A/RES/56/219 2001, 7 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 decision 1997/107 of 11 April 1997, 8 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 large number of mines and other unexploded ordnance as a result of armed conflicts, and thus 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 9 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 Effects 10 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 existing 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 Second Annual Conference of the States Parties to Amended Protocol II to the Convention, held in Geneva from 11 to 13 December 2000, 11 Recalling that the States parties at the First Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention declared their commitment to keep the provisions of the Protocol under review in order to ensure that the concerns regarding the weapons it covers are addressed, and that they would encourage the efforts of the United Nations and other organizations to address all problems related to landmines, Noting that the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction 12 entered into force on 1 March 1999 and that the Convention has been accepted formally by one hundred and twenty-two States and signed but not yet ratified by an additional twenty States, Noting also the conclusions of the Third Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention, held in Managua from 18 to 21 September 2001, taking note of the reaffirmed commitments that were made, among other things, to provide assistance for mine clearance and rehabilitation, the social and economic reintegration of mine victims and mine-awareness programmes and to eradicate anti-personnel mines, and taking note also of the work of the intersessional programme established by States parties to the Convention, Stressing the need to convince mine-affected States to halt new deployments of anti-personnel mines in order to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of mineclearance operations, _______________ 7 Ibid., 2001, Supplement No. 3 (E/2001/23), chap. II, sect. A. Ibid., 1997, Supplement No. 3 (E/1997/23), chap. II, sect. B. 9 CCW/CONF.I/16 (Part I), annex B. 10 See The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook, vol. 5: 1980 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.81.IX.4), appendix VII. 11 See CCW/AP.II/CONF.2/1. 12 See CD/1478. 8 2