The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is a coalition of 1,400
organizations in over 90 countries who work locally, nationally, regionally, and
internationally to ban antipersonnel landmines. It is coordinated by a
committee of thirteen organizations and a staff of six based in six
countries.[1] At its Fourth
General Meeting in September 2003 the ICBL re-affirmed its commitment to
achieving a universal ban on the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of
antipersonnel mines, and to increasing resources for mine clearance and victim
assistance.
Throughout 2003 and the first half of 2004, the ICBL undertook an exhaustive
array of activities to help accomplish these goals. Central to these were a
series of activities taken to promote and prepare for the landmark
“Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World,” the Mine Ban Treaty’s
First Review Conference, which was scheduled to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from
29 November to 3 December 2004. The ICBL continued to take full advantage of
the implementation mechanisms established by the treaty, participating fully in
the Fifth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty and in meetings of
the intersessional Standing Committees. It organized around and in some
instances initiated other key regional and global events, including an ambitious
set of ICBL/Landmine Monitor meetings. The ICBL undertook several missions and
ensured civil society representation at a number of stockpile destruction
events. Landmine Monitor Report 2003 was released, translated and
distributed in dozens of countries.
In addition to representing the ICBL at key events, the small team of ICBL
staff issued several Action Alerts, lobbied and wrote to key decision-makers,
maintained regular contact with dozens of governments, regional and
international organizations and the Implementation Support Unit, drafted press
releases and engaged media, carried out in capacity-building activities with
campaigners, and continued to coordinate the global coalition’s
campaigning activities overall. Under staff’s initiative, several ICBL
reports on activities, the quarterly Landmine Update, CD ROMs, and other
advocacy materials were produced and disseminated in this period and a new and
improved ICBL website was launched. Finally, the ICBL Coordinator skillfully
led a campaign-wide transition process, following extensive and comprehensive
consultations regarding the future of ICBL activities in the post-2004 period.
The Road to Nairobi
For the ICBL, the 2003 and 2004 period was marked by heightened activity and
intensive preparations for the Nairobi Summit. This First Review Conference was
widely viewed as the most significant event in the life of the Mine Ban Treaty
since it was opened for signature in Ottawa, Canada on 3 December 1997.
Realizing that the Nairobi Summit will shape the next five years of work related
to the treaty, the ICBL used the event to provide new impetus, momentum and
advocacy opportunities for its membership.
The ICBL fully participated in preparation for the Nairobi Summit by
attending preparatory meetings and events, providing input on draft
documentation, presenting in media and diplomatic briefings, undertaking
numerous advocacy missions, participating in communications and side events task
forces, issuing several Action Alerts, establishing a webpage (www.icbl.org/nairobisummit), and
undertaking an array of advocacy activities. This was in addition to the task
of planning the full and effective participation of its membership in the Summit
and related side events and exhibits.
On 2 December 2003, ICBL Ambassador Jody Williams and ICBL Coordinator Liz
Bernstein participated, together with Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch,
President-Designate of the Nairobi Review Conference, in an event in Cyprus to
launch the “Road to Nairobi.” The Acting-President of Cyprus hosted
the delegation, which included an event initiating the destruction of
Cyprus’s stockpiled antipersonnel mines and a seminar on treaty
implementation. From 3-4 May 2004, Williams and Petritsch, formerly the UN High
Representative in Bosnia, opened a global ICBL/Landmine Monitor meeting in
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina where they subsequently led media on a tour of
the city's minefields, drawing attention to the continued needs of mine-affected
States Parties.
The ICBL convened and participated in several briefings for media and the
diplomatic community in Nairobi on the Review Conference on 1 March and 6 July,
as well as Geneva and elsewhere. The ICBL printed a series of awareness-raising
postcards, stickers, caps and other materials bearing the slogan: “WANTED:
a Mine-Free World.” The materials were designed primarily for use at the
Nairobi Summit, but the versatile and adaptable message should ensure an ongoing
“shelf life” beyond the Summit.
In addition to formal meetings to prepare for the Review Conference in
February and June in Geneva, the ICBL participated fully in other governmental
events held throughout 2004 to promote the Nairobi Summit. These included
conferences in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (28-29 January 2004), Bucharest,
Romania (2-3 February), Nairobi, Kenya (2-4 March), Dushanbe, Tajikistan (15-16
April), Amman, Jordan (19-21 April), Vilnius, Lithuania (8-9 June), Quito,
Ecuador (12-13 August), and Bangkok, Thailand (30 August–1 September).
