Project Overview

Lebanon has been affected by explosive ordnance contamination since the 1975–1990 civil war, compounded by successive conflicts. Over 2,300 casualties have been recorded since 1975. Renewed contamination from recent hostilities has reversed years of progress, generating new threats across residential areas, agricultural land, and critical infrastructure. Lebanon remains one of the most contaminated countries in the world relative to its size, and clearance is a prerequisite for safe return, reconstruction, and the resumption of livelihoods for affected communities.

UNDP has supported the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) since 2010. The current project phase (2026–2030) supports LMAC — the national authority responsible for regulating, coordinating, and planning all mine action in Lebanon — to fulfil its mandate, meet Lebanon's obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM, extended to May 2030) and the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC), and ensure that cleared land translates into measurable development and livelihood gains for affected communities.

By supporting the national system that governs and coordinates mine action, UNDP's investment multiplies the impact of all clearance operations conducted under LMAC's authority. The annual Mine Action Forum, convened by LMAC with UNDP support, is the principal platform for coordinating international assistance, tracking progress, and aligning mine action with Lebanon's recovery and development priorities.
 

Project Objective

• UNDP supports LMAC to lead and coordinate mine action across Lebanon — developing national strategy, maintaining international standards and designing national standards, improving data systems, and engaging donors and partners through the annual Mine Action Forum and beyond. This support helps ensure Lebanon's mine action system remains effective, nationally owned, and able to respond to renewed contamination. 
• UNDP provides Explosive Ordnance Disposal equipment to LMAC and funding to accredited humanitarian mine action NGOs working under LMAC's authority to clear mined land and cluster munition contamination, prioritising areas where clearance directly enables safe return, agriculture, and reconstruction. 
• UNDP supports LMAC to deliver explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) to communities affected by contamination, helping people recognise and avoid explosive ordnance. Survivors receive direct assistance including prosthetics, psychosocial support, and livelihood opportunities. 
• Supporting the Regional School for Humanitarian Demining in Lebanon (RSHDL: UNDP supports the RSHDL to deliver accredited, internationally aligned training, strengthening Lebanon's standing as a regional centre of excellence for humanitarian mine action.
   

Achievements & Key Figures

• 2,190,834 m² of land released, of which 1,882,801 m² cleared, 149,975 m² reduced through technical survey, and 212,058 m² cancelled through non-technical survey
• 5,096 landmines, 2,482 cluster munitions, 445,250 unexploded ordnance, and 959 improvised explosive devices destroyed or made safe
• 3,600 rubble and debris tasks identified; approximately 2,300 remaining
• 122,130 direct beneficiaries, approximately equally distributed across men, women, boys, and girls
• EORE: 3,973 awareness sessions delivered; 112,216 people reached directly; 448,864 people reached indirectly; 1.5 million leaflets distributed
• Regional School for Humanitarian Demining (RSHDL): 29 training courses and 7 workshops conducted; 714 participants including 67 international participants from 16 nationalities; 22% women; 10 dedicated capability courses for the Lebanese Armed Forces
• $12.09 million mobilised for mine action in Lebanon in 2025
• 48 casualties recorded in 2025 (16 killed, 32 injured), reflecting the impact of renewed contamination
• 1.9M EORE flyers distributed by LMAC after the announcement of a ceasefire in April 2026
• Mine Action forum held in November 2025 with all sector stakeholders and the international community 

GESI Component (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion)

The programme integrates gender equality and social inclusion throughout, carrying a GEN2 gender marker under the 2026–2030 project phase.

• Mine survivors receive prosthetics, psychosocial support, and income-generation support. Annual targets for 2026–2030 include 50 survivors receiving prosthetics, 40 receiving psychosocial support, and 10 receiving income-generation support each year.
• The revised National Mine Action Standards include a dedicated gender chapter and gender considerations integrated across all 34 chapters. Lebanon's programme has been rated 8/10 for gender and diversity by the Mine Action Review consistently since 2022, up from 7/10 in 2020–2021.
• UNDP supported a comprehensive institutional gender review of LMAC, examining strategic, organisational, and operational dimensions. Building on this, UNDP supported the development and rollout of a gender training-of-trainers programme to embed gender-responsive