It's International Development Week, which is a time to reflect on the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and reinvigorate our commitment towards them! Humanitarian disarmament is connected to almost all of the SDGs, so for each day of the week we are sharing how one of the campaigns we work on contributes towards an SDG.

Monday: International Campaign to Ban Landmines and No Poverty 

Landmines are a lethal barrier to development. When people can't access their land safely, they can lose out on services, opportunities, and income - all of which can lead to poverty. If a town's border is contaminated, this can lead to decreased access to outside services. If farmland is contaminated, this can lead to reduced income and food availability. If the route to school is contaminated, this can lead to children not attending school. Put simply: contamination restricts movement which takes away opportunities and leads to poverty.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Mines Action Canada, and our partners around the world work hard to eradicate landmines, and ensure safety for affected communities globally. There are countless success stories that demonstrate how communities flourish once their land is cleared. Read about Mrs. Gopo from Zimbabwe, who was able to start a successful peanut butter business once her land was cleared by Norwegian People's Aid. Read about Tith Pao from Cambodia, a landmine survivor who now lives and farms on cleared land. Read about Nguyen Thi Hoa from Vietnam, who could expand her farm by 500 square meters after landmine clearance thanks to Mines Advisory Group.  

Tuesday: International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and Good Health and Well-Being

Nuclear Weapons are the most indiscriminate weapon to ever exist. When the United States dropped nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, over 200,000 people were killed including an estimated 38,000 children. For years following the bombings, many survivors struggled with or passed away from cancer and other terrible side effects of radiation. If a nuclear weapon were to be detonated today, there would be no capacity for healthcare workers and first responders to address the magnitude of the disaster. In Hiroshima, 90% of doctors and nurses were killed or injured and only 42 out of 45 hospitals remained functional. 

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and Mines Action Canada, advocate for the elimination of all nuclear weapons. If a nuclear weapon were to be dropped, it would annihilate good health and well-being for hundreds of thousands of people instantly. For the survivors, all the dedicated burn beds around the world would still not be enough to care for them. Due to this level of destruction, over half the world's countries have committed to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. There is an answer to ensuring that nuclear weapons don't destroy good health and well-being, and the answer is to ban these weapons completely. 

Wednesday : Cluster Munition Coalition and Gender Equality

Explosive remnants of war, including cluster munitions, affect women, girls, men, and boys differently. The different impacts range from who is more likely to be injured/killed by a cluster munition, to who has access to services such as risk education and victim assistance, to who has a seat at the table to make policy decisions. While men and boys are more likely to be direct victims, women and girls often face indirect impacts including leaving school to take on caregiving responsibilities and increased stigma surrounding disability. In decision making forums both at the national and international level, women are far less represented and therefore do not have as much power to influence decisions on these issues. 

The Cluster Munition Coalition and Mines Action Canada recognize that gender equality is essential for an effective response to cluster munition contamination. We advocate for States to include gender provisions in their plans, from ensuring that different groups receive the appropriate risk education sessions needed, to employing women to clear contaminated land. By leaving half the population behind, it is impossible to effectively implement any convention, including the Convention on Cluster Munitions. So, we advocate strongly for gender equality in the implementation of this life-saving convention.  

Thursday: Stop Killer Robots Campaign and Reduced Inequalities 

Killer robots, or autonomous weapons systems, would have the ability to select and fire on a target without any human intervention. A major concern with this type of weapon is biases that are intentionally, or unintentionally, built into the algorithm. Current systems today, such as facial recognition or motion sensor, have been proven to have racial biases coded in and often fail to recognize people of colour, persons with disabilities, and women. If we build upon this technology and weaponize it, we are at great risk of creating weapons that are coded for bias. 

The Stop Killer Robots Campaign, which Mines Action Canada co-founded, advocates for a legally binding instrument to ban autonomous weapons. We advocate against these weapons by pointing out how algorithmic bias would lead to increased inequalities. As Stop Killer Robots has stated: "We should be challenging structures of inequality, not embedding them into weapons.

Friday: International Network on Explosive Weapons and Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions 

When explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA) are used, over a decade of data proves that 90% of casualties are civilians. All States are legally bound by International Humanitarian Law, which governs how to act in armed conflict. Basic principles of this law are proportionality and distinction, and when these laws are ignored, there needs to be accountability and justice. Militaries that use EWIPA are in violation of International Humanitarian Law since civilians are overwhelmingly the victims of this method of warfare. 

The International Network on Explosive Weapons, and Mines Action Canada, advocates for peace and justice by eliminating the deadly military practice of using explosive weapons in populated areas. EWIPA does not need to be an accepted reality of conflict - we can advocate for its elimination, leading it to become a stigmatized method of the past. As a campaign, we hold States accountable for their violations of IHL, leading to peace, justice, and stronger institutions.