Fifth Meeting of States Parties
The Fifth Meeting of States Parties (5MSP) to the Mine Ban Treaty, held in
Bangkok, Thailand from 15-19 September 2003, was one of the most productive and
successful annual meetings ever held. This was true both because of the work
done in the formal sessions and because of the important discussions and
activities carried out on the margins, outside of the conference room. This was
the third such meeting to be held in a mine-affected country (after Mozambique
in 1999 and Nicaragua in 2001). Three strong documents emerged from the meeting
– the Bangkok Declaration, the Final Report, and the President’s
Action Programme – which set the stage for preparations of the 2004
Nairobi Summit.
A total of 118 countries attended, the second highest number represented in a
meeting of States Parties after Geneva in 2002. More than 200 representatives
of non-governmental organizations from 65 countries participated in the largest
ICBL NGO delegation ever. The diversity of participants—diplomats,
campaigners, UN personnel, and, most notably, significant numbers of mine action
practitioners, people from the field, and landmine survivors—made it clear
that the Mine Ban Treaty has indeed become accepted as the principal framework
for addressing all aspects of the antipersonnel mine problem.
In the lead-up to the meeting, the ICBL issued an Action Alert targeting
antipersonnel mines users and producers in seven countries in Asia and
established a special web page www.icbl.org/5msp The ICBL released its
fifth annual report, Landmine Monitor Report 2003: Toward a Mine-Free
World, on 9 September 2003, days ahead of the meeting’s opening, with
release events in sixteen countries, while campaigners undertook media work in
another fifteen countries.
As at previous meetings of States Parties, the ICBL issued statements and
made interventions throughout the meeting. Jody Williams, ICBL Ambassador,
addressed the meeting’s opening session. Chair of the ICBL Treaty Working
Group and Head of Delegation, Stephen Goose, delivered the ICBL’s
statement to the meeting during the General Exchange of Views, and ICBL working
group chairs and members made statements throughout the meeting. In addition,
ICBL members met with at least 70 governmental delegations.
There were numerous side events, including: field visits to Thailand’s
mine-affected provinces of Chanthaburi and Sa Kaeo along the border with
Cambodia; an interfaith prayer service; a full-day “lessons learned”
workshop and a lunchtime discussion on engaging Non-State Actors in the mine
ban; and an art and photography exhibition by Italian artist Laura Morelli and
photographer Giovanni Diffidenti in the foyer of the World Trade Centre, a
popular Bangkok shopping mall.
The Fifth Meeting of States Parties received excellent media coverage in
local, international, print and electronic media. The media kit was available
online and in hard copy in both English and Thai. For more information on the
meeting and ICBL’s participation in it, please see the ICBL Report on
Activities.
Fourth ICBL General Meeting
After the 5MSP, the ICBL took advantage of having the campaigners present in
Bangkok to hold its Fourth General Meeting, from 20-21
September.[2] A total of 141
participants from 54 country campaigns and representatives of international
organizations, ICBL staff, and nine NGO observers from another nine countries
participated in the meeting. The Thailand Campaign to Ban Landmines and ICBL
Ambassadors welcomed the campaigners, while ICBL working group representatives
and campaigners from each geographical region provided reports on activities
since the last General Meeting and Coordinating Committee representatives
provided progress updates. Thematic and regional groups explored goals, targets
and actions to take in the lead-up to the Nairobi Summit and the meeting adopted
the Bangkok-Nairobi Action Plan to guide the ICBL’s work from September
2003 to December 2004.
The bulk of the meeting focused on the future activities and structure of the
ICBL. The meeting considered reports from the extensive and comprehensive
post-2004 consultation process, dividing into strategy groups to discuss goals
and targets for the post-2004 period, the preliminary elements of a post-2004
plan of action, and the structures necessary to achieve these goals post-2004.
The meeting adopted a framework for the ICBL post-2004, setting the stage for
development of its transition plan. The meeting formally endorsed the concept
of the ICBL reaffirming its original goals, and continuing to engage in the same
types of activities as in the past, but in a gradually more decentralized
fashion post-2004, with national campaigns, organizations and focal points
playing an enhanced role where appropriate and possible. As part of this
process, the ICBL's Coordinating Committee was entrusted to develop a transition
plan, including streamlined staff and leadership structures, and updated
elements on the roles of national campaigns and working groups.
