States Parties 161 States Not Party 36
17 November 2004, Maputo, Mozambique: Since the International Treaty prohibiting antipersonnel mines took effect five years ago, global funding for mine action programs has increased more than 80 percent and more than 1,100 square kilometers of land has been cleared, resulting in the destruction of more than four million antipersonnel mines, nearly one million antivehicle mines, and many more millions of pieces of unexploded ordnance. These are all figures from a 1,300 page report by the International Campaignto Ban Landmines (ICBL) released today in Maputo and other locations.
Foreign Minister Leonardo Santos Simão participated in the launch event, which started a Week of Action Against Landmines in Mozambique. This first ever ‘Demining Week’ is taking place just two weeks before the opening of the ‘Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World’ (29 November – 3 December 2004). Here world leaders will come together to declare their political will and resource commitments, by adopting a Declaration and an Action Plan for the coming five years.
- There is now consistent and reliable evidence to show that mine action is making a measurable difference in the lives of millions of people living in mine-affected countries, said Sara Sekkenes of Norwegian People’s Aid, co-chair of the ICBL Mine Action Working Group, while cautioning that global mine action numbers should not be regarded as precise. - Clearly tremendous progress has been made in the field of humanitarian mine action using the comprehensive framework provided by the Mine Ban Treaty, she added.
The past five years have witnessed the initiation and expansion of many mine action programs, and ever-greater amounts of land being returned to communities for productive use. - Humanitarian mine action has become widely accepted as the best means to address the landmine crisis and reduce casualties and is far more prevalent than five years ago, said Ms. Sekkenes. - Important new tools have been developed, and many of the most mine-affected countries have sophisticated programs with integrated mine action activities. Mine action is increasingly being carried out in the broader development context, which will be increasingly crucial for the sustainability of mine action programmes in the future.
Some form of mine clearance was reported in 2003 and 2004 in a total of 65 countries, including the first humanitarian mine clearance operations in Armenia, Chile, Senegal, and Tajikistan. In 2003 alone, a combined total of more than 149 million square meters (149 square kilometers) of land was cleared, resulting in the destruction of at least 174,167 antipersonnel mines, 9,330 antivehicle mines, and 2,6 million items of unexploded ordnance (UXO).
However, in 2003 and 2004, no mine clearance or mine risk education activities were recorded in 13 States Parties. - Without sufficient and sustained resources, we fear that many States Parties will not meet their treaty obligation to remove emplaced mines within ten years, said Marielle Hallez, Landmine Monitor Regional Coordinator for Francophone Africa. - This is a critical time, and our goal of a mine-free world is within reach, he added.
According to ICBL’s Landmine Monitor Report 2004, 83 countries are mine-affected, including 52 States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty. The Mine Ban Treaty requires States Parties to clear all mined areas within ten years of joining the treaty. States Parties that have declared completion of mine clearance since 1999 include Bulgaria (October 1999), Moldova (August 2000), Costa Rica (December 2002), Czech Republic (April 2003), Djibouti (January 2004), and, most recently, Honduras (June 2004).
Landmine Monitor has identified about US$2.07 billion in donor mine action contributions from 1992-2003. Of that 12-year total, 65 percent ($1.35 billion) was provided in the past five years (1999-2003), since the entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty. For 2003, Landmine Monitor has identified $339 million in mine action funding by more than 24 donors. This is an increase of $25 million, or 8 percent, from 2002, and an increase of $102 million, or 43 percent, from 2001. Major increases were registered in 2003 for the European Commission and the United States, as well as Canada and Sweden.
In 2003, Afghanistan ($75 million) and Iraq ($55 million) received 38 percent of global mine action funding. Meanwhile, an unusually large number of mine-affected countries experienced a decline in donor contributions to mine action in 2003. Mine action funding fell most severely in 2003 for Vietnam and Cambodia. Decreases were also experienced in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Eritrea, Somaliland, Laos, and Ethiopia. In 2003, several of the major donors provided significantly less mine action funding, including Japan, Austria, Italy, Australia, France, and the Netherlands.
On 1 March 1999, the historic 1997 Mine Ban Treaty entered into force with unprecedented speed and it is now in effect in 143 countries. It prohibits the use, production, trade and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines, and requires destruction of mines in the ground within ten years. Since the last Landmine Monitor report, nine countries joined the treaty - including Burundi and Sudan, which are both significantly mine-affected, and Belarus, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, and Turkey which are not only mine-affected, but combined have over ten million stockpiled antipersonnel mines to destroy.
Landmine Monitor Report 2004: Toward a Mine-Free World is the sixth annual report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. It contains information on landmine use, production, trade, stockpiling, demining, casualties and victim assistance in every country of the world. This year’s 1,300-page report is a special edition covering the past five years, in anticipation of the first five-year Review Conference for the Mine Ban Treaty. On Monday, 29 November, the ICBL will present the report to diplomats attending the first Review Conference in Kenya, known as the ‘Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World’.
- Global progress during the past five years includes a significant decrease in the use of anti-personnel mines by states and armed non-state actors, a de facto ban on transfers, a dramatic decrease in production, and, most importantly, a decline in the number of new victims each year, said Susan B. Walker, ICBL’s Intersessional Programme Officer. - However, the total number of landmine survivors requiring a lifetime of care, rehabilitation and assistance for socio-economic reintegration increases by 15,000 – 20,000 each year.
The Landmine Monitor initiative is coordinated by a ‘Core Group’ of five ICBL organizations. Human Rights Watch is the lead organization, and others include Handicap International, Kenya Coalition Against Landmines, Mines Action Canada, and Norwegian People’s Aid. A total of 110 Landmine Monitor researchers in 93 countries systematically collected and analyzed information from a wide variety of sources for this comprehensive report. This unique civil society initiative constitutes the first time that non-governmental organizations have come together in a sustained, coordinated and systematic way to monitor and report on the implementation of an international disarmament or humanitarian law treaty.
The full Landmine Monitor report and related documents are available online in various languages at www.icbl.org/lm/2004
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