Press Room

Summary

On Monday 12 November 2007, the major, global findings of Landmine Monitor Report 2007 were released during a press conference at the United Nations in Geneva. Also on 12 November, the global mine action findings were presented at a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia. A briefing on report findings in the Middle East and North Africa was held on 14 November in Amman, Jordan, and report findings were presented to delegates at the Eighth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty (8MSP) on 18 November at the Dead Sea, Jordan. On and after 12 November, national and regional release events were held in Aden, Ankara, Auckland, Baku, Brasília, Brussels, Damascus, Dushanbe, Helsinki, Kiev, Lilongwe, Luxembourg, Lusaka, New Delhi, Peshawar, Phnom Penh, Skopje, Sukhum, Tokyo and Yerevan.

For more information, to amend an event listing or to inform us of a release event not listed, please email lm@icbl.org.

Global and Regional Release Events

SWITZERLAND: Global Release – 12 November

• 09:00 GMT/ 10:00 local time
• Press conference in Salle III at the Palais des Nations in Geneva
• Speakers: Stephen Goose, ICBL Head of Delegation; Ian Doucet, Landmine Monitor Editor-in-Chief; and Katleen Maes, Landmine MonitorVA Coordinator
• Program: Release of the major, global report findings, followed by a question and answer period.
• Media: The global launch of the Landmine Monitor Report 2007 included coverage by the following news agencies: Agence France Presse, Reuters, Associated Press, Washington Post, New York Times, Yahoo! News, Tehran Times, Australian Broadcasting Association, and Arab Times – Kuwait.

SERBIA: Thematic Release – 12 November

• 11:00 GMT/ 12:00 local time
• Press conference in the MediaCenter, SavaCenter, Belgrade
• Speakers: Suzana Srnic Vukovic, Balkans Researcher; Petar Mihajlovic, Serbian Mine Action Center Director; Emil Jeremic, NPA Regional Representative; Stuart Maslen, Landmine Monitor Mine Action Coordinator
• Program: Release of the findings of the mine action regional report and a summary of global mine action findings, presentation on the Serbia mine/UXO situation and a presentation on NPA’s work in the Balkans.
• Media: At least twenty-five journalists, from radio, television and print publications in the region were present.

JORDAN: Regional Release – 14 November

• 07:00-07:30 GMT/ 09:00-09:30 local time
• Press conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in Amman, Jordan
• Speakers: His Royal Highness Prince Mired Raad Al-Hussein and Landmine Monitor Editorial Team members
• Program: The Landmine Monitor Editorial Team briefed journalists on the major findings of Landmine Monitor Report 2007 focusing on the Middle East and North Africa region, and His Royal Highness Prince Mired Raad Al-Hussein discussed mine action progress in Jordan. Presentations were followed by a question and answer period.

ZAMBIA: Regional Release – 27 November

• Landmine Monitor Report 2007 was released at a regional workshop for Southern African Development Community-Civil Society Organization (SADC-CSO) members on landmines and cluster munitions in Lusaka.

Other Release Events

CYBERSPACE: Online report release – 12 November

• 08:00 GMTonline at www.icbl.org/lm/2007
• Release of the Annual Report and Executive Summary

ABKHAZIA – 12 November

• 12:00 GMT/ 15:00 local time in Sukhum
• Speakers: Vladimir Kakalia, AbCBL Coordinator and Landmine Monitor Researcher; Aslan Kutsnia, Landmine Monitor Researcher; representatives of the HALO Trust
• Program: Release and discussion of major and national report findings in Abkhaz and Russian at the UNDP Information Office, hosted by the Abkhazia Campaign to Ban Landmines.
• Attendees: Representatives of the HALO Trust, AIS, UNDP, and landmine survivors.

ARMENIA – 30 November

• 10:00 GMT/ 14:00 local time in Yerevan
• Speakers: Jemma Hasratyan and representative from OSCE/Armenia
• Program: Release of major and national report findings, and the dissemination of information from the 8MSP for government officials, UN and other international organizations, civil society, media and representatives from mine-affected regions.

AZERBAIJAN – 13 November

• 09:00 GMT/ 13:00 local time
• Program: Press Conference at the InternationalPressCenter in Baku, hosted by the Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines (AzCBL)
• Speakers: Hafiz Safikhanov, AzCBL Director and Landmine Monitor Researcher, and Colin Bent, International Mine Action Program Young Professional
• Media: Fifteen journalists from print media agencies and state television attended the press conference. Articles appeared in at least nine newspapers and information was posted online by ANS, Turan and DayAz.