Intersessional Work Program
Complementing the ICBL’s advocacy and watchdog role, the Mine Ban
Treaty now has an array of structures in place to ensure progress is made in
implementing the agreement, including: the intersessional work program and
Universalization Contact Group (established in 1999); the States Parties’
Coordinating Committee, the Sponsorship Program, and the Articles 7 & 9
Contact Group (2000); the Implementation Support Unit (2001); and the Resource
Mobilization Contact Group (2002).
In 2003 and the first half of 2004, the ICBL continued to participate fully
in the twice-yearly Geneva-based intersessional Standing Committees (SC) that
carry treaty implementation work forward between the formal meetings of State
Parties. The meetings are unique for their informality, inclusiveness and sense
of partnership and cooperation. Ambassador Chaiyong Satjipanon of Thailand and
the President-Designate of the Nairobi Review Conference, Ambassador Petritsch
of Austria, played central roles in ensuring respectively that the fifth year of
intersessional work continued to be productive and that preparations for the
First Review Conference were actively undertaken. As in previous years, the
2004 intersessional meetings focused on the needs, gaps and resources available
for the implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, especially its mine action and
victim assistance components, in the period leading up to the First Review
Conference, as well as on deadlines for stockpile destruction, Article 7
reporting and the rapidly approaching 2009 deadlines for clearance of mined
areas.
The four Standing Committees — Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic
Reintegration; Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies;
Stockpile Destruction; and General Status and Operation of the Convention
— each met during one-week long periods in February and June 2004 at the
Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD). Participation in
the meetings again reached record levels. Approximately 535 participants
representing 120 countries, ICBL members, and international, UN and regional
organizations attended both sets of meetings. During the meetings, campaigners
met daily in morning briefings to prepare for the official meetings and also met
individually with nearly every government attending the intersessional meetings,
as well as with the international organizations.
SC on General Status and Operation of the Convention (Co-Chairs:
México & the Netherlands; Co-Rapporteurs: New Zealand & South
Africa). The ICBL, under the guidance of its Treaty Working Group (TWG) Chair
Stephen Goose of Human Rights Watch highlighted the following issues, all of
which were included on the agendas during the February and June meetings:
possible antipersonnel mine use by non-signatories in joint military operations
with States Parties, as well as foreign stockpiles and transit of mines (Article
1 — interpretation of “assist”); antivehicle mines with
antihandling devices (Article 2 — definitions); mines retained for
training and development (Article 3); timely destruction of stockpiled
antipersonnel mines (Article 4); the need for comprehensive and timely
transparency reporting (Article 7); compliance issues (Article 8); and the
obligation to enact national implementation measures (Article 9).
The ICBL continued to participate in the Universalization Contact Group
chaired by Canada, which coordinates efforts to promote universalization by
governments, ICBL, ICRC, and other international organizations. The ICBL was
also an active participant in the Article 7 & 9 Contact Group chaired by
Belgium, and the Resource Mobilization Contact Group chaired by Norway.
SC on Stockpile Destruction (Co-Chairs: Guatemala & Italy;
Co-Rapporteurs: Bangladesh & Canada). The Treaty Working Group also led
ICBL’s participation in this SC and the TWG Chair provided a global
overview in the opening sessions of both meetings. Many governments responded
to the TWG’s call to provide detailed progress reports and presentations
on their destruction efforts. There were significant exchanges of views on
technical information, regional cooperation, and donor input. The TWG continued
to draw attention to States Parties of concern due to their lack of reporting or
activities in fully destroying their stockpiled antipersonnel mines.
SC on Mine Clearance, Mine Awareness and Related Technologies
(Co-Chairs: Cambodia & Japan; Co-Rapporteurs: Algeria & Sweden). There
was a positive response to the “4P” framework introduced by the
co-chairs in 2003, with over two dozen mine-affected States Parties reporting
under the “4P” format on their “Plans, Priorities, Progress
and Problems.” The ICBL’s Mine Action Working Group (MAWG)
continued to draw attention to the ten-year clearance deadline established by
Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, which is approaching for many States Parties
in 2009. The MAWG also reiterated during discussions on the term
“mine-free”, that Article 5 requires clearance and destruction of
all mines in known or suspected mined areas, as soon as possible, but no later
than ten years.
