States Parties 161 States Not Party 36
Jody Williams gave this statement during the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World. She and Cornelio Sommaruga, present at the Signing Ceremony of the Mine Ban Treaty seven years ago today in Ottawa, Canada, were invited as special guests to address the Summit during its Closing Ceremony.
It is fitting that we are closing the very forward looking Review Conference on the 3rd of December, the 7th anniversary of the opening for signature of the Mine Ban Treaty in Ottawa.
The work of this Sumit has been impressive and the Action Plan is strong because of collective efforts of all partners of the Mine Ban movement. Some areas could have been strengthened this week, but overall it provides a solid framework to meet the challenges facing us in the next five years.
But as Steve Goose said on behalf of the ICBL earlier today, the Mine Ban Treaty will not succeed if we return to diplomatic business as usual. It will not succeed if assistance for landmine survivors continues to decline rather than rise dramatically to meet both their immediate needs and long-term rights.
It will not succeed if Mine Action funding is not sufficient and used to best meet needs of affected communities.
It will not succeed if its disarmament aspects are sidelined.
We must succeed because too many civilians continue to fall victim to these daily weapons of terror.
We must succeed because of our visionary model of diplomacy inspires people all over the world working on numerous critical challenges to us all that vision and leadership and different models of multi literalism can and do work.
When the Mine Ban Treaty succeeds, enlightened multilateralism succeeds and we strengthen international humanitarian law and disarmament law.
Civil society remains fully committed to the achievement of a world free of landmines. We are pleased to note commitments made here by governments and will continue to work with you and to monitor full implementation of and compliance with the Mine Ban Treaty.
In closing, I would appeal to everyone here – whether they be presidents, ministers, state secretaries, ambassadors, other government officials, please do all you can to fulfill the promise of the Mine Ban Treaty. In the final reckoning, after all, it is not the titles we might have borne in life that matter, but the actions we take to enhance human security on our small planet.
