Biographical information of ICBL participants

(Friday 06 September 2002 )

Over 125 representatives of the network of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) are in Geneva for the Fourth Meeting of States Parties. They include landmine survivors, deminers, Landmine Monitor researchers and campaigners. Interviews in various languages can be arranged by contacting the ICBL's Sue Wixley, tel: + 41 79 470 1637, email: media@icbl.org. Our delegates come from over 50 countries: Afghanistan, Angola, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States and Yemen; and include:

MERESO AGINA, Kenyan Coalition Against Landmines
Mereso Agina is the National Secretary of the Maendeleo Ya Wanawawake - Kenya’s largest and oldest women’s organization with over five million members. She is representing the Kenyan Coalition Against Landmines, a coalition of Kenyan NGOs, and a member of the ICBL’s Coordinating Committee since June 1997. KCAL is also Landmine Monitor’s Research Coordinator for Africa.

HABOUBBA AOUN, Landmines Resource Center, Lebanon
Habbouba Aoun is the Coordinator of the Landmines Resource Center, established in 1997 by the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Balamand, in Beirut. She has provided the Landmine Monitor research for Lebanon since the first report, in 1999, and hosted a regional ICBL/Landmine Monitor meeting in January 2001, as well as a major regional conference in February 1999. Haboubba speaks Arabic, English and French.

MARGARET ARACH ORECH, Ugandan Landmine Survivor
Margaret Arach Orech is a single mother with five children. She lost her right leg when a bus she was travelling on hit a landmine. In the immediate aftermath, she was robbed and only just managed to crawl away from the bus before the fuel tank exploded. Her leg was amputated without an anaesthetic. She has adapted well to her new life, having received her first prosthesis two years ago and has given talks at national and international conference on the issue of landmines and victim assistance. In Uganda she visits new amputees to provide emotional support and share with them her experience of recovery and rehabilitation.

CHARLIE AVENDAÑO, Mines Action Canada
Charlie Avendaño is Landmine Monitor’s Research Coordinator for the Americas region. He works for Mines Action Canada (MAC) in Ottawa. Before joining MAC, Charlie worked on applied development research with indigenous communities in northern Canada, Costa Rica and Andean Peru. He speaks English and Spanish.

MEHMET BALCI, Campaign for a Turkey Without Landmines
Mehmet Balci is the coordinator of the Campaign for a Turkey without Landmines, launched in 2000 by 5 national NGOs. He is the Landmine Monitor researcher for Turkey and speaks French, English, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Turkish and Kurdish.

LIZ BERNSTEIN, ICBL Coordinator
Liz Bernstein, Coordinator of ICBL since March 1998, is based in Washington DC. Previously she was a staff member of the ICBL serving as conference coordinator for two years. She lived and worked in Thailand and Cambodia for 10 years before moving to Mozambique where she lived for 3 years. Liz speaks English, French, Khmer and Thai.

STAN BRABANT, Head, Mines Department, Handicap International - Belgium
Handicap International (Belgium) is one of the founding members of the ICBL and is also a member of Landmine Monitor’s Core Group. Stan has worked for HI since 1994, on mine clearance and mine risk education projects in Afghanistan, Cambodia and elsewhere. He chairs the ICBL’s Mine Risk Education Working Group and serves as Landmine Monitor Research Coordinator for mine risk education. He speaks Dutch, English, French.

SYLVIE BRIGOT, ICBL Government Relations Officer
After researching her Masters of Arts in Political Science on the subject, Sylvie Brigot started to work on the landmine issue in 1994, first with Handicap International as a project officer, especially in charge of European and Francophone issues. She then joined the ICBL in May 2001, where she is now charged with relations with governments, particularly liaising with international multi-lateral governmental organisations. Sylvie is based in Paris, and speaks French and English.

ELISABETH REUSSE-DECREY, Coordinator, Swiss Campaign to Ban Landmines and President of Geneva Call
A physiotherapist and human rights advocate, Elisabeth Reusse-Decrey is also the co-chair of the ICBL Non-State Actors Working Group. For over 20 years, she has been working with various NGOs on issues relating to refugees, torture and landmines, including as the NGO representative of the Swiss government delegation to the October 1996 Ottawa Conference. She was also member of the Parliament of the Republic and Canton of Geneva for 12 years before being elected as the President in 2000. Elisabeth speaks French and English.

FELICIDADE MARIA DE JESUS, Angolan landmine survivor
Felicidade Maria De Jesus was 12 years old when she stepped on a mine and lost her leg. After the injury and with the support of family and friends, she studied biochemistry and has worked in accounting at various NGOs in Lubango, in southwestern Angola. She is currently adapting training materials to teach human rights for persons with disability, including landmine survivors. De Jesus, and landmine survivors from ten African countries, is participating in a training project called Raising the Voices.

ROMAN DOLGOV, Russian Campaigner
Roman Dolgov works for the Russian Committee of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW-Russia), a member of IPPNW, 1985 Nobel Peace Laureate. In May 1998, IPPNW-Russia hosted the first major conference on landmines in Russia and the CIS, in Moscow. Roman has provided the Landmine Monitor research for Russia and countries of Central Asia since the first report, in 1999.

TIAGO DOUWENS PRATS, Lusophone campaigner
Tiago Douwens Prats is the Landmine Monitor researcher for Portugal, Guinea-Bissau and other Lusophone countries. He was born in Angola and has lived and studied in France and Portugal. Tiago recently established a Lusophone association on war victims and the landmines, based in Lisbon. After studying international law, Tiago has worked in community and environmental rights, including in Colombia. He speaks English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

SALIYA EDIRISINGHE, Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban Landmines
Saliya is a member of the Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban Landmines, and the Landmine Monitor Researcher for Sri Lanka. He is based in Colombo.

FAIZ MOHAMMED FAYYAZ, Pakistan Campaign to Ban Landmines
Faiz Mohammad Fayyaz has worked for the Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA) in Peshawar, Pakistan and also on mine clearance in Kabul, Afghanistan. He is now the director of Human Survival & Development (HSD), a humanitarian NGO engaged in mine action activities in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, along the border with Afghanistan. Faiz is a member of the Pakistan Campaign to Ban Landmines, established in November 1997, and Landmine Monitor’s researcher for Pakistan.

STEPHEN GOOSE, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch Arms Division
Human Rights Watch is a founding member of the ICBL, serves on its thirteen member Coordinating Committee and it also acts as the main contact point and editor of the ICBL's Landmine Monitor research initiative. Steve has spoken and written widely on landmines since 1993. Prior to joining HRW, he was a Congressional staff member with particular expertise in arms control issues.

MOHAMMED SHOHAB HAKIMI, Director, Mine Dog Centre in Afghanistan
Mohammed Shohab Hakimi has directed the Mine Dog Centre (MDC) since its establishment in 1989. The MDC has grown from a dozen mine dog handlers and deminers into a major programme with 1,100 personnel, 250 mine dogs. It has cleared 86 million square metres of mined land and supported survey of 250 million square metres. Hakimi has participated in a number of international conferences on the mine issue and assisted in the establishment of a demining project in Yemen.

BECKY JORDAN, Landmine Survivors Network
Becky Jordan, who also serves as chair of the ICBL Working Group on Victim Assistance, is an occupational therapist with over ten years of experience working with persons with disability in countries including Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, DR Congo, Rwanda, Thailand, and Vietnam. Currently working at the Landmine Survivors Network (LSN), Becky develops educational materials and provides support to training activities for landmine survivors. She speaks French and English.

BALKRISHNA KURVEY, Indian Campaign to Ban Landmines
Balkrishna Kurvey coordinated Indian NGOs calling for a landmine ban since he attended the Phnom Penh NGO Landmines Conference in June 1995. He has arranged numerous public exhibitions and several public seminars on landmines, including a national conference in New Delhi in May 2001. Balkrishna provide the Landmine Monitor research for India.