SC on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration (Co-Chairs:
Australia & Croatia; Co-Rapporteurs: Nicaragua & Norway). The 2003
Standing Committee continued to look at strategies to assist States Parties in
meeting their obligations under Article 6.3 of the Mine Ban Treaty, with over
two dozen mine-affected States Parties providing focused and specific analysis
survivor assistance needs under the “4Ps” framework. The leadership
training program for landmine survivor advocates, “Raising the
Voices,” continued into its fourth year with landmine survivor advocates
participating in the intersessional meetings from the regions of Europe and the
Middle East in the 2004 Standing Committee meetings.
The ICBL’s Geneva-based Intersessional Program Officer, Susan B.
Walker, continued to promote the intersessional work program, especially in the
periods between the sessions. She participated in, as well as initiated,
meetings related to implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty and maintained regular
contact with government missions in Geneva, some capitals, as well as with
non-governmental and international organizations. Walker also organized
meetings, prior to each intersessional week, of the ICBL’s Intersessional
Contact Group (IICG, formerly known as “20 + 2”), which is comprised
of present and past SC co-chairs and co-rapporteurs, the Presidents of the
annual meetings of States Parties, the ICRC, the ISU and the ICBL Coordinator
and staff, and working group chairs. These meetings provide an opportunity to
informally discuss and strategize on activities undertaken in the Standing
Committees, objectives and preparations for the first Review Conference, as well
as substantive matters related to implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. The
ICBL also actively participated in the consultations held to discuss the
preparatory process leading up to the First Review Conference.
The Coordinating Committee (CC) made up of States Parties also met monthly in
2003 and 2004, chaired by Thailand, the 5MSP President. The CC consists of the
Co-Chairs and Co-Rapporteurs of the four intersessional Standing Committees.
The chairs of the Universalization (Canada), Articles 7 & 9 (Belgium), and
Resource Mobilization Contact Group (Norway), and the Sponsorship Group (UK),
also participated, as did the incoming President of the First Review Conference
(Austria). The ICBL and ICRC continued to participate on a regular basis. The
meetings discussed practical coordination matters relating to the intersessional
work program and logistical preparations for the First Review Conference.
The ICBL continued to work closely with the Mine Ban Treaty’s
Implementation Support Unit (ISU), established in 2001, which provides
much-needed support to all interested States and other organizations
participating in the Mine Ban Treaty, in terms of maintaining and developing the
system that oversees implementation of the treaty and by providing resources,
research and strategic thinking on how to achieve the overall goals of the
treaty.
The Sponsorship Program, established in 2000, continued to enable the
participation of mine-affected countries with limited resources in the treaty
process, by sponsoring an average of 80 representatives from mine-affected and
less developed countries to each of the intersessional meetings in 2004.
On Tuesday, 9 September 2003, the ICBL released Landmine Monitor Report
2003 with events held in sixteen countries that day and media outreach by
campaigners in another ten countries. Subsequent release events were held in at
least another six countries. Campaigners in mine-affected and/or non-States
Parties received the best media coverage of the report, in countries such as
Bangladesh, Cambodia, DR Congo, Finland, Lebanon, Pakistan, Senegal, Thailand,
and Turkey. On 11 November 2003, ICBL representatives briefed the Euro-Atlantic
Partnership Council’s Political Committee on the major findings of
Landmine Monitor Report 2003 at NATO headquarters, in Brussels.
The ICBL/LM held a series of six regional meetings and a Global Researchers
meeting in 2003-2004 to prepare Landmine Monitor Report 2004. As in
previous years, the meetings not only enabled researchers to discuss updates
prepared for the annual report, but also included campaigning and media
activities as well as advocacy training and strategy sessions. The schedule was
ambitious, designed to generate momentum on the Road to Nairobi and bring
attention to countries of special significance to the ICBL in the post-2004
period. Meetings were held in four heavily mine-affected countries that have
joined the Mine Ban Treaty (Afghanistan, Burundi, Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Colombia) and in countries that have not yet joined the Mine Ban Treaty in
regions where there is little support for the goal of banning antipersonnel
mines (Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia and the United Arab Emirates in the Persian
Gulf).
