States Parties 161 States Not Party 36
ICBL spokespeople representing the many faces of the Campaign - landmine survivors, activists, mine action operators, researchers - will be available for interviews on a wide range of topics and geogrephical areas.
7th Meeting of States Parties Interview Opportunities
The Seventh Meeting of States Parties in Geneva, Switzerland (September 18 – 22, 2006) represents an opportunity for governments and non-governmental organizations to continue evaluating progress made in the implementation of the Nairobi Action Plan 2005-2009, an ambitious 70-step commitment plan adopted by States Parties at the conclusion of the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World – the Mine Ban Treaty’s first review conference – in 2004.
Over 130 people from civil societies around the world will converge in Geneva, representing the many faces of the ICBL, to ensure governments remain vigilant in fulfilling their obligations for the full universalization and implementation of the Ottawa Convention including clearance of mined areas by deadlines; the full rehabilitation and reintegration of landmine survivors back into their communities; and that this work remains priority for all States Parties.
They come from over 60 countries and all have interesting personal stories, perspectives and a variety of expert knowledge on the landmine issue. Representatives can provide interviews on the status of countries in all geographical regions; thematic areas related to the Mine Ban Treaty; youth issue; and stories of survival.
Interviews can be arranged in various languages: English, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, Russian, Arabic, Khmer, Thai and more. Below is a small sample of some of the spokespeople available for interviews.
To request an interview please contact the ICBL media office at the Meeting on 022 – 917 7325 / 022 – 917 7412 or 078 - 6678961 or write to mediaSPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERicbl.org
Interviewable campaigners, mine action experts and landmine survivors are listed here under the following thematic categories or geographic regions:
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are interested in another area or theme not listed on this sheet, as we have a wide range of experts available at the MSP and in the field during this week.
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ICBL AMBASSADORS AND REPRESENTATIVES
Jody Williams - Founding Coordinator of the ICBL and now ICBL Ambassador, Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with the ICBL in 1997. She is one of only eleven women to have received the prize and the third woman in the U.S. Languages: English, Spanish Dates Available: September 19, 20
Elizabeth Bernstein - Bernstein began her involvement with ICBL in the early 1990s when working on the Thai-Cambodia border. She eventually became coordinator of the campaign in 1998 and stayed in that role until 2004. Bernstein was appointed an ICBL Ambassador inICBL 2006. Languages: EnglishDates Available: September 19, 20
Tun Channareth - A landmine survivor and activist from Cambodia, Tun Channareth received the Nobel Peace prize on behalf of the ICBL in 1997. He is one of the ICBL’s Ambassadors. Languages: English, Khmer
Song Kosal - Kosal lost her leg as a small girl in Battambang Cambodia. She has campaigned against landmines since the age of 12 and in 1997 launched the Youth Against War Campaign. Kosal is currently ICBL Ambassador. Languages: English, Khmer
Margaret Arach Orech - A landmine survivor from Uganda, Orech works on victim assistance programmes in Uganda and was appointed ICBL ambassador in 2006. Languages: English
Satnam Jit Singh - Ambassador Satnam Jit Singh has been working as a Diplomatic Advisor to the ICBL since early 2004 with a special focus on universalization. Ambassador Singh brings a great deal of international experience to this role, having held many senior diplomatic posts around the world. He is also a landmine survivor who offers first-hand knowledge on the topics of mine clearance and military affairs. Languages: French, Hungarian, Nepalese, Spanish
Simona Beltrami - Beltrami joined the ICBL as Advocacy Director in 2006. She was previously the Coordinator of the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines. Languages: English, Italian, Spanish
Sylvie Brigot - Brigot is the Executive Director of the ICBL. She was previously the Advocacy Director and has worked on the landmines issue since 1994. Languages: English, French