BELGIUM – 12 November

• 09:30 GMT/ 10:30 local time
• Program: Press conference at the ResidencePalace, InternationalPressCenter in Brussels, hosted by Handicap International.
• Media: Present at the press conference were the Associated Press, GPD (Netherlands), EFE (Spain), Evangelische Presseagentur (EVP, Germany), Belga F-NL, IPS, De Standard, and VRT Radio. The meeting was also covered by Vatican Radio and BBC Radio (in French).

BRAZIL – 12 & 13 November

Sao Paulo Release – 12 November

• GMT 21:00/ 19:00 local time
• Program: Press conference, photo exhibition, and screening of a documentary about the landmine problem in the Americas, directed by Vinicius Souza and Maria Eugenia de Sa.

Brasilia Release – 13 November

• 15:00 GMT/ 13:00 local time, in the National Congress, Brasilia
• Program: Round table discussion with parliamentarians and embassy officials.

BURMA/MYANMAR – 14 November

• Program: Released national report findings to the monthly coordination assistance meeting on Burma
• Attendees: Representatives of UN agencies, government donors, ICRC and international and national humanitarian NGOs.

CAMBODIA – 13 November

• 03:10 GMT/ 10:10 local time
• Briefing in Phnom Penh at the offices of the Cambodia Mine Action Authority (CMAA), hosted by the Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines.
• Speakers: Denis Coghlan in English; NharNy in Khmer; and representatives of AusAid.

CANADA – 12 November

• Press release issued by Mines Action Canada (MAC) reporting on global and national report findings.

FINLAND – 12 November

• 09:00 GMT/ 11:00 local time at the International press club in Helsinki
• Speakers: Sanna Rummakko and Eeva Suhonen, Landmine Monitor Researchers
• Program: A press release was issued to approximately 100 media representatives, the report was distributed to the National Library of Finland, the parliamentary library, the Ministry of Defense, the Finnish Red Cross and various NGOs, and a press conference was conducted to release major report findings in conjunction with discussion of Finland’s role in banning cluster munitions.
• Media: Coverage included reporting by the Finnish national press agency, Suomen Tietotoimisto, STT.

INDIA – 14 December

• 04:30-06:30 GMT/ 10:00-12:00 local time, at the conference room at Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI), New Delhi
• Program: Report release by Ambassador Satnam Jit Singh, Diplomatic Advisor to the ICBL, screening of a film documenting the landmine problem in Jammu & Kashmir, produced by Faiyaz Dilbar, and panel discussion, "Challenges of Human Security in India: the increase in landmines and IED blasts," organized by CAFI.
• Speakers: Lt. General Dr. BS Malik, President, CAFI; Ambassador Satnam Jit Singh, Diplomatic Advisor to the ICBL; Jacqueline Edwards, Mines Action Canada/SARD; Ms. Binalakshmi Nepram, CAFI and Landmine Monitor Researcher; and Dr. Bibhu Prasad Routray, Institute of Conflict Management, New Delhi.
• Media: The launch in New Delhi was reported in at least thirteen publications in India, including the Imphal Free Press (Manipur’s largest English newspaper), State Times (an English daily in Jammu), and the Hindustan Times.

ITALY – 12 November

• Press release issued by Campagna Italiana contro le mine to newspaper, television and radio outlets in Italy.

JAPAN – 13 November

• 08:00-09:00 GMT/ 17:00-18:00 local time, at the Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines (JCBL) office in Tokyo
• Speakers: Yasuhiro Kitagawa, JCBL Representative; Toshihiro Shimizu, JCBL Steering Committee; and Yukie Osa, Landmine Monitor Researcher
• Program: Press conference to release global and regional report findings to Japanese media, followed by a question and answer period.
• Media: The global release of the Landmine Monitor in Geneva was covered in Japan by The Asahi Shimbun Newspaper, the Daily Yomiuri and the Mainichi Daily News; the release event in Japan included coverage by the Mainichi Daily News, Tokyo News and various independent journalists.

LUXEMBOURG – 13 November

• 16:00 GMT/ 17:00 local time
• Meeting and press conference with Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, to discuss major report findings, hosted by Handicap International Luxembourg.
• Media: The press conference was attended and reported on by at least five newspapers including La Voix du Luxembourg and Luxemburger Wort. Media coverage was conducted in both French and German.

MACEDONIA – 13 November

• 10:00 GMT/ 11:00 local time
• Briefing in Skopje, hosted by the Institute for Democracy.
• Speakers: Country Researcher Dane Taleski, representatives of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue

MALAWI – 12 November

• 07:00 GMT/ 9:00 local time
• Speakers: Undule Mwakasungura, CHRR and Brigaider Chimowa, Mine Action Centre Coordinator
• Program: Press conference at office of the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) in Lilongwe.

