On December 3, 1997, 122 states joined Canada in signing the Convention on
the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of
Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. That the Ottawa Convention was
negotiated in less than one year and has entered into force faster than any
disarmament convention ever negotiated is a testament to the determination of
the citizens of the world to address the humanitarian crisis caused by
landmines. The Ottawa Convention is a major achievement, but it just the
beginning. In the words of Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Lloyd
Axworthy, the “real test of success for the Ottawa Convention will be the
degree to which it makes a difference in the lives of those who must live with
the threat of landmines every day.”
Implementing the Ottawa Convention through Integrated Mine Action.
Canada believes that the Ottawa Convention provides an effective and legally
binding framework for integrated mine action efforts to address the humanitarian
impact of anti-personnel mines. Whereas in the past mine action was often viewed
as being little more than mine clearance, there is a growing consensus that to
be truly effective, mine action should be understood as an integrated continuum
of a number of key activities including:
- advocacy in support of the ratification and universalization of the Ottawa
Convention as well as efforts to monitor its implementation;
- mine awareness programs to reduce the number of new mine casualties;
- mine clearance and the return of cleared land to communities;
- providing assistance to landmine survivors;
- survey work and related efforts to collect information on the nature of
the landmine problem and measures progress in mine action;
- the destruction of stockpiled mines;
- research and development of improved mine action technologies; and,
- communications and outreach to ensure the political and financial
sustainability of mine action efforts over the long term.
With this mind, Canada has committed $100
million[1] over 5 years to a
"Canadian Landmine Fund" to support the full implementation of the Ottawa
Convention through programs in the above activity areas. This Fund is jointly
managed by four Canadian Government Departments: the Department of Foreign
Affairs and International Trade; the Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA); the Department of National Defence (DND); and, the Department of
Industry. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 1999, Canada will have spend
approximately $16 million of the $100 million Landmine Fund. Key
accomplishments of the Canadian Landmine Fund are listed below.
Ratifying and Universalizing the Ottawa Conventionand Monitoring
its Implementation.
A total of 13 new countries have signed the Ottawa Convention since December
1997. As of 15 March, the Ottawa Convention has been signed/acceded to by 135
states and ratified by 67. Building upon the high degree of cooperation between
governments and civil society organizations which supported the Ottawa Process,
Canada has supported a number of initiatives to build political will in support
of the ratification and universalization of the Ottawa Convention. For example,
over the past year Canada has provided approximately $760,000 to the
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), Mines Action Canada and the
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War to develop the
capacities of civil society-based organizations to play an active and
sustainable role in promoting the ratification and universalization of the
anti-personnel mine
ban.[2] Canada has also
provided approximately $300,000 to support advocacy activities in support of the
Convention in a number of states including Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia,
Georgia, Hungary, India, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia,
Thailand, Ukraine, the United States and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Canada has provided $450,000 to the ICBL to support the Landmine
Monitor -- an initiative to create a global civil society-based network
to monitor and report on the implementation of the Ottawa Convention.
Country programs supporting mine awareness, mine clearance, surveys and
victims assistance.
Over the past year, Canada has supported mine action programs in the
following countries:
$200,000 for survivor assistance initiatives in Afghanistan,
including the provision of prosthetics and training in, and the provision of,
rehabilitation services.
$2.47 million demining activities and support to mine action centres in
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
$650,000 to mine action activities in Cambodia, including support for
management training, Level 1 survey activities and survivor assistance
initiatives.
$100,000 to support the emerging Mine Action Centre in Chad.
$100,000 to support the activities of Croatia’s mine action
centre.
$100,000 to support mine clearance activities along the border between
Ecuador and Peru.
• $500,000 for survivor assistance and reintegration in El
Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua as part of a 5-year, $3.5 million
commitment. In addition, Canada has provided approximately $100,000 for
survivor assistance and reintegration in Guatemala.
$300,000 for mine action activities in Jordan.
$250,000 for mine awareness in Laos.
$650,000 for mine action activities in Mozambique, including support
for Level 1 survey and mapping activities and funds to match those committed by
the Canadian Auto Workers Union for integrated mined action.
$1.3 million for mine action activities in Yemen, including support
for a Level 1 survey, the purchase of demining equipment and the rehabilitation
of mine affected communities.
Survey work and efforts to collect
information on the nature of the landmine problem and measure the progress of
mine action efforts.
Canada has provided $900,000 to the United Nations Mine Action Service
to support assessment missions and level one surveys to collect detailed
information on the nature of the landmine problem.
Canada has provided $120,000 to the (Canadian) International Development
Research Centre to develop tools and methodologies to monitor mine action
progress in southern Africa. In addition, Canada has provided $10,000 to
Handicap International to initiate the publication of a technical
magazine on best practices in mine action.
Destruction of stockpiled mines.
Canada has disbursed approximately $750,000 to provide technical and
financial aid to permit the destruction of existing stockpiled mines. Successes
of this initiative include the October 1998 agreement between Canada and
Ukraine that will see Ukraine destroy millions of stockpiled mines in
exchange for Canadian technical and financial assistance.
Research and development of improved mine action technologies.
Canada had disbursed approximately $1.4 million to establish, and begin
operations at, the Canadian Centre for Mine Action Technologies, an
initiative designed to develop more effective, efficient and appropriate
demining equipment and methods.
Communications and outreach to ensure the political and financial
sustainability of mine action efforts over the long term.
Canada has disbursed approximately $880,000 to promote awareness of the
anti-personnel mine ban and to create sustainability mechanisms to ensure
ongoing support for Canadian mine action activities, including:
Development and distribution of a CD-Rom, Ban Landmines!: The Ottawa
Process and the International Movement to Ban Landmines (winner of a gold
medal award from the International Television and Video Association for
excellence in multimedia); broadcast documentary, One Step at a Time*
available in French, English, Spanish and Russian; video, In Years not
Decades* available presently in French and English and soon in Arabic.*
(both winners of an ITVA silver award for excellence in instructional
programming)
Development of SafeLane Website
Quarterly newsletter distributed to NGOs, parliamentarians, missions and the
public
Information kits distributed to approximately 500 press and parliamentarians
The Canadian Landmine Action Fund was launched in September 1998, to
provide an opportunity for Canadian businesses and individuals to donate funds
to mine clearance and victim assistance initiatives. The Fund is administered
by DFAIT with the participation of Mines Action Canada.
The Youth Mine Action Ambassador program was also launched in September,
1998 to promote youth awareness of the landmines issue and community activism
across Canada. To date, 5 youth ambassadors have been appointed and are located
in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and St. John.
1 All funds in
Canadian dollars.
2 The 1998 fiscal
year is defined as April 1, 1998 to March 31, 1999.
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