Author(s):
Chayer Amelie <amelie@icbl.org> .
Tuesday 01 December 2009
The Cartagena Summit will reaffirm a “mine-free world” as our common goal – a world where the Mine Ban Treaty is universally adhered to and effectively implemented. With the lessons learned over the past ten years, we strongly believe achieving this goal is Mission Possible.
During the Cartagena Summit, we expect to hear announcements of major accomplishments, and pledges of actions for the coming years.
At the end of the Summit, we hope to leave with a forward-looking political declaration, and a strong, measurable five-year action plan. The treaty’s call «to put an end to the suffering and casualties caused by anti-personnel mines» needs to be at the center of all our discussions on evaluating progress and setting out future work.
A strong delegation of ICBL members is participating in the Summit. Many of them are mine survivors themselves or are working closely with mine-affected communities: they are mine clearance operators, they offer peer support to survivors, they speak up at public events in their country…
These campaigners are in the best possible position to express the needs, hopes and realities in affected communities. Their expectations are the ICBL’s expectations:
Mine clearance
“I hope the Summit recalls the obligation of States Parties to clear all mined areas as soon as possible, even if an extension has been granted. We hope to see as few mine-affected states as possible seeking extensions in the coming years, and only for the number of years strictly necessary. Clearance of contaminated areas and releasing cleared areas back to the local populations is crucial for development, for human security, and for fully achieving the humanitarian objectives of the Treaty.”
Eva Veble, Head of Mine Action Unit, DanChurchAid
Victim assistance
“The promises of the Mine Ban Treaty have not generally turned into real change for survivors, their families, and communities. In this new phase of the treaty, we all wish to see greater inclusion of survivors into the development and implementation of plans and policies that concern them. We ask states to take immediate action to ensure all survivors and persons with disabilities have access to the services they need.”
Sulaiman Aminy, Director, Afghan Landmine Survivors Organization
Mine ban norm
“States Parties can be proud that the stigma against the use of antipersonnel landmines is now nearly universal. During the Summit,
I hope they emphasize that the goal is to see no more use by any state or non-state armed groups. States should call for a condemnation of any use by any actor.”
Fransiney Chaux Grisalez, mine survivor and Departmental Coordinator for Caqueta, Colombia Campaign to Ban Landmines
Stockpile destruction
“Stockpile destruction is an incredibly important preventive measure, and States Parties’ respect for their 4-year destruction deadline is a measure of their commitment to the whole treaty. I hope that Belarus, Greece and Turkey will demonstrate such commitment by telling us when exactly they plan to finish destroying their stocks. They should invite civil society representatives to their final stockpile destruction event.”
Muteber Ogreten, Coordinator, Initiative for a Mine-Free Turkey
