In the face of the steep humanitarian disarmament challenges this year, we are also marking the 30-year success of the civil society led coalition that is the ICBL. That success is embodied in the Mine Ban Treaty or Ottawa Convention. It is one of the most adhered to and successful disarmament treaties ever, with hundreds of thousands of lives saved, and untold landmine tragedies prevented. Significantly, the Ottawa process also created a model for humanitarian disarmament and paved the way for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Twenty-five years after the treaty's adoption, achieved with the significant contribution of civil society efforts, we are at another crossroads in the fight to eliminate suffering from landmines. Due to the acute and growing impact of improvised mines, casualty numbers have increased dramatically and remained disturbingly high over the past ten years. And while new conflicts are sowing deadly mine legacies with consequences for years to come, the immediate needs of mine survivors have yet to be fully met, including in countries declared "mine free". All of this is unfolding as emerging crises demand ever greater resources and attention from states.
Today there is a serious need to reinvigorate the collaborative partnerships that led to creation of the Mine Ban Treaty in 1997. We need to take account of our learning and successes, as well as new frameworks for development, human security, and sustainable mine action, to effectively address existing and emerging challenges. Realizing these synergies will be key to creating communities free from landmine and cluster munition tragedies.
Hector Guerra
Mine Action Policy and Advocacy News
Mine Ban Treaty
The Twentieth Meeting of the States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty is fast approaching! The Mine Ban Treaty #20MSP will take place from 21- 25 November 2022, at the Palais des Nations, in Geneva.
The meeting will be in-person, with the possibility to follow the proceedings remotely through UN WebTV (UNOG Room XVIII) and UN Listen Live.
The agenda and programme of work are available here.
The Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CMC) took place from 30 August to 2 September. Cluster Munition Coalition contributions to the meeting included an opening address from Iraqi Alliance for Disability (IADO) Director, Moaffak Alkhafaji on behalf of the CMC.
On 30 August, ICBL-CMC briefed delegates on findings from the 2022 Cluster Munition Monitor report launched the week before. Read more about the report here, and below in this newsletter!
The CMC, along with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) hosted the event Sharing views and experiences on civil society actions against cluster munitions and ERW and their humanitarian impact: The cases of Lao PDR, Iraq and Ukraine.
ICBL-CMC First Committee side event Are we serious about leaving no one behind?
ICBL-CMC attended the UN First Committee in New York in October and had the opportunity to engage with humanitarian disarmament partners participating in the meeting.
On 13 October, ICBL and CMC statements were delivered before First Committee delegates, during the NGO statement session.
You can see short versions of the statements here:
PDF versions of the full statements are available on the website here and here.
On 17 October, ICBL-CMC hosted the event Are we serious about leaving no one behind? Building on 25 years of partnerships and putting mine survivors at center stage.
Sponsored by Canada, the event celebrated 25 years of Mine Ban Treaty action and looked at new and ongoing challenges to achieving a mine-free world and ensuring survivors and mine-affected communities are included in holistic mine action efforts.
Speakers included representatives from Canada, Colombia, Germany, ICBL-CMC Members such as the Afghan Landmine Survivors Organization, Colombia Campaign to Ban Landmines, Geneva Call, the treaty Implementation Support Unit, and the Monitor.
On 18 October, ICBL-CMC joined the Permanent Mission of Iraq and the Convention on Cluster Munitions Implementation Support Unit for the roundtable discussion on Peacebuilding and Development through Disarmament Conventions.
The event addressed Arab States not party to the convention, providing information on the humanitarian impact of the weapon and how the convention supports states in addressing the weapons’ legacy.
The following states participated in the discussion: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
On 20 October, the ICBL-CMC team participated in an expert-level conversation on the Mine Ban Treaty, what it has achieved, and challenges to accession for states not party.
The discussion was hosted by the Canadian Mission in New York, with representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Lao PDR, Morocco, Singapore, and the United States attending.
For more information on First Committee discussions overall, including state interventions regarding the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Mine Ban Treaty, the use of the weapons, and the pending resolutions, see the Reaching Critical Will First Committee briefing book.
The report documents the extensive use of cluster munitions by Russia since its invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, causing hundreds of civilian casualties and damaging homes, hospitals, and schools. The report also provides an overview of efforts by states and mine action operators to eliminate cluster munitions and address their long-lasting impact globally. As in previous years, Cluster Munition Monitor 2022 finds that civilians remain the primary victims of cluster munitions at the time of the attacks and after conflict has ended. Children are particularly at risk: in 2021, they represented two-thirds of all the victims of cluster munition remnants.
For a lite version of the report, check our Canva graphics.
Make sure to use the Monitor's latest findings to support your advocacy work and share ICBL-CMC advocacy messages: strengthening the stigma against the weapon and condemning any use, anywhere by anyone; urging states not yet on board to join as soon as possible; and calling for a more effective implementation of the convention across all pillars of mine action.
New Members
ICBL-CMC extends a very warm welcome to the following new member organizations and looks forward to fruitful mine action collaboration!
ICBL-CMC is pleased to introduce Makabu Kalala who joined the team earlier this year as Finance and Human Resources Manager. Makabu's meticulousness, unfailing good humor and patience are highly appreciated.
The ICBL-CMC has been striving for many years to rid the world of landmines and cluster munitions. Campaigning, strategizing, mobilizing states, raising awareness, condemning use, investigating and monitoring international community response to the landmine and cluster munition situation, are a few examples of our work in action.
ICBL-CMC's Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor is the leading resource for information on communities affected by the weapons.
We are a civil society network of organizations working in over 100 countries and bringing together landmine and cluster munition survivors and other members of the mine action community, to put an end to the suffering caused by these weapons.
ICBL-CMC played a critical role in the creation of both the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and was instrumental in ensuring that civil society, and the rights of survivors, be included in the treaties. The campaign was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 as a result of this work.
We believe that a world free of landmines and cluster munitions, where the rights and needs of victims are guaranteed, is not only possible, but inevitable. We invite you to join us in making a mine-free world a reality.
