States Parties 161 States Not Party 36
Articles here date back to 1998 when the ICBL website was first launched.
« Previous Next » 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ...99
(Geneva, 7 December) – Poland’s announcement of the country’s imminent ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty, made at the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties (12MSP), highlighted the strength and momentum of the Mine Ban Treaty on its 15th anniversary.
(03/12/2012, last updated: 03/12/2012) Read more » ( English )
(Geneva 3 December 2012): Nobel peace laureate Jody Williams, International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) campaigners, and landmine survivors from nearly 40 countries are calling on governments to commit to eradicating antipersonnel landmines in years, not decades. The call comes at the opening of the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties (12MSP) to the Mine Ban Treaty, taking place from 3-7 December in Geneva. More than 100 governments are expected to participate.
Press Release -- Geneva, 29 November 2012: Only one government - Syria - has used antipersonnel landmines in 2012, matching the lowest point since the signing of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, according to Landmine Monitor 2012. Four governments used antipersonnel mines in 2011 (Israel, Libya, Myanmar, and Syria).
The number of governments rejecting antipersonnel mines continues to grow, with three new countries - Finland, South Sudan, and Somalia – joining the Mine Ban Treaty since July 2011. The succession of South Sudan and accession of Somalia means that all sub-Saharan African countries have joined the Mine Ban Treaty. Globally, 160 countries are party to the treaty, more than 80 percent of all countries.
"I was working at a rehabilitation center coordinated by a Japanese NGO in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1994. One day, I received information about a meeting of ICBL from my colleague. As I worked with people with disabilities I thought it would be good to go to the meeting. When I was ready to leave for the meeting, it was raining so heavily that I almost gave up going. But somehow I made it and was inspired by people there so much..."
(28 November 2012): ICBL-CMC is pleased to be launching Investing in Action 2013 a grant programme that will support ICBL-CMC member organisations with funding for campaign activities.
Grants awarded under the Investing in Action programme will support advocacy and campaigning activities to persuade governments to ratify or accede to the Mine Ban Treaty and/or the Convention on Cluster Munitions, to enhance the implementation of the treaties and to increase the stigmatisation of these weapons.
The application process is now open, with applications from ICBL-CMC members being accepted until Monday 31 December 2012.
This strategic plan outlines objectives and priorities for the ICBL as well as the CMC and will guide our work in the coming years.
The year was 1989, and El Salvador was in the middle of a Civil War. At the age of 17, on his way to work, Jesús Martínez stepped on a landmine and lost both legs. In ICBL's 20th Anniversary year, he tells us how he had the opportunity to meet with other survivors and how his work led him to become the director of La Red de Sobrevivientes (Survivor Corps El Salvador) in 2000. He has actively promoted the rights of people with disabilities, and testified for US Congress on the need for victim-assistance in post-conflict societies.
On 1 November 2012 the International Campaign to Ban Landmines submitted a statement to the United Nations’ First Committee on Disarmament and International Security. The statement highlighted the progress that has been made to-date with more than 80% of the world’s countries on board the Mine Ban Treaty, but also emphasized the work still needed to clear land and to assist survivors and their communities. “In today’s world, any use of antipersonnel mines is unacceptable and must be strongly condemned. We need to finish the job we started twenty years ago to put a final end to these weapons. This can and should be achieved within years and not decades.”
This week we hear from Sulaiman Aminy, the fourth of our campaigners interviewed as part of ICBL’s 20th Anniversary celebrations. Sulaiman is Executive Director of ‘Afghan Landmine Survivors' Organization (ALSO) and also the victim assistance focal point for ICBL-CMC. He tells us of his work in a country affected by landmines and cluster munitions, and his hopes for Afghanistan to play a bigger role within the region, promoting the Mine Ban Treaty and Cluster Munition Convention.
Location: Geneva or London are the preferred locations. The position requires the ability to travel and periodically it requires extensive travel. Hours: Full-time Contract type: Permanent Start date: January 2013 or as soon as possibleClosing date for applications: 15 November 2012
Continuing our campaigner interviews as part of ICBL’s 20th Anniversary celebrations, we speak to Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, a veteran campaigner who has been involved with the campaign since 1994.
Yeshua covers research on Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa for the Ban Policy section of the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor of the ICBL-CMC. In this fascinating interview he tells us about his work in Myanmar (Burma), and his hopes for this heavily affected country.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, 90 representatives from non-governmental organizations and global coalitions, including ICBL and Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) gathered in New York, 19-21 October, for a Humanitarian Disarmament Campaigns Summit convened by Human Rights Watch.
In the second week of ICBL’s 20th Anniversary celebrations, we speak to Bekele Gonfa from Ethiopia, a country affected by landmines. Bekele is a Victim Assistance Focal Point and is Technical Advisor of a local NGO called YYGM which is currently implementing a Survivors Network Project (SNP) with a grant from the ICBL-CMC. He was Country Director for Landmine Survivors Network (later Survivor Corps) between 2003-2009. Bekele continues to work tirelessly to assist the rehabilitation of survivors, families and entire communities throughout Ethiopia.
Activists use anniversary to call on international community to put a final end to antipersonnel landmines.
(New York, USA, 19 October 2012): The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is today celebrating 20 years of campaigning for a world free of landmines. Events marking this anniversary will take place in over 20 countries this fall. In October 1992, the ICBL, a global civil society movement, was born to put an urgent stop to a humanitarian crisis, which was leaving more than 20,000 people killed or maimed by antipersonnel mines every year.
