.
As hostilities continue to escalate in northwest Syria, eight aid agencies are today making an urgent call for an immediate ceasefire as they warn that hundreds of thousands of people – the majority of them women and children – fleeing the unrelenting violence are caught in a humanitarian catastrophe.
The Trump Administration has announced a deadly landmine policy shift, effectively committing the U.S. to resume the use and stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines. Landmines are devastating, victim-activated devices that cannot discriminate between the footstep of a child or that of a soldier.
Dozens of civilians were killed in bombings in Idlib province in the north-west of war-torn Syria, according to Ms. Najat Rochdi, Senior Humanitarian Adviser to the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, and other monitoring groups. Bombardments and shelling have intensified in the region in recent days putting an unbearable threat to civilians and forcing the population to flee.
Humanity & Inclusion has issued the following statement:
“We demand an immediate end to the bombing and shelling of areas populated by civilians, which has increased at a terrifying rate in recent days,” says Anne Héry, Director of Advocacy and Institutional Relations. “These attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructures, including health centers, are totally unacceptable and against international humanitarian law. Parties to the conflict must also ensure access to humanitarian assistance for affected populations.”
A quarter of all civilian casualties across Yemen in 2019 were recorded in Hodeidah governorate. Despite a ceasefire in the port city being at the heart of last year’s Stockholm Agreement, Hodeidah has seen 799 civilian casualties since the Agreement was signed, the highest toll countrywide.
Review Conference against landmine
Humanitarian organisations in Haiti express their concern over the scale of the food crisis that has been confirmed by the publication of the results of the Integrated Framework of Classification of Food Security (IPC)1 by the National Coordination of Food Security (CNSA) and the Ministry of Agriculture.
Landmine Monitor 2019 report
Humanity & Inclusion (HI) and Mobility Robotics have presented data to show how buried landmines were located using drones equipped with infrared cameras. Results were presented at the “Mine Action Technology Workshop” organised by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in Basel this week.
Civilians at risk as violence escalates and humanitarian work is suspended
After nearly a decade of nation-wide conflict, the Turkish incursion into northeast Syria reignites the cycle of violence, worry and uncertainty for people living in the area. HI is deeply concerned about how the military escalation will affect the civilian population. HI calls on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians, especially people in populated areas that are being attacked with airstrikes and artillery.
A great number of 133 states gathered for two days at the Vienna Conference “Protecting Civilians in Urban Warfare”. A majority of attendants announced that they were ready to work on a political declaration to end human suffering caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The discussions that will take place in the 6 months to come will be decisive to protect millions of civilians living in war zones.
The use of explosive weapons in populated areas
Canada's foreign policy
4 September 2019
Cluster Munition Monitor 2019
Back-to-school 2019
Rohingya crisis
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Security Council taking up the protection of civilians in armed conflict on its agenda, as well as two important resolutions passed in 1999: Resolution 1265 on the protection of civilians in armed conflict and Resolution 1270, which included the first explicit protection of civilians mandate for a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operation. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
More than 30 people were killed in the exchanges of rocket fire and airstrikes between Gaza and Israel over the weekend. In Gaza, this escalation of violence could lead to a new wave of injuries, with surgical and rehabilitation services already overwhelmed.
On 4 April, the forces of the Libyan National Army launched an offensive against the forces aligned with the Government of National Accord to take control of Tripoli.
Twenty-five years on, one in three people still suffer post-traumatic stress disorder.
4 April: International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action
The Humanitarian Coalition and its member agencies welcome the Government of Canada’s decision to match donations by Canadians in response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai.
HI takes a stand against indiscriminate warfare and its devastating impact on civilians
March 15 marks the 8th anniversary of the Syrian conflict. 11.7 million Syrians, 70% of the population, are still in need of emergency humanitarian assistance. Access to basic services (health, food, clean water, shelter, etc.) remains an absolute priority, while the country's contamination with explosive remnants - unprecedented in the history of mine clearance - prevents the return of populations and will considerably complicate the country's reconstruction. For the past 7 years, HI has been assisting Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon through psychosocial support and rehabilitation projects.
The Humanitarian INGO Forum in Colombia calls on all States to maintain the humanitarian character of aid in order to save lives, alleviate suffering, restore and protect human rights, and preserve the human dignity of persons who are victims of conflicts, complex crises and/or natural disasters. In this context, the Forum would like to express its concerns about the methods through which humanitarian aid is planned to be sent from Colombia to Venezuela.
