Press Release
Governments Urged to Eliminate Landmines Within Years, Not Decades
Tenth annual meeting of Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty opens in Geneva
Geneva, 29 November 2010 -- Sustained political engagement and financial support is needed is to overcome the global landmine problem, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) said today at the opening of an annual meeting of the 1997 treaty banning antipersonnel landmines.
“The threat posed by landmines is still urgent, but it is also a finite problem that can be resolved if governments remain committed until all mined areas are cleared, all survivors enjoy the rights and economic possibilities available to others, and all stockpiles are destroyed,” said Sylvie Brigot, Executive Director of the ICBL. “Much progress has been made over the past decade, but governments need to keep up the energy to achieve the goal of a mine-free world.”
As reported in the Landmine Monitor 2010 report last week, Canada’s contributions to funding and leadership during the past year were dismal with significant decreases across the board in sharp contrast to previous years. Canadian funding for mine action totaled just over C$21 million – a 57% drop from the previous year and its lowest level of funding for mine action since 2002. This was the largest funding decrease recorded for any donor country by far in 2009. The next highest decrease was recorded by the Netherlands at 35% (C$10.4 million). The United States, the European Commission, Japan, Norway, and Germany provided 61% of all international support compared to only 49% in the previous year, and despite a global recession.
“As Canadians, we find this drastic decrease alarming and are urging other concerned Canadians to question Canada’s significant drop in leadership and mine action funding over the past year to let them know Canadians care deeply about this issue ,” said Paul Hannon, Executive Director of Mines Action Canada (MAC), the Canadian campaign to ban landmines and cluster bombs. “The Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty is having a major, demonstrable and measurable beneficial impact on tens of thousands of people in thousands of communities around the world and we know this for a fact from the findings of the Landmine Monitor report. If this is the start of a trend for Canada, we will become known as laggards and our leadership on this issue is in danger of becoming a piece of history only. We cannot afford to let that happen on this ground-breaking treaty that is named after our great country.”
The Tenth Meeting of the States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty will be held at the United Nations in Geneva from 29 November to 3 December 2010. Representatives from most of the 156 governments that have joined the treaty are expected to attend, as well as China, Russia, the United States and other observer delegations from the 39 states that have not joined the treaty. An ICBL delegation of more 120 campaigners from 33 countries, including landmine survivors, is participating in the meeting.
“This meeting must address a range of implementation issues if the Mine Ban Treaty is to be fully realized,” said Eva Veble, Head of the Mine Action Unit at DanChurchAid. “States Parties and all stakeholders should look at how they can make a more efficient and effective use of available resources to get the job done, and how they can ensure even closer cooperation.”
Issues of concern for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines at the meeting include:
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Six mine-affected states parties—Chad, Colombia, Denmark, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Zimbabwe—have indicated that they will not be able to complete clearance of their mined areas within the ten-year treaty-mandatory deadline and have requested deadline extensions for the meeting to decide on.
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Four States Parties that collectively stockpile over 10 million antipersonnel mines—Belarus, Greece, Turkey and Ukraine—have missed the treaty-mandated four-year deadline for destroying their landmine stockpiles and are now in violation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
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The United Kingdom was granted a 10-year mine clearance deadline extension in 2008 but is not fulfilling part of its terms. It finished clearance of three mined areas, as planned, but has not announced any further plans to clear the remaining 113 mined areas.
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Accessibility of victim assistance services declined in 2009 in seven States Parties—Afghanistan, Angola, Chad, Colombia, DR Congo, Guinea-Bissau and Jordan.
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At the meeting, States Parties will consider how to encourage more sustainable international cooperation and assistance. The ICBL calls on donor to provide multi-year funding, to enable states to implement clearance and victim assistance plans in a predictable, sustainable way.
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For the second year in a row, the United States will attend the meeting as observer. It has been one year since the US announced that it would begin a formal review of its landmine policy, but no decision on joining the treaty has been made.
ENDS
Media contact
Amelie Chayer, Communications Officer (In Geneva, GMT +1)
Email:
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Mobile: +41 76 728 53 20 or +33 6 89 55 12 81
Background
Adopted in 1997, the Mine Ban Treaty entered into force on 1 March 1999. The treaty comprehensively bans all antipersonnel mines, requires destruction of stockpiled mines within four years, requires destruction of mines already in the ground within 10 years, and urges extensive programs to assist the victims of landmines.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines is a global network in over 90 countries, working for a world free of antipersonnel landmines. In 1997, the ICBL received the Nobel Peace Prize together with its founding coordinator Jody Williams for its efforts to bring about the Mine Ban Treaty.
Additional information is available in Landmine Monitor 2010: www.the-monitor.org/lm/2010
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