Tamar Gabelnick - Gabelnick has been the ICBL's Treaty Implementation Director since March 2005. Previously, she has worked on U.S. and international conventional arms control as an independent researcher from 2003-2005 and as Director of the Arms Sales Monitoring Project at the Federation of American Scientists from 1998-2003. She also served as a Human Rights Officer with the United Nations Transitional Authority in Eastern Slavonia, Croatia in 1997 and worked at NATO in Brussels from 1992-1995. Languages: English, French
Stephen Goose- Serving as the Editor-in-chief of the ICBL’s Landmine Monitor report from 1999-2004 and the Executive Director of the Arms division at Human Rights Watch, Goose is the official Head of the ICBL delegation. Mr. Goose also sits on the Editorial Board of the Landmine Monitor. Languages: English
LANDMINE MONITOR
Paul Hannon - Hannon is the Executive Director of Mines Action Canada (MAC), a coalition representing the Canadian arm of the ICBL. MAC is the new lead agency responsible for the coordination of the Landmine Monitor Initiative and Hannon leads this team. Languages: English, French
Jackie Hansen - Hansen served on ICBL staff until early 2005 when she joined Mines Action Canada as the Landmine Monitor Project Manager. Languages: English, Spanish
Ian Doucet - Doucet has been involved with the landmine issue since 1992, and previous held editorial positions in the fields of public health and medicine. He is the Final Editor of the Landmine Monitor report. Languages: English
VICTIM ASSISTANCE
Sr. Denise Coghlan - Sr. Coghlan was a founding member of the Cambodian Campaign to Ban Landmine in 1995 – one of the first country campaigns to form in the ICBL. Sr. Coghlan has over 20 years of experience working with landmine survivors in Cambodia through her work at the Jesuit Service of Cambodia. Sr. Coghlan has also provided leadership to the ICBL through her long service on its former management body, the ICBL Coordination Committee, and currently on the ICBL’s Advisory Board. Languages: English
Katleen Maes - Maes works with Handicap International and coordinates Landmine Monitor’s research on victim assistance. Languages: English, French, German, Dutch
Hugh Hosman- Hugh Hosman is the Landmine Monitor Victim Assistance specialist for Asia, CIS, and Europe. He has been working in the field of mine action in Vietnam since 2001, previously working in the adminstration of site/explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) clearance and the development of a comprehensive unexploded ordnanace (UXO) victim assistance program that currently operates four projects in Vietnam. Languages: English
MINE CLEARANCE
Mohammed Shohab Hakimi - Mohammed Shohab Hakimi has directed the Mine Dog Centre (MDC) in Afghanistan since its establishment in 1989. The MDC has grown from a dozen mine dog handlers and deminers into a major programme with 1,100 personnel and 250 mine dogs. It has cleared 86 million square metres of mined land and supported survey of 250 million square metres. Hakimi has participated in a number of international conferences on the mine issue and assisted in the establishment of a demining project in Yemen. Languages: English, Pashtun
Stuart Maslen - Maslen works with Norweigan People’s Aid and coordinates Landmine Monitor’s research on mine action. He also sits on the Editorial Board of the Landmine Monitor. Languages: English, Italian, Spanish
MINE RISK EDUCATION
Habbouba Aoun - Aoun coordinates the Landmines Resource Centre in Beirut and does the Landmine Monitor report on the Lebanon. She is also active in the sub-Working Group on Mine Risk Education and implements mine risk education programs in Lebanon, including emergency interventions in the aftermath of the 2006 conflicts. Languages: Arabic, English, French
Stan Brabant - Brabant serves as Head of the Mine Policy Unit for Handicap International Belgium and also acts as the Co-Chair for the ICBL sub-Working Group on Mine Risk Education. Brabant also sits on the Editorial Board of the Landmine Monitor. Languages: Dutch, English, French
LANDMINE SURVIVORS
Jesús Martinez - Jesús Martinez has been the director of LSN-El Salvador since 2000. Jesús Martinez was 17 and living through El Salvador’s civil war in 1989 when he had a landmine accident. He has spoken out around the world for the rights of disabled people and testified before the U.S. Congress on the need for Victim Assistance in post-conflict countries. Languages: Spanish
NON-STATE ACTORS
Mr.Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan - Yeshua has continued to follow a life-long vocation of peace activism working in Guatemala, Germany, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. A co-founder of the Thailand Campaign to Ban Landmines in 1995, he currently works as thematic coordinator on Non-States Armed Groups for the Landmine Monitor. Languages: English
Elisabeth Reusse-Decrey - Reusse-Decrey is the President of Geneva Call, a Swiss organization dