For further information on any matter contact: Sue Wixley (English) tel: +505 (0)88 81868, Charlie Avendaño (español) tel: + 505 (0)88 13547 or Sylvie Brigot (français) tel: +33 (0)1 47 88 97 53 (Except 14 - 22 Sept: +505 (0)88 03238).

An expected 500 diplomats, landmine survivors, deminers and activists will gather in Managua from 18 to 21 September to gauge progress and discuss challenges in universalization and implementation of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister, Francisco Aguirre Sacasa will chair the third annual meeting of States Parties to this ground-breaking international agreement, which bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of antipersonnel mines.

Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, supporter of the Nobel prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and Patron and Honorary Chair of Landmine Survivors Network, will open the conference along with landmine survivors from throughout the Americas. ICBL ambassador and co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, Jody Williams, will also address the conference.

The ICBL’s official non-state delegation will present the third annual report of its unprecedented global research initiative, Landmine Monitor Report 2001: Toward a Mine-Free World, with chapters on the landmine situation in each country. ICBL briefings and public exhibitions are also planned.

The gathering is significant because:

It marks the halfway point between the Convention’s entry into force in 1999 and the First Review Conference in 2004 – so it is an opportunity for States Parties to adjust plans to ensure deadlines are met for stockpile destruction, mine clearance and other treaty obligations. To date, 140 countries have signed the treaty and 118 have ratified.
It takes place in Nicaragua: a mine-affected country and States Party. All of Nicaragua’s neighbors in the Americas and the western hemisphere, with the important exception of Cuba and the USA, have joined the treaty.
All the key actors will be there: the ICBL expects 145 participants, including campaigners, deminers, researchers and landmine survivors, from 62 countries; over 100 governments are eligible for full voting status at the conference and up to 50 are expected as observers; the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN agencies and others will also take part.

For more information, see the links in the "Other for Media" box above, contact media@icbl.org or get in touch with any of the three persons listed on top.

For press accreditation, schedule of events and other practical information: visit the Government of Nicaragua’s website: http://trepco.cancilleria.gob.ni.