The first regional meeting took place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan from 5-7
November 2003, hosted by the Kyrgyz Landmine Monitor researcher,
IPPNW-Kyrgyzstan. In addition to internal meetings on research and advocacy,
ICBL representatives from the Commonwealth of Independent States and new NGO
contacts from Chechnya, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan participated in a
series of advocacy activities including meetings with the Kyrgyz Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Chair of the Security Council in the President's Office,
Vice Minister of Defense, Chair of Frontier Troops, parliamentarians, the Kyrgyz
Red Crescent, and university students. The events received good local media
coverage and culminated in a one-day conference on landmines in Central Asia
organized with the assistance of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
attended by government representatives from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and
Tajikistan. The Bishkek events enabled the ICBL’s membership base to
expand significantly to encompass every country in Central Asia except
Turkmenistan. The group subsequently held a small meeting on the margins of a
seminar held in Tajikistan in April 2004.
From 8-10 December 2003, ICBL members from the Middle East and North Africa
met in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, in the first regional meeting on landmines
held in the Persian Gulf region since the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty was opened for
signature. The campaigners discussed their research and advocacy activities and
attended a two-day workshop on the landmines and Explosive Remnants of War
(ERW), organized by the Arab Network for Research on Landmines and ERW, in
cooperation with the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services. Over 60 people
took part in the workshop, which featured presentations on the mine/ERW problem
in the region and attracted good local and regional media attention.
ICBL members and Landmine Monitor researchers from the Americas met in
Bogotá, Colombia from 26-30 January 2004, where they engaged in internal
discussions on their research and advocacy activities. They met with government
and United Nations officials, held a half-day regional roundtable on “the
Road to Nairobi,” and undertook a field visit to the mine-affected
community of Zaragoza in Antioquia department. This marked the first time that
the ICBL has been to Colombia, the most challenging country in the region in
terms of adherence to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Local and regional media
covered the events, highlighting in particular the ICBL’s call for an end
to antipersonnel mine use in Colombia by rebels and paramilitaries.
On 10 February 2004, members of the Landmine Monitor research network from
Europe met in Geneva, Switzerland on the margins of intersessional Standing
Committee meetings of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. In addition to internal
meetings to prepare the 2004 report and strategize on advocacy activities,
participants interacted with officials attending the intersessional
meetings.
Researchers from Francophone Africa met in Bujumbura, Burundi from 18-20
February 2004 for the fifth in the series of regional meetings. Landmine
Monitor’s Burundi researcher, the Centre d'Alerte et de Prévention
de Conflits/CENAP, hosted the visit, which marked the first time the ICBL had
come to the war-torn country. In addition to preparing their research and
discussion of advocacy activities, participants met with government officials,
participated in a half-day roundtable discussion on Burundi’s
implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, and conducted a field visit to the
national rehabilitation center in Gitega, which is supported by Handicap
International. The roundtable attracted significant national and international
print, radio, and television coverage.
Representatives of the ICBL and its Landmine Monitor research network met in
Kabul, Afghanistan from 27-29 March 2004 for their annual Asia-wide regional
meeting, hosted by the Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines (ACBL). The Afghan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided the venue for a half-day opening ceremony,
followed by a press conference. The participants engaged in several advocacy
activities, including a meeting with the “Father of the Nation,”
Afghanistan’s former king Zahir Shah, a visit to the ICRC rehabilitation
clinic, a rally through the center of Kabul that marked the beginning of the
ACBL’s Mine Awareness month, a bicycle rally in Kabul’s central
stadium organized by Afghan Amputee Bicyclists for Rehabilitation and
Recreation, and a mine action exhibition at the Mine Detection and Dog Center
featuring presentations from major mine action agencies.
From 3-5 May 2004, the ICBL held its annual, global Landmine Monitor
Researchers meeting in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the first time an ICBL
event had been held in the country. Over 70 researchers and 40 campaigners and
friends of the ICBL from 70 countries participated in the three-day conference
which featured workshops on advocacy and research topics, individual discussions
on the Landmine Monitor 2004 country updates, and field visits to mine action
and victim assistance projects in and around the capital. The participants also
met twice in regional groups to discuss their activities leading up to the
Nairobi Summit.
A media delegation visited a demining site in Visoko operated by Norwegian
People’s Aid and a community on the hillside above Sarajevo called Hrasno,
where demining operations have been successfully completed. The visit received
widespread coverage in the Bosnian media and numerous international media.
Other Events, Field Missions and Advocacy Efforts
The ICBL participated in numerous other regional
and international events and advocacy efforts in 2003 and 2004, some of which
are cited here.
ICBL Ambassador Jody Williams and the ICBL Coordinator Liz Bernstein
participated in the Gorbachev Foundation Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, in
Rome in December 2003, presenting lessons learned from the ICBL. The Italian
Campaign to Ban Landmines also organized media interviews, a hearing with the
human rights committee of the foreign affairs commission of the parliament for
increased humanitarian mine action funding, and a presentation at a university
department of peacekeeping.
