Author(s):
Site Admin <webmaster2@icbl.org> .
Friday 14 September 2007
As the treaty prohibiting the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines turns 10 this year, representatives of international civil society will gather in Oslo on 17 and 18 September to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the treaty text. The treaty was later opened for signature in Ottawa, Canada, on 3-4 December 1997.
ICBL campaigners celebrate the success of Oslo negotiations in 1997. Photo:John Rodsted
The historic Oslo negotiations were the culmination of an unprecedented diplomatic process which saw international civil society – led by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) – work alongside small and medium powers to achieve a comprehensive treaty to address the humanitarian crisis caused by antipersonnel mines. This process has served as inspiration for a number of new initiatives, most recently for ongoing efforts to bring about a ban on cluster munitions.
The treaty now has 155 States Parties and it has provided a solid legal framework for demining and returning to productive use large tracts of land, providing assistance to survivors, educating communities about the risks posed by mines, and destroying substantial stockpiles of antipersonnel mines, to ensure they will never be used again.
Ten years on, ICBL members from 25 countries – including landmine survivors from Afghanistan, Cambodia and Uganda, as well as ICBL Executive Director Sylvie Brigot and 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams – will meet again with other key civil society and government players in the Norwegian capital to look back on the mine ban experience and reflect on how lessons learned through that experience can be applied to guarantee human security.
ICBL representatives will be available for media interviews on the unique mine ban process and on outstanding challenges on the road towards a mine-free world. Press contact: Tamar Gabelnick, +41 794701145
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Events planned to mark the anniversary include:
Monday 17 September -- 09.00-16.30 hrs, The Norwegian Red Cross, Hausmannsgate 7. International Civil Society Conference at the 10th Anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty – Towards Human Security. Speakers include Nobel Laureates Jody Williams and Shirin Ebadi, the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre, landmine survivors and human security activists from a number of countries . ICBL ambassador Song Kosal will deliver a statement on behalf of NGOs. Organizers: ForUM. Press contact: Ms. Borghild Tønnessen-Krokan ( borghild@foumfor.no);Hans Kristian Schilde ( hks@forumfor.no), +47 23010300 or +47 91319594 http://landmineweek.org/english/
Tuesday 18 September -- 09.00 - 13.30, Oslo Conference Centre. Clearing the Path for a Better Future. Sessions on “Ten Years of State-Civil Society Cooperation: Lessons and Limits”, and “The Way Forward: New Challenges for State and Civil Society Actors”. Organizers: Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Press contact: Bjørn Svenungsen, +47 48045122 http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ud/campaign/apmineban.html?id=465755
Wednesday 19 September -- 09.00-12.00, ForUM, Storgata 11 . Civil society workshop on innovation in human security norm-building. Organizers: ForUm.
