A/RES/52/173 Page 2 Deeply alarmed that the number of mines being laid each year, as well as the presence of a large number of mines and other unexploded devices as a result of armed conflicts, exponentially outweighs the number of such mines that can be cleared during that time, and thus convinced of the necessity and urgency of a significant increase in mine-clearance efforts by the international community, Noting the decisions taken at the Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects,4 particularly with respect to Protocol II of Convention and the inclusion in the Amended Protocol5 of a number of provisions of importance mine-clearance operations, notably the requirement of detectability, on Be the for Recalling that the States Parties to the Review Conference declared their commitment to keep the provisions of Protocol II under review in order to ensure that the concerns regarding the weapons it covers are addressed, and that they would encourage efforts of the United Nations and other organizations to address all the problems of landmines, Recalling also the adoption at the Ottawa International Strategy Conference, "Towards a Global Ban on Anti-Personnel Mines", on 5 October 1996, of the Ottawa Declaration6 whereby participants undertook a commitment towards the earliest possible conclusion of a legally binding international agreement to ban anti-personnel mines and which, among other things, recognizes that the international community must provide significantly greater resources to mine-awareness programmes, mine-clearance operations and victim assistance, as well as the Brussels Declaration of 27 June 1997, Noting the adoption on 18 September 1997 at the Oslo Conference of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, which, among other things, recognizes that States parties in a position to do so should provide assistance for mine-clearance and related activities, for the care and rehabilitation, and social and economic reintegration, of mine victims and for mine-awareness programmes, and noting that the Convention was opened for signature at Ottawa on 3 December 1997 and that it has been signed by one hundred and twenty-two States, Encouraged by the recent initiatives taken at conferences in Elsinore, Denmark, Bonn, Germany, and Tokyo, notably in relation to international standards and procedures for humanitarian mine-clearance operations, as well as the development of new technology for landmine detection and removal and the rehabilitation of landmine victims, which can serve as a basis on which to advance the safety, effectiveness and professionalism of these operations throughout the world, Taking note of the Plan of Action on Landmines adopted at the First Continental Conference of African Experts on Landmines, held at Kempton Park, South Africa, and the adoption at Harare by the heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity of a resolution on the report of the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity on the issue of anti-personnel mines and international efforts to reach a total ban, Emphasizing the importance of recording the location of mines, of retaining all such records and making them available to concerned parties upon cessation of hostilities, and welcoming the strengthening of the relevant provisions in international law, 4 CCW/CONF.I/16 (Part I). 5 Ibid., annex B. 6 A/C.1/51/10, annex I. /...