APRIL 2010
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Theme
Key Messages
- April 4th is the UN’s International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. This day was created as opportunity to bring attention to and revitalize international support for mine action. This is the 5th year this day has been commemorated.
- April is also the final month of MAC’s Make History Happen 2009-2010 campaign and the final window for you to take an action to meet this year’s goals. Goals for the 2009-2010 campaign include:
- Generating 10,000 Canadian signatures on the People’s Treaty.
- Ensure that Canada remains a top five donor to mine action by contributing $1 per Canadian per year until all major clearance deadlines are met in the next ten years.
- Ensuring Canada ratifies the Convention on Cluster Munitions by the end of 2009.
- Convincing all Canadian chartered banks to take a stand against investing in companies producing cluster bombs.
- Raising $50,000 to support MAC ’s work creating a mine free world.
Background
- The term “mine action” includes mine risk education, mine clearance, victim assistance, stockpile destruction and advocacy.
- Mine risk prevention education includes educating affected communities on how to recognize and avoid unexploded ordnance as well as longer-term education through the development and delivery of school curriculum; community theatre; mass media campaigns; and train-the-trainer certification to members of affected communities.
- Mine clearance involves conducting surveys to assess the actual extent of contaminated land; land reduction and release back to the community; mine field marking; and the clearance of ordnance.
- Victim assistance (also called survivor assistance) includes emergency and continuing medical care; comprehensive psychological and physical rehabilitation programs; programs to assist the economic and social reintegration of survivors into the community; and collection and reporting of data on casualties, laws and public policies to ensure the full and equal participation of survivors, their families and communities in society. It is estimated that there are approximately 500,000 survivors around the world today and victim assistance programs have received the least amount of money out of all the funds pledged to support mine action,.
- Under the Ottawa Convention banning landmines, State Parties have four years to destroy their stockpiles. In the Convention on Cluster Munitions, State Parties must destroy stockpiles as soon as possible but no longer than eight years after joining. Landmine Monitor 2008 estimates that there are 176 million anti-personnel landmines stockpiled in 44 countries. Human Rights Watch estimates that 79 countries currently stockpile cluster bombs with the number stocks likely being in the billions. Destroying stockpiles is important as it prevents these weapons from ever being used in the first place and, in the long run, this is a more cost-effective option.
- Advocacy is the final pillar of mine action and the main driver for ensuring that the mine action obligations under both treaties are fully realized and that a mine-free world is indeed possible within our lifetime. This is the main role of civil society groups like MAC – to make sure the obligations under the treaties do not become broken promises.
Act/Give
This is the final month where you can have an impact in the 2009-2010 campaign. Check out MAC’s April e-news, Twitter and Facebook for a report on the progress made towards this year’s goals. Pick the goal where you can make the most impact and take action!
Share
MAC will be releasing a new, interactive resource to support this month’s call to action – stay tuned and sign up for alerts on the Our Network section of our website!
Resources
- Mission Possible! A Mine-Free World PowerPoint
- Check the Our Campaigns section of our website as we will be releasing updated statistics and resources following the release of Landmine Monitor 2009 in November.
Further Information
- Landmine Monitor is an initiative providing research for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC). It is the de facto monitoring regime for the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines and the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Landmine Monitor 2009 report to be released November, http://www.lm.icbl.org/index.php.
