In 2023 over 34,700 casualties from explosive weapons were recorded, the majority of those civilians. That number will keep growing.
 

The horrific situations in Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen, Sudan, and many more current conflicts around the world, make the constitution of the new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Explosive Weapons & Their Impact (APPGEW) more relevant than it’s predecessor groups have ever been.

The aim of the APPG is to keep parliamentarians informed on issues relating to Explosive Ordnance Disposal, mine-action and victim assistance with the goal of ensuring suitable and sustainable government policy in those areas. The United Kingdom has an enviable global reputation and our explosive ordnance disposal capability is a powerful political and diplomatic tool.
 

In the coming new Parliament the APPG will explore a number of issues relating to the use and mitigation of explosive weapons, and more importantly, their devastating impact upon innocent civilians and the real human cost.

Statement by our Chair Helen Maguire MP:

It is appalling news that a Mines Advisory Group explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) expert on secondment to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is one of five people to have been injured at a United Nations facility in Gaza, that also claimed the life of a UN worker.

Those working in the humanitarian community should never be considered as targets.

As chair of the APPG on Explosive Weapons & Their Impact, I know just how difficult this job is and the bravery it takes.

I've written to the Foreign Secretary to ensure recent cuts to foreign aid do not impact the Global Mine Action Programme.

My thoughts are with the families affected.