NEW ZEALAND – 12 November

• 02:15 GMT/ 15:15 local time at RangitotoCollege, NorthShore, Auckland
• Speakers: David Hodge, RangitotoCollege Principal; Mary Wareham, Oxfam New Zealand Advocacy Director and Landmine Monitor Pacific Researcher
• Program: Mary Wareham handed the report over to David Hodge, Principal of Rangitoto College, at the conclusion of a day of events related to landmines organized by Peter Harwood of Rangitoto. Rangitoto College hosted the launch event to mark the conclusion of a school term in which all 640 of the school's Year 10 (Form 4) students learned about mines as part of a national curriculum on social action, which utilized Wareham’s “Disarm” documentary film on landmines as a teaching aid, among other resources organized into a teaching unit by Peter Harwood concerning the global landmine problem.
• Media: National television network TV 3 covered the report launch.

PAKISTAN – 13 November

• 07:00 GMT/ 12:00 local time in Peshawar
• Release of global and national report findings at a press conference organized by the Sustainable Peace and Development Organisation (SPADO) and the Community Appraisal and Motivation Program (CAMP), followed by a question and answer period.
• Media: An interview with Landmine Monitor researcher Raza Shah Khan appeared on Pakistan Television, and the release event in Pakistan included print coverage by DAWN Islamabad, Frontier Post, and Today's Muslim.

POLAND – 13-17 November

• Report materials were distributed at the Fourth Regional Friedrich Born International Humanitarian Law Moot Court Lecture and Competition in Warsaw.

SUDAN – 14 November

• 06:00-11:00 GMT/ 09:00-14:00 local time at the Mogtaribeen office, Khartoum
• Program: The Sudan Campaign to Ban Landmines organized a landmine advocacy workshop for the implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty in Sudan, in which national report findings were released. Hiba Elhassan, Landmine Monitor Researcher discussed Sudan’s obligations under the Mine Ban Treaty and presented major and national report findings. Presentations were also given by other members of the Sudan CBL and the director of the Sudanese Society for Controlling Landmines (JASMAR). Representatives of the Sudan National Mine Action Authority (NMAA), the United Nations Mine Action Office in Sudan (UNMAO), ICBL, and various NGOs participated in the advocacy workshop.

SYRIA – 12 November

• Press conference at DamascusUniversity in Damascus, hosted by the Arab Net for Research on LM and ERW.
• Program: PowerPoint presentation and posting of e-material in Arabic on anrolm.net.

TAJIKISTAN – 12 November

• 05:00-07:30 GMT/ 10:00-12:30 at Korean Restaurant in Dushanbe
• Program: Conference including the presentation of global and national report findings, discussion of the national cluster munition situation and the global movement to ban cluster munitions, and the presentation of a short documentary on cluster munitions.

TURKEY – 12 November

• 09:00 GMT/ 11:00 local time in Ankara
• Press conference organized by Initiative for a Mine-Free Turkey at the Parliament building in Ankara.
• Speakers: Diyarbakir MP Abdurrahman Kurt, Turkish Parliament spokesperson for the Human Rights Examination Commission, Nesim Öner, landmine survivor, and Muteber Ögreten, Initiative for a Mine-Free Turkey and Landmine Monitor Researcher.

UKRAINE – 12 November

• Briefing in Kiev, hosted by Ukraine Peacekeepers Veterans Association.
• Speakers: Yuri Donskoy, UPVA/ICBL/CMC; Vitaliy Shved, UMACC; Valentin Safonov, CARS Foundation; Kostyantyn Antoshchuk, USVA/Mine Victims Union; Vladimir Zakharenkov, Soyuzniki Charity Foundation; and Vladimir Petrachenko, Transimpex EOD/Demining Company.

YEMEN – 14 November

• 07:00 GMT/ 10:00 local time
• Press conference at the YemenMineAwarenessAssociationCenter in Aden, hosted by the Yemen Mine Awareness Association.
• Speakers: Mohamed Saleh Masoud, Gamila Mohamed Awda and Aisha Saeed
• Program: Briefing on global and national mine situation and joint MRE activities by Yemen Mine Awareness Association and Yemen Mine Action Committee.
• Media: The press conference in Aden included coverage by at least two newspapers: al-Gomhoria and 14th October.

ZAMBIA – 12-13 November

• Seminar at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, hosted by Zambian Campaign to Ban Landmines, with the participation of the Zambian Mines Action Centre and local NGOs.
• Program: A two-day seminar – “Looking Back in Order to Look Forward: 10 Years of the Mine Ban Treaty Implementation in Zambia,” included the release of Zambia national report findings and reflection on the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Mine Ban Treaty.