An ICBL delegation met with EU representatives in Brussels from 2-4 December
2003, including members of the European Parliament, European Commission and the
Council of European Union. In a parliament session held on 3-4 December, all
parties agreed to include a paragraph on landmines (40) in a resolution on
preparations for a European Council meeting to be held in Brussels from 12-13
December 2003. The ICBL also met with the European Commission representative to
discuss the preparation of its strategy for Mine Action.
From 8-9 December, the ICBL participated in a Mine Ban Treaty implementation
seminar in Minsk organized by the Belarus CBL/SCAF in cooperation with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.
The ICBL briefed an OSCE workshop on landmines and ERW, held on 8 March 2004
in Vienna. The seminar, organized by Bulgaria and Andorra, was the first such
event convened by the OSCE.
Several ICBL members participated in the first landmine-related meeting held
in China, from 26-28 April in Kunming. The ICBL Australia Network and China
Arms Control and Disarmament Association (CACDA) co-sponsored the workshop on
landmines and UXO clearance and cooperation.
In April 2004, an ICBL delegation accepted an invitation by Turkmenistan to
witness destruction of some of the government’s 69,000 antipersonnel mine
initially retained for training at a military base southwest of Turkmenabad
(formerly Charjoh) in the Karakum desert. The delegation also stopped in
Astana, Kazakhstan where they met with the First Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs to encourage the government to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty.
On 6 July 2004, the Senegalese Association for Mine Victims organized its
first national anti-mine demonstration, in which mine survivors walked through
the streets of Zinguinchor in Casamance, using theater and music to dramatize
the dangers of mines. A roundtable on implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty was
also held.
From 15-17 September, Mines Action Canada hosted an international symposium
on activities of the mine ban movement following the Nairobi Summit in Ottawa,
Canada.
The ICBL Ambassadors undertook a number of advocacy and awareness-building
missions in 2003 and 2004, and ICBL members represented the campaign in various
events worldwide. For example, Zambian campaigner Dr. Robert Mtonga gave a
presentation on behalf of the ICBL to the CIVICUS World Assembly in Gaborone,
Botswana from 21-26 March 2004. A few ICBL campaigners participated in a
conference hosted by the World Health Organization and the Centre for Disease
Control on the public health and the prevention of war-related injuries from 3-9
June in Vienna, Austria. ICBL Youth Ambassador Song Kosal participated in an
international children's conference on banning landmines, held in Shin-Asahi
town, Japan from 21-23 August.
ICBL members also participated in several stockpile destruction events in
countries including Colombia, Cyprus, Ecuador, Lithuania, Suriname,
Turkmenistan, and Uruguay. Some included destruction of mines previously
retained for training.
In 2003 and the first half of 2004, ICBL members held awareness-raising
activities in over 75 countries including: Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia,
Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burma/Myanmar, Burundi,
Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Democratic Republic
of Congo, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, El Salvador,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia,
Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Latvia,
Lebanon, Lithuania, Malawi, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru,
Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Singapore,
Somaliland, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria,
Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine,
United Arab Emirates, United States, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vietnam, Yemen,
and Zambia.
The ICBL and member campaigns sent letters to heads of state, issued media
releases and engaged in other advocacy activities to highlight the landmines
crisis and remaining work to be done at international events and fora including
the African Union, Assembly of African Francophone Parliamentarians, Association
of Southeast Asian Nations, European Union, Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council,
Francophonie, Inter-Parliamentary Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Organization of
American States.
Coordinated Campaign Actions, Activities and Resources
The ICBL launched its preparation for the first Review Conference one year
beforehand with an Action Alert issued on the sixth anniversary of the 3
December opening for signature of the Mine Ban Treaty in Ottawa, Canada, also
the International Day for Persons with Disabilities. Campaigners held events
around the globe and ICBL issued a media release and also wrote to Foreign
Ministers, enclosing the ICBL’s report on the Fifth Meeting of States
Parties.
On 1 March 2004, the campaign celebrated the fifth anniversary of the
entry-into-force of the Mine Ban Treaty with events around the world. The ICBL
issued a press release condemning the decision by the United States, announced
27 February, to reject the treaty and keep antipersonnel mines indefinitely.
Campaigners also encouraged non-signatory countries in the Baltics and the
Persian Gulf to accede as quickly as possible. The ICBL also sent letters to
India and Pakistan on 1 March and signatures collected by Youth Against War were
presented to the Ambassadors of India and Pakistan in Canada, urging them to
include the landmines issue in confidence building measures.
