The ICBL turns 20!

To kick off the celebrations, ICBL founding member Human Rights Watch hosted an event in New York in the fringes of the UN General Assembly's First Committee on Disarmament. The event took place on 19 October and celebrated the ICBL's legacy, as well as drawing together some of the world's leading disarmament campaigners to learn lessons from this Nobel Peace Prizewinning campaign's success, and share their own views on how to maintain the movement in the future. If you missed the live streaming of the event, then you can watch the moderated disccusion here - it's well worth checking out!

A birthday celebration to remember! This anniversary is a momentous time for our many global members, partner agencies and the governments who have worked with us over the years to achieve our ongoing aim of a world free of landmines.Our anniversary is a call to action - for civil society, governments and partners – to keep working together to make our shared achievable goal – a world without mines – a reality. ICBL campaigners in at least 22 countries will be celebrating with action over the course of the next few weeks - pushing states to work even harder to take the final steps needed to rid the world of landmines for good.Here you can read in detail about - ICBL activities taking place all over the world from U.S.A to Nepal, Afghanistan to Bosnia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to France. If you plan to arrange an event and haven't yet told us about it, please do! We will add it to this list. We encourage all our campaign members and partner agencies to use our 20th anniversary logo on your websites and social media networks, your newsletters and any other publications in the coming weeks.ResourcesKeep up to date with everything happening via our Facebook page and Twitter account, or by searching on Twitter using the hashtag #ICBL20.- Campaigner interviews: read about the people behind the movement - interviews with a selection of ICBL campaigners- Chronology: view or download the ICBL chronology - 20 years of work by a dynamic, lifesaving campaign. - Leaflet: view or download the leaflet introducing the ICBL - perfect for people who don't know about us yet! The leaflet is also available in Arabic, French, and Spanish.- Logos: download the logos in JPEG format and guidelines on how to use them.- Logo for Facebook profile photo: use this resized logo for your profile picture.- Video: check out and make use of the newly created ICBL 20th anniversary video as part of your campaigning.Messages Throughout 2012, the ICBL has used our anniversary to bring the landmine problem, the Mine Ban Treaty and its achievements, as well as the success of this unique global movement, back into public attention. We want to highlight that although much has been achieved, much more still needs to be done to bring a full stop to the devastation mines still cause.As the ICBL prepares for the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, being held in Geneva 3 - 10 December 2012, our network is continuing to challenge the international community to reinvigorate its commitment to reaching a mine-free world, and to act to achieve this aim within years, not decades. We also want this anniversary to celebrate the power of civil society as a driving force to make a real difference in the world, and promote the model of partnership between NGOs, governments and international organizations as the most effective catalyst for change. HistoryThe foundation of this unique and unprecedented campaign lies with six concerned NGOs who had been documenting the devastation anti-personnel landmines were causing to civilians all over the world and had decided enough was enough – the humanitarian community had to act and stop the terror this weapon was causing.In October 1992 leading representatives from Human Rights Watch, Handicap International, MAG (Mines Advisory Group), Physicians for Human Rights, medico internationaland VVAF (Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation) met at Human Rights Watch's New York offices with a view to beginning a movement to ban this terrible weapon. This is how the ICBL was born.Jody Williams, Nobel Laureate, who was co-recipient of the 1997 Peace Prize,was appointed co-ordinator of the campaign, oversaw its growth to include hundreds of national and international NGOs from around the world. Today, the ICBL has dedicated national campaigning organisations in some 100 countries and across many disciplines: human rights, children’s rights, development issues, refugee issues and medical and humanitarian relief. Right from the beginning the diversity, expertise and flexibility of the ICBL’s global campaign were its biggest strengths, and within just five years of being founded it had successfully lobbied for a global ban on the use, manufacture, stockpile and transfer of anti-personnel mines.