PER NERGAARD, Norwegian People’s Aid
Per Nergaard is the Program Coordinator for Mine Action activities at Norwegian People’s Aid, a member of the ICBL’s Coordinating Committee. He was formerly an Infantry Officer in the Norwegian Army. Per has been a field coordinator for NPA’s Mine Awareness Projects in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique and was Program Manager of NPA’s demining projects in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

YUKIE OSA, Association to Aid Refugees–Japan
Yukie Osa has worked for Association to Aid Refugees–Japan, a member of the ICBL’s Coordinating Committee, since 1991. She represented AAR-Japan in FR Yugoslavia from 1994-95 and established AAR’s landmine projects in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cambodia,. She lobbied successfully to get the ban on landmines including as a central theme in the 1998 Nagono Winter Olympics Peace Appeal. Osa is the Landmine Monitor researcher for China and recently visited Afghanistan.

SOLIMAN M. SANTOS, Co-Coordinator, Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines and Geneva Call Regional Director for Asia
Soliman Santos is a Filipino lawyer, peace advocate and legal scholar. His current areas of interest and publication are the peace process with rebel groups, comparative constitutional law, and international humanitarian law. He has worked since 1975 with both the government and various NGOs, including as a NGO representative in the Philippine government delegation to the October 1996 Ottawa Conference. Sol speaks Filipino and English.

AYMAN SOROUR, Egyptian Campaigner and Researcher
Ayman Sorour, a lawyer, is the director of the Landmines Struggle Center (LSC). LSC, established in December 1997, is the only NGO working directly on the mines and UXO problem in Egypt. Sorour is the Landmine Monitor researcher for Egypt, and other countries of the Middle East. He speaks Arabic, English and French.

NOEL STOTT, South African Campaign to Ban Landmines
No?E Stott has worked as a librarian and researcher. In addition to being responsible for the Cuba report of the Landmine Monitor, No?E is the Research Coordinator forAfrica. He has represented the South African Campaign to Ban Landmines (SACBL) since its inception in 1995, has served on the Coordinating Committee of the ICBL on behalf of the SACBL since 1997.

SUSAN WALKER, Intersessional Programme Officer, ICBL
Walker is the Intersessional Programme Officer for the ICBL. She is a co-founder of the Minnesota Campaign to Ban Landmines, which is protesting continued production of mines by Alliant Techsystems, one of the world’s largest munitions makers. From 1979-1994 Walker worked in SE Asia as Director of the American Refugee Committee and Regional Director for Handicap International managing relief and development programs for physically disabled persons in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Walker speaks English, French and Thai.

MARY WAREHAM, Human Rights Watch Arms Division
Wareham is former Coordinator of the New Zealand and United States Campaign to Ban Landmines, author of the chapter "Rhetoric and Policy Realities in the United States," in the 1998 publication, To Walk Without Fear. She has served as the Global Coordinator for the ICBL's Landmine Monitor initiative since its inception four years ago, in June 1998.

JODY WILLIAMS, 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate
Jody Williams was the founding coordinator of the ICBL, overseeing its growth from a handful of NGOs to a global coalition of over 1,300 NGOs in over eighty-five countries. The ICBL and Jody were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1997, for their work in bringing about the ban on antipersonnel mines. She now serves as the ICBL’s Ambassador. Prior to beginning the ICBL, Jody worked for eleven years to build public awareness about U.S. policy toward Central America. One of only ten women who have received the Nobel Peace Prize throughout its 100-year history and only the third woman from the U.S, Jody is an eloquent and outspoken advocate for peace and human rights issues.

SUE WIXLEY, ICBL Advocacy and Communications Officer
One of the founding members of the South African Campaign to Ban Landmines in 1995, Sue Wixley has carried out publicity work and organized landmine campaign events in South Africa as well as in Angola and Mozambique. She then worked for Amnesty International for a number of years and took up the post of ICBL Advocacy and Communications Officer in mid-2001.