In April 2004, the ICBL together with Thai campaign member Nonviolence
International launched an initiative to “End mine use in Burma” that
also aims over the longer-term to bring Burma (Myanmar) on board the Mine Ban.
The ICBL issued an Action Alert in July 2004 urging Poland to join the Mine
Ban Treaty before the Nairobi Summit and encouraging campaigners to write to the
Polish Ministry of Defence and embassies as a special Ministry of Defence drafts
a new policy on landmines.
On 20 August, the ICBL issued the first of several “Countdown
Nairobi!” Action Alerts, 100 days prior to the opening of the Nairobi
Summit on a Mine-Free World, encouraging members to take various actions to
prepare for the event. The ICBL also sent letters to the Heads of States
Parties outlining the campaign’s expectations for the Summit.
In September, campaigners in Athens and elsewhere took advantage of the
Paralympics event in Greece to highlight the achievements of landmine survivors
competing in the games from Afghanistan, Bosnia and Lebanon.
An ICBL capacity building and grant making project for members in South Asia
continued in cooperation with Landmine Action. This followed from a fundraising
training workshop held from 22-23 September 2003 in Bangkok, Thailand.
In 2003 and the first half of 2004, the ICBL issued quarterly “Landmine
Updates” and published a Report on Activities at the Fifth Meeting of
States Parties, as well as an annual report for 2003. The ICBL also published
two CD ROMs. “Take Action for a Landmine-Free World!” provides an
overview of the mine problem and landmine campaign, presenting practical
advocacy action tools. The other CD Rom houses key historical and archival
documents and information such as a full chronology of the mine ban movement and
an annotated bibliography. Together with the Landmine Monitor report CD Rom,
these resources encompass a full package of the ICBL’s advocacy,
educational, and reference materials.
The ICBL worked to further decentralize and integrate youth campaign
activities. Young people from five countries participated in a mine action
seminar in Bangkok during the 5MSP. The ICBL created advocacy action toolkits
that were distributed through the Youth Action Forum website encouraging youth
to take actions to promote universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban
Treaty on the Road to Nairobi. The Youth Campaign Kit was translated into
Russian.
The ICBL collaborated with Mines Action Canada and the Youth Mine Action
Ambassador Program on various projects organized in the lead-up to and during
the Nairobi Summit. This included the Youth Professionals in Mine Action
Program (YPIMAP), under which young Canadian interns were provided to
campaigners in Beirut, Brisbane, Geneva, Kampala, Nairobi and Washington DC to
help support their activities, as well as their preparations for the Nairobi
Summit.
In September, an official ceremony was held in Ottawa, Canada to hand-over
campaign materials for the creation of a new ICBL Collection at the National
Library and Archives Canada.
The ICBL continued to maintain a sophisticated system of electronic
listservs. On 4 August 2004, it unveiled a complete reorganization and redesign
of its website, the first since the site was launched in May 1998. The new site
includes new and updated pages simplifying access to information and making
updates and content revisions much easier. More information on the ICBL’s
activities is available at www.icbl.org.
[1] At the Fourth General Meeting held in
September 2003, three CC members stepped down (Association for Aid and
Relief-Japan, German Initiative to Ban Landmines and South African Campaign to
Ban Landmines). The meeting accepted the continuation of the ten remaining CC
members (Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines, Cambodian Campaign to Ban Landmines,
Colombian Campaign Against Landmines, DanChurchAid/Lutheran World Federation,
Handicap International, Human Rights Watch, Kenya Coalition Against Landmines,
Landmine Survivors Network, Mines Action Canada and Norwegian People’s
Aid), and three new members joined the CC (Brazil Campaign Against Landmines,
the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban
Landmines). The ICBL staff are: Elizabeth Bernstein, Coordinator; Sylvie Brigot,
Government Relations Officer; Kjell Knudsen, Webmaster; Jackie Hansen, Project
Officer; Susan B. Walker, Intersessional Program Officer; Sue Wixley, Advocacy
and Communications Officer. Contact:
icbl@icbl.org/. [2] Previous General
Meetings were held in Washington DC, USA (March 2001), Maputo, Mozambique (May
1999) and Frankfurt, Germany (February 1998).
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