For A Mine Free World ACT NOW!

English |

Dear all,

I hope you are all well. It is exactly 6 weeks before the opening of the 6th Meeting of States Parties which will be held in Zagreb, Croatia, from 28 November to 2 December 2005.

This meeting is the first major opportunity to review progress made in the implementation of the Nairobi Action Plan. States Parties will discuss the way forward to

Secure further progress in the clearance of mined areas,
Make real progress in survivors’ assistance, which still remains a challenge many States Parties haven’t tackled yet.
Ensure that the Disarmament provisions of the Convention are respected

We know you have all been working hard since the Nairobi Summit to keep landmines high on the priority list of your government, whether it is to encourage them to implement the Nairobi Action Plan or ratify/accede to the Mine Ban Treaty.

This “Act Now!” Call aims to encourage you to do 3 things:

Hold your government accountable: use the upcoming 6 MSP as an opportunity to put landmines on the agenda of your government… if they are not already ! (smile)
Publicize your Campaign’s concern before the 6MSP
Plan for 2006 : Start thinking of what your campaign should and could do in 2006, to contribute to strengthen the momentum around the Treaty and the ban of landmines, and share your plans and ideas with us in Zagreb on 3 December

See below the details of this Call, and don’t hesitate to contact Sylvie (brigot@icbl.org) should you have any questions, or require more information.

We will be in touch with all of you in the coming weeks, and are very much looking forward to hearing your plans as well as the report of your activities. Remember that if we publish these on the ICBL website it can give ideas to others!

We wish you all the best !

Keep up your good work !

ICBL staff, Anne Sylvie, Tamar, Virginie and the Junior Project Officers: Andreia, Meredith and Karolina.

FOR A MINE FREE WORLD

ACT NOW !

Content

Hold your government accountable!
Publicize your campaign's concerns before the 6MSP!
Plan for 2006 and share your ideas!

1. Hold your government accountable!

Meet with your contacts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other ministries involved in the issues: Ministry of Defence, Social Affairs, Health etc… and ask about :

Progress in the implementation of the Nairobi Action Plan.
Preparation for Zagreb and plans for focussed and substantial interventions
Advocate for survivors to be part of the official delegation . The Croatian Government is also very much encouraging mine affected States to include survivors in their official delegation, and want to facilitate this by offering part of the transportation to Zagreb and accommodation during the conference.
Encourage your government to provide input on the draft documents to be produced at the 6MSP, which are the Zagreb Progress Report and the Final Declaration. It is especially important to get information – as appropriate - on the government’s activities on Article 5 (mine clearance), their objectives and plans for providing victim assistance, and information on the use of mines retained under Article 3 (for training/development). They can provide the information to the Implementation Support Unit through the end of the 6MSP.

For more information, check the list of actions below, and direct links to ICBL messages.

List of actions States committed to take in Nairobi:

Clear mined areas
Assist the victims
Contribute to international cooperation and assistance
Universalise the Convention
Destroy stockpiles
Share information and be transparent
Pass national implementation measures

2. Publicize your campaign’s concerns before the 6MSP!

Are you concerned that your government does not take its treaty obligations seriously?You want more to be done at the national level on mine clearance, victim assistance, and etc.. ? MAKE IT PUBLIC! This is always a good way to make your government more sensitive to your requests. The conference in Zagreb is an important international event and will help you to attract media attention; use it to link your activity and message to the international agenda!

Choose issue(s) you want to highlight and then:

Publish a press release announcing the 6MSP, the participation of your government, and the issues you want them to discuss there and your own participation if you are coming.Organise a public event , or a conference.
Invite the media and why not government representatives to discuss about them! Organise a press conference, and get your message across to the media.
Organise/participate in a launch of the 2005 Landmine Monitor Report, on 23 November, it gives all of us an excellent tool and opportunity to attract media attention. Don’t miss it!

3. Plan for 2006 and share your ideas!

Strengthening the momentum around the Treaty and the ban of landmines in the long haul is our responsibility. In order to do this even better, we would like to propose you –two day-long meetings during the Zagreb conference.If you are not coming in Zagreb, you can also contribute to these meetings by sending us your experience and plans on prior to Zagreb so that we can include them in the discussions.

26 November 2005: a Training on How to Advocate on Implementation Issues

All campaigns have experiences to share about successful advocacy on the different aspects of the implementation of the Convention, or lessons learned from failures or difficulties. Soon we will come back to you to ask that you share them ahead of and during the 26 November training.

3 December 2005: the ICBL 2006 Planning Meeting

To prepare the 3 December Planning Meeting, we would like to ask you to schedule a meeting with members of your national campaign before 3 December to discuss ideas and plans for 2006 so that you can SHARE them with the Campaign in Zagreb.