The International Day was set 8 December 2005, when the General Assembly of the United Nations declared that 4 April of each year shall be observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

The International Day calls for continued efforts by States, with the assistance of the United Nations and relevant organizations, to foster the establishment and development of national mine-action capacities in countries where mines and explosive remnants of war constitute a serious threat to the safety, health and lives of the civilian population, or an impediment to social and economic development at the national and local levels. Among those associations involved in these efforts, the ANVCG remains prominent with its long history and expertise that was narrated by the short documentary “Eredità della Guerra” realized by Emanuele Cervetti and Andrea Cocchi, film-makers for L’Osservatorio, which opened the conference. Among the important public figures who intervened, it is worth mentioning the Italian Minister of Education, Stefania Giannini, the President of ANVCG lawyer Giuseppe Castronovo, and many others.
A research paper carried out by one of our senior researchers, Giulio Coppi, fuelled a great debate. The investigation focuses on the use of drones for mapping of explosive devices in the Balkans, where the presence of asylum seekers’ flows outside of official entry points may expose civilians on the run to the risk of crossing mined areas. This is the legacy of the Yugoslavian war that affected the area during the '90s. These people are for the most part new civilian victims of wars raging in the Middle East, for whom the ANVCG and L’Osservatorio have dedicated a public awareness campaign.