The International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munition Coalition have issued the following press release, which provides detailed information about Cartagena Summit, the Mine Ban Treaty, and their histories. Although targeted at educating government officials, this is an excellent source for anyone seeking background information on these topics or links to other resources.
December 02, 2009, 5:22pm Comments
December 3 marks the anniversary of the signing of both the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and the Convention on Cluster Munitions as well as International Day of Persons with Disabilities. On the eve of this day, a celebratory event will take place that weaves a memorable sports game with words by key figures in promoting victim assistance and the rights of persons with disabilities. After the game, spectators will have the chance to have a hands-on experience with quad rugby. They will be encouraged to jump in the chairs and have a friendly game with the athletes. The exhibition will end with a cocktail and live music.
For more information: olivia@icbl.org
December 02, 2009, 12:01pm Comments
The United States has registered to send a delegation to the upcoming review conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Cartagena. The world power has been a notable absence from the agreement between nations to disarm the dangerous weapon, and this delegation could be a favorable bellwether.
The news is encouraging to campaigners, who predict that US involvement will reinvigorate international interest in the mine ban movement.
“If the U.S. joins, we’re sure there will be a domino effect on others to follow. It will be a big signal to other major powers,” the ICBL’s Jacqueline Hansen said.
In addition to the United States, China, India, Pakistan and Russia and 34 others countries have not signed the treaty.
Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
November 17, 2009, 5:20pm Comments
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines released their annual report yesterday, November 12. The report, compiled by a worldwide network of researchers, tracks each country’s progress in eradicating landmine threat, and includes updated numbers such as annual casualties, landmines removed, and risk education recipients.
Overall, the results are encouraging. In the past decade, over 2.2 million anti-personnel mines, 250,000 anti-vehicle mines and 17 million other explosives left over from wars have been removed. But there is still a long way to go, especially in aiding landmine survivors:
Despite this high level of overall funding, over the past decade victim assistance has made the least progress of all the major sectors of mine action, with funding and action falling far short of what was needed. Most efforts remained focused on medical care and physical rehabilitation, often only when supported by international organizations and funding, rather than on promoting economic self-reliance for survivors, their families, and communities.
Check out the full report here. And learn how you can help landmine surivors by visiting the Survivor Corps website.
November 13, 2009, 3:59pm Comments
From 7-9 October, members of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) gathered in Tirana, Albania for the Tirana Workshop on Achieving a Mine-Free South Eastern Europe to conduct advocacy and outreach in support of the Mine Ban Treaty, as well as the Convention on Cluster Munitions. This was the last of a series of regional meetings convened in the lead-up to the Cartagena Summit (Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty) which will take place in Colombia, from 29 November - 4 December 2009.
October 29, 2009, 12:39pm Comments
Photo: Mary Wareham
(New York: 23 October 2009)- Governments that have still not joined the international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines should participate in a forthcoming global summit and join the agreement without delay, said the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) today at an event at the United Nations in New York.
October 23, 2009, 12:14pm Comments
My name is Albert, and it will be a great pleasure to meet all of you in Cartagena in November.
I am the Country Program Coordinator of Survivor Corps in Rwanda (East Africa) and I have been working with SC since last year. I am happy to be part of this amazing team. I’ve been involved in monitoring and advocacy of the Committee of the Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC), the Mine Ban Treaty, and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL).
I hope our meeting achieves its goals of ensuring the implementation of all related treaties.
October 09, 2009, 1:55pm Comments
» Nobel Laureate Urges Governments to Work Harder on a Mine-Free South-Eastern Europe and Caucasus
Tirana, 7 October 2009 - States of South-Eastern Europe and the Caucasus still have large steps to take on the road to becoming ‘mine-free’, said the Nobel Peace Laureate International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) today on the opening of a regional meeting on landmines.
October 07, 2009, 2:01pm Comments
