Human Settlements and Urban Issues

This Smart Sustainable City Profile presents the outcomes of the city evaluation against the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Smart Sustainable Cities (SSCs) and proposes actions to improve progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Based on the KPI evaluation this profile makes a series of recommendations to further accelerate the progress of Nur-Sultan towards achieving the SDGs. They suggest improvements in areas such as solid waste management public building sustainability urban and spatial planning decent-quality affordable housing and the availability of urban data.

For twenty-five years the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has helped reduce the impact of explosive ordnance contamination on communities worldwide. The 2021 annual report highlights UNMAS activities achievements funding and expenditures. But in a larger sense it tells the story of advancing fundamental building blocks of peace and security. Around the globe mine action has opened roads ensured more children can safely attend school and provided increased access to water sources farmland markets and health facilities. These efforts have also allowed more displaced civilians to return home free of the fear of explosive threats facilitated the safe delivery of lifesaving humanitarian relief and created a safer environment for peacekeepers. Despite this progress needs continue to grow. In Afghanistan vast tracts of contaminated land have only recently been made accessible to mine action teams. In Ethiopia and Myanmar conflict is not only adding to contamination but forcing fleeing civilians to navigate land littered with explosive remnants of war. The war in Ukraine has seen the use of enormous amounts of ordnance including in populated urban areas which will require mine action for decades to come. The increased use of Improvised Explosive Devices is also having greater impact on civilians and peacekeepers – as recognized by the Security Council and the General Assembly. As this report makes clear mine action makes a real difference in the lives of people and communities.

Yemen remains severely contaminated by landmines sea mines IEDs and other ERW which include cluster munitions. Governorates where there has been significant fighting such as Al Bayda Al Dhale’ Hajjah Ma’rib Sa’ada Shabwa and Taiz are the most impacted.

While the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan continued to hold in 2021 limited progress on meeting the benchmarks therein was achieved. Moreover Government efforts to develop a roadmap to elections met with calls by other parties to the agreement for more inclusion in the process. This resulting political impasse increased tensions between Government parties and fuelled subnational and intercommunal violence across the country. The impact of this upsurge in violence was compounded by the presence of mines and ERW with the Greater Equatoria region in the south being the worst affected. The total contaminated area by explosive ordnance in 2021 was estimated to be 17.9 square kilometres restricting the movement of IDPs and preventing the safe return of refugees displaced by conflict.

Ethiopia has experienced a series of armed conflicts over the last 50 years which have left behind landmine and ERW contamination.

For twenty-five years the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has helped reduce the impact of explosive ordnance contamination on communities worldwide.

The Syrian conflict is one of the most devastating humanitarian crises of modern times and the extensive use of weapons has contaminated vast swathes of land with explosive ordnance including landmines IEDs and ERW. While the full scale of contamination is not precisely known in 2021 it was assessed that an estimated one in two Syrians 10.3 million people lived in areas suspected to be contaminated. Areas affected include agricultural land roads private property hospitals schools and other public infrastructure. Meanwhile 14.6 million people in Syria need humanitarian assistance. Twelve million people are food insecure and 90 per cent of the population live below the poverty line. Infrastructure is crumbling destroyed by years of conflict. Economic activity halved during a decade of war regional financial crises corruption sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lebanon has more than 6.9 million square metres of confirmed mined area within the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) area of operations including the “Blue Line” which is a demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel. According to the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) contamination along the Blue line negatively affects more than 20000 people. It also endangers humanitarian workers and United Nations personnel. Minefields in proximity to the Blue Line UNIFIL bases and patrol routes endanger peacekeepers and limit UNIFIL in its mandate delivery.