Media advisory

(Tuesday 27 April 2004 ) The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) will hold its annual global meeting of antipersonnel landmine experts in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), from 3 to 5 May 2004. Members of the media are invited to our opening events, closing ceremony and field trip.

Speakers at the opening and closing:

• representatives of the BiH Ministries of Civil Affairs and Foreign Affairs and the Demining Commission;
• Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch of Austria, President-designate of the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty and former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina; and
• Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and ICBL Ambassador.

Over 100 researchers and campaigners from 70 countries will attend the conference, where they will finalise their country chapters for the Landmine Monitor Report 2004 and plan activities for the Mine Ban Treaty review conference, the 2004 Nairobi Summit on a Mine Free World. It is hoped that the Sarajevo meeting will highlight the progress to date and work that remains to be done to build a mine-free Bosnia.

Special guests Ambassador Petritsch and Jody Williams will lead the field trip to an operational mine clearance site in Visoko and cleared minefield in Hrasno on the opening day of the conference, 3 May.

EVENTS FOR THE MEDIA

3 May 2004

09:00 - 10:00: Opening Ceremony, Hotel Grand, Muhameda ef. Pandže 7, Sarajevo

10:00 - 13:00: Field trip (transport leaves Hotel Grand at 10:00)

Site #1: Operational demining site in Visoko, a village outside of Sarajevo

Photo/Interview opportunities:

• Ambassador Petritsch and Nobel Laureate Jody Williams dressed in demining protective gear hiking up to the clearance site on the rough, hilly terrain that deminers encounter everyday
  
• Demining demonstration using mine detection dogs by local Bosnian deminers working for Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA)
  

Site #2: Hrasno, a demined community on the hillside of Sarajevo

Photo/Interview opportunities:

• Shot of a newly built house amidst destroyed homes overlooking Sarajevo
• Returned family welcoming Ambassador Petritsch and Jody Williams to their new home

18:00: Welcome Reception, Hotel Grand

Photo/Interview opportunity:
Minister of Civil Affairs, Safet Halilovic, will address participants and dignitaries at a reception and speak about the BiH government’s commitment to a mine-free Bosnia-Herzegovina.

5 May 2004

16:00: Closing Ceremony, Hotel Grand

Photo/Interview opportunities:

• Representative of the BiH Mine Action Centre address the over 130 conference participants from over 80 countries

Please contact us to arrange interviews with special guests and landmine experts and for further information. For the field trip: we will provide transport between the hotel and the sites so please confirm your participation with us in advance.

CONTACTS

• Sue Wixley/Nancy Ingram, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, tel: (+ 387) (0) 33 764 481, mobile: (+ 387) (0) 61 347 305
• Damir Atikovic, Norwegian Peoples Aid, tel: (+387) (0) 61 133 282
• Email: media - insert @ - icbl.org (for media queries only).

BACKGROUND

• The Mine Ban Treaty, sometimes called the Ottawa Convention, is officially titled: the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on their Destruction. More: http://www.icbl.org/info/mediakit/faq.html#whatmbt
• The International Campaign to Ban Landmines is a network of some 1400 members working for a global ban on antipersonnel landmines. The Sarajevo meeting has been organised by Norwegian Peoples Aid and Handicap International, ICBL member organisations operating in BiH. More on the ICBL: http://www.icbl.org/info/mediakit/faq.html#whaticbl and Landmine Monitor: http://www.icbl.org/lm/ 
  Also, see our Media Kit.