Countering the Threat Posed by Improvised Explosive Devices

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 98jj Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices, published in 2024.

What other versions does this mandate have?

7 versions · 2015–2024

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2024	A/RES/79/53	Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices	3,618	37%Compare
2022	A/RES/77/64	Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices	3,631	87%Compare
2020	A/RES/75/59	Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices	3,219	95%Compare
2018	A/RES/73/67	Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices	3,298	89%Compare
2017	A/RES/72/36	Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices	3,034	71%Compare

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

3 entities

(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited
Programme 4	Peacekeeping operations	31
Programme 2	Political affairs	23
Subprogramme 3	Conventional arms	7

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

3 entities

(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
Programme 4	Peacekeeping operations	31	—
Programme 2	Political affairs	23	—
Subprogramme 3	Conventional arms	7	—

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

5 reports · 2016–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2026	A/81/253	Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/53
2024	A/79/211	Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/64
2020	A/75/175	Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/73/67
2018	A/73/156	Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/71/72
2016	A/71/187	Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/46

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

Counter-Terrorism Information Exchange International Cooperation Military Explosives

What’s in this document?

28 operative paragraphs

Strongly urges States to develop and implement, where appropriate, all national measures, including outreach and partnerships with relevant actors, including the private sector, necessary to promote awareness, vigilance and good practices among their nationals, persons subject to their jurisdiction and firms incorporated in their territory or subject to their jurisdiction that are involved in the production, sale, supply, purchase, transfer and/or storage of precursor components and materials that could be used to make improvised explosive devices;

Strongly encourages States, where appropriate, to develop, adopt and effectively implement their own national policy to counter improvised explosive devices that includes cooperation among civilian, military and law enforcement agencies to strengthen their countermeasure capability, to prevent their territory from being used for terrorist purposes and to combat illegal armed groups, terrorists and other unauthorized recipients in their use of improvised explosive devices, while bearing in mind their obligations under applicable international law, and notes that the policy could include measures to support international and regional efforts to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate attacks using improvised explosive devices and their widespread consequences;

Stresses the need for States to take appropriate measures, inter alia, relevant measures, including those contained in the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management, to strengthen the through-life management of conventional ammunition to prevent the diversion of materials for making improvised explosive devices to illicit markets, illegal armed groups, terrorists and other unauthorized recipients, and encourages the application of the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines for the safer and more secure management of ammunition stockpiles;

Underlines that, for the issue of improvised explosive devices to be effectively addressed, it is essential to comprehend the importance of action needed at the local and community levels, engaging with community leaders and relevant civil society organizations through activities ranging from awareness-raising of the threat posed by such devices and of possible threat mitigation measures, in conjunction with distributors and local retailers, and intelligence-gathering, to establishing deradicalization programmes, and the need for Governments to engage continuously with local authorities and groups, and encourages States in a position to do so to support initiatives and efforts to that end;

Encourages international and regional cooperation among States, including the sharing of information on good practices, as appropriate and where relevant, in cooperation with relevant United Nations entities, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the World Customs Organization and the private sector, in order to address the theft, trafficking, diversion, loss and illicit use of materials for making improvised explosive devices, while ensuring the security of sensitive information that is shared;

Encourages States, where relevant, to develop and implement regional and subregional strategies to address region-specific challenges related to the threat posed by improvised explosive devices;

Encourages States and relevant international and regional organizations to engage, as appropriate, with private sector entities in discussions and initiatives on countering improvised explosive devices, including on issues such as accountability throughout the supply chain for dual-use components, traceability procedures, improving the regulation of explosive precursors, where possible and as appropriate, strengthening security for the transport and storage of explosives and of precursors, as well as enhancing the vetting procedures for personnel with access to explosives or to precursors useful to the manufacture of explosives, while avoiding undue restrictions on the legitimate use of and access to such materials;

Strongly encourages States to share information, on a voluntary basis, on the diversion of commercial-grade explosives and commercially available detonators to the illicit trade and transfer to illegal armed groups, terrorists and other unauthorized recipients, through relevant channels, including the INTERPOL Project Watchmaker, Chemical Anti-Smuggling Enforcement and Chemical Risk Identification and Mitigation projects and the Programme Global Shield of the World Customs Organization;

Encourages States and the private sector to increase prevention efforts by taking measures to stem the transfer of knowledge of improvised explosive devices and their manufacture and use by illegal armed groups, terrorists and other unauthorized recipients, as well as measures, such as awareness-raising, support for research and data collection, to stem the illicit acquisition of components and chemicals over the Internet and through the use of the “dark web”;¹⁹

¹⁹Content of the dark web exists on overlay networks that use the Internet, but accessing this content requires specific software, configurations or authorizations because it is not indexed by search engines.

Encourages States and relevant international and regional organizations and non-governmental organizations, including international industry associations, to continue to build upon existing awareness, prevention and risk education campaigns regarding the urgent threat of improvised explosive devices and to disseminate threat mitigation measures;

Encourages States to enhance information-sharing and international cooperation and assistance, and to strengthen national capacities of the High Contracting Parties to the amended version of the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby Traps and Other Devices (Protocol II) in mitigating the problem of improvised explosive devices, including by the sharing of national measures to identify effective practices for countering the threat posed by such devices through the use of the updated one-time voluntary questionnaire²⁰ and the maintenance of a network of national points of contact;

²⁰CCW/AP.II/CONF.23/5.