Humanity & Inclusion, which operates under its original name “Handicap International” in Burundi since 1992, has been forced to stop its activities in the country. It no longer considers itself able to carry out its projects due to the Burundian government's recent decisions towards international NGOs, in particular the obligation to keep a record of its employees’ ethnicities.
International NGOs working in Yemen welcome the upcoming political consultations in Sweden.
3rd December: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Landmine Monitor 2018
Humanitarian and civil society agencies working in Rakhine State in Myanmar and in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh are deeply concerned that the repatriation of refugees will commence in mid-November, according to an announcement of the Joint Working Group of the Governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar on 30th October.
The world-famous footballer has become the first student of the TEACHER KIDS school
As Canada continues to race for a seat in the next vote for the UN Security Council, Humanity & Inclusion (HI) is calling on Canadian Members of Parliament to stop the bombing of populated areas, an almost systematic practice in present-day conflicts, of which more than 90% of casualties are civilians.
Eight leading aid agencies are calling on world leaders meeting Friday to urgently work together to avoid this horrific scenario.
While a major military offensive on Idlib region is possibly under preparation, HI calls on parties to the conflict to spare civilians and allow full and unfettered humanitarian access.
States must commit to eradicate cluster munitions
One year on from Mosul’s liberation, 8 million tons[1] of explosive remnants still contaminate the city. Thousands of injured are trying to access medical treatment and more than 300,000[2] displaced people are still surviving in camps and communities as Mosul, trapped by explosive remnants of war, remains a ticking time bomb. Humanity & Inclusion (the new name of Handicap International), released a fact sheet about the situation in Mosul. Download it here.
Lyon, 18 June. On Saturday 16 June, HI's Federal Board of Trustees elected Jean-Noël Dargnies as its new Chairperson. After a career in industry and higher education, he is taking over from Jacques Tassi, whose third term as Chairperson ended on Saturday.
15 NGOs appeal to President Macron on the eve of a humanitarian conference on Yemen in Paris
Another day of demonstrations have rocked Gaza, resulting in more than 500 new injuries, according to first estimates. Since demonstrations began last March on the border between Gaza and Israel, at least 128 people have been killed, and more than 13,900 people injured, half of whom required hospitalization.
We welcome French efforts to address the ongoing armed conflict and humanitarian crisis in Yemen, and your announcement during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Paris on 10 April that France would host an international humanitarian conference on Yemen in Paris in June.
As national and international NGOs operating in Kachin and northern Shan, Myanmar, we are deeply troubled by yet further escalation of armed conflict, including clashes directly impacting civilians throughout April and continuing into May, that has displaced and re-displaced thousands more civilians. Urgent action is required to save lives and meet widespread and growing humanitarian needs.
On Friday 27th April 2018 at 10:40 PM, an airstrike from the Saudi led coalition hit the National Blood Transfusion and Research Centre of the Al Sabeen Hospital, a building located 20 meters away from the First Physiotherapy Center where HI is providing support. No one was killed or wounded. The center which was on the no-strike list has now limited capacity to operate. HI condemns this airstrike and calls on all parties to effectively protect Health Facilities, their staffs and their patients in the full respect of de-confliction process.
Donors and governments meeting Tuesday and Wednesday for the Brussels II conference must take the opportunity to bring change for the millions vulnerable Syrians in their war-torn country and in the region by following throught on previous commitments to protect displaced people and fund the aid response.
On the occasion of the International Day for Mine Awareness, HI is alarmed by the frightening increase in the number of civilian victims of explosive weapons : 32,008 civilians were killed or injured by explosive weapons in 2016 (out of a total of 45,624 victims), according to Action on Armed Violence (AOAV). The toll looks even heavier for 2017, as civilians account for 90% of the victims of explosive weapons when they are used in populated areas. Landmine Monitor has recorded a dramatic increase in casualties of mine and explosive remnants over the past three years. Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Ukraine and Yemen are among the main countries affected.
This statement is made on behalf of 22 international NGOs current working in Yemen.
390,000 civilians are besieged under heavy shelling, airstrikes, and barrel bomb attacks in the enclave of Eastern Ghouta, with dwindling water, food, and medical supplies.
Diane Tell and the French Ambassador mobilized for the inclusion of the most vulnerable
Landmine Monitor 2017 report
Joint statement WHO/HI on Syria
20 years of the historic Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty
Handicap International report on bombing in Syria
Canada endorses the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action.
Jean-Baptiste Richardier, co-founder of Handicap International and administrator of the Humanitarian Alternatives magazine, will be visiting Montreal on the occasion of the Saint-Laurent Forum.
Casualties of mines and explosive remnants of war jump record 75% in one year.
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