A/RES/57/159 1998/76 of 22 April 1998, 4 1999/80 of 28 April 1999, 5 2000/85 of 27 April 2000, 6 2001/75 of 25 April 2001 7 and 2002/92 of 26 April 2002 8 on the rights of the child, and resolutions 1996/27 of 19 April 1996,2 1998/31 of 17 April 1998, 4 2000/51 of 25 April 2000 6 and 2002/61 of 25 April 2002 8 and decision 1997/107 of 11 April 1997, 9 on the human rights of persons with disabilities, Deeply alarmed by the number of mines that continue to be laid each year, as well as the presence of a decreasing but still very large number of mines and other unexploded ordnance as a result of armed conflicts, and therefore remaining convinced of the necessity and urgency of a significant increase in mine-clearance efforts by the international community with a view to eliminating the threat of landmines to civilians as soon as possible, Noting the inclusion in Amended Protocol II 10 to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects11 of a number of provisions of importance for mine-clearance operations, notably the requirement of detectability, and provision of information and technical and material assistance necessary to remove or otherwise render ineffective minefields, mines and booby traps, and noting also that Amended Protocol II to the Convention entered into force on 3 December 1998, Noting also the conclusions and recommendations adopted at the Third Annual Conference of the States Parties to Amended Protocol II to the Convention, held in Geneva on 10 December 2001, 12 Recalling that the States parties at the Second Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention decided to explore further the issue of mines other than anti-personnel mines, the effects of explosive remnants of wars and possible measures which could reduce the risk of casualties among civilian populations and humanitarian problems after conflicts, Noting that additional States have ratified or acceded to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, 13 which entered into force on 1 March 1999, bringing the total number of States that have formally accepted the obligations therein to one hundred and thirty, Noting also the conclusions of the Fourth Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention, held in Geneva from 16 to 20 September 2002, 14 taking note of the reaffirmed commitments that were made, among other things, to intensify further the efforts in those areas most directly related to the core humanitarian objectives of _______________ 4 Ibid., 1998, Supplement No. 3 (E/1998/23), chap. II, sect. A. Ibid., 1999, Supplement No. 3 (E/1999/23), chap. II, sect. A. 6 Ibid., 2000, Supplement No. 3 and corrigendum (E/2000/23 and Corr.1), chap. II, sect. A. 7 Ibid., 2001, Supplement No. 3 (E/2001/23), chap. II, sect. A. 8 Ibid., 2002, Supplement No. 3 (E/2002/23), chap. II, sect. A. 9 Ibid., 1997, Supplement No. 3 (E/1997/23), chap. II, sect. B. 10 CCW/CONF.I/16 (Part I), annex B. 11 See The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook, vol. 5: 1980 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.81.IX.4), appendix VII. 12 See CCW/AP.II/CONF.3/4 (Part I) and Corr.1 and 2. 13 See CD/1478. 14 See APLC/MSP.4/2002/1. 5 2