Recognizes the importance of capability development and capacity-building, through both technical and financial assistance, to countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices, as well as the contributions made by various United Nations entities to that end;

Urges all States, in particular those that have the capacity to do so, as well as the United Nations system and other relevant organizations and institutions supporting affected States, to increase attention to prevention and capacity-building and to provide support to reduce the risks posed by improvised explosive devices in a manner that takes into consideration the different needs of women, girls, boys and men;

Encourages States, the United Nations and international, regional and other organizations with relevant expertise that are in a position to do so to render to interested States, upon their request, technical, financial and material assistance aimed at strengthening the capacity of such States to counter the threat of improvised explosive devices, including through assistance for the development of good practices for the protection of civilians from attacks using such devices and for the application of international standards to ensure the safety of personnel involved in the disposal of improvised explosive devices, and to provide appropriate assistance to the victims of such attacks;

Encourages States to respond to the needs of today’s peacekeepers to operate in new threat environments involving improvised explosive devices, including by providing, in consultation and cooperation with the Department of Peace Operations of the Secretariat, the appropriate training, capabilities, information and knowledge management and technology required to counter improvised explosive devices, and to ensure that adequate financial resources are allocated to meet such needs, and encourages the full implementation of the counter-improvised explosive devices for peacekeeping operations strategy and the Guidelines on Improvised Explosive Device Threat Mitigation in Mission Settings in all peacekeeping operations;

Encourages relevant United Nations entities and States to accelerate the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the independent strategic review on the responses of United Nations peacekeeping operations to improvised explosive devices,²¹ with a view to mitigating the threat of improvised explosive devices in United Nations mission areas;

²¹S/2021/1042, annex.

Urges Member States to comply fully with all relevant United Nations resolutions, including those related to preventing terrorist groups from using and accessing materials that can be used in the making of improvised explosive devices,²² and encourages the use of the relevant technical guidelines to support the implementation of Security Council resolution 2370 (2017) on preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons;

²²Including Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001), 2160 (2014), 2161 (2014), 2199 (2015), 2253 (2015), 2255 (2015) and 2370 (2017).

Encourages States to consider the implementation of the relevant aspects of the non-binding guiding principles on threats posed by the use of unmanned aircraft systems for terrorist purposes, known as the “Abu Dhabi Guiding Principles”,²³ adopted by the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001) concerning counter-terrorism;

²³S/2023/1035, annex.

Encourages States to consider and address new trends in the diversion of materials for the manufacture, manufacturing processes and delivery of improvised explosive devices;

Encourages all relevant entities of the United Nations system to continue to address the issue of improvised explosive devices, as appropriate and in line with their respective mandates, and to pursue a coherent whole-of-system approach to countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices, with a focus on enhancing information-sharing and cross-sector cooperation, through the inter-agency task force led by the Mine Action Service;

Urges States in a position to do so to sustain their support for the United Nations whole-of-system approach, including through contributing funding to the diverse areas of work needed to effectively address the threat of improvised explosive devices, including research, clearance, ammunition stockpile management, preventing violent extremism as and when conducive to terrorism, awareness-raising, capability development, capacity-building, information management and victim assistance, through existing trust funds and arrangements, including those of the Office of Counter-Terrorism, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research and the Office for Disarmament Affairs and the United Nations voluntary trust fund for assistance in mine action, efforts undertaken under relevant conventions²⁴ or through regional or national programmes;

²⁴Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects and Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction.

Requests the Office for Disarmament Affairs, in coordination with other relevant entities, to maintain and regularly update the online information hub that provides impartial, authoritative information relevant to addressing the issue of improvised explosive devices in a comprehensive manner, and encourages States to utilize the hub to access existing initiatives, policies, documents and tools relevant to countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices;

Encourages the use of the United Nations Policy on Victim Assistance in Mine Action, which highlights the significance of integrating survivor assistance efforts into broader international and national frameworks, as well as the importance of sustained services and support to survivors, including the survivors of attacks involving improvised explosive devices;

Encourages the continued use by interested States of the counter-improvised explosive device self-assessment tool developed by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research to assess priorities for the design, implementation and review of national preventive and preparedness measures in countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices, encourages interested States, on a voluntary basis, to report to the Institute on its use and on areas for further development, and encourages States, on a voluntary basis, to share information with the Institute, including details of good practices, lessons learned and national experiences in adopting measures to prevent and counter improvised explosive devices, in order to strengthen the development of an online compendium of effective national measures;

Encourages civil society to continue to contribute to addressing the threat posed by improvised explosive devices, including in clearance, research, awareness-raising, risk education, victim assistance and preventing violent extremism as and when conducive to terrorism, in particular at the local and community levels, taking into account the primary responsibility of States for countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its eighty-first session on the implementation of the present resolution, acknowledging and taking into account existing efforts, both inside and outside the United Nations, and seeking the views of Member States;

Encourages States to continue to hold open, informal consultations, where appropriate, focusing on raising awareness, prevention, mitigation and response, and coordination within the United Nations system and beyond, with information provided by States, international and regional organizations as well as experts from non-governmental organizations, including relevant private sector stakeholders, on efforts to prevent, counter and mitigate the threat posed by improvised explosive devices, which could assist the General Assembly in maintaining a comprehensive overview of relevant global activities;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its eighty-first session, under the item entitled “General and complete disarmament”, the sub-item entitled “Countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices”.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents

Who cites this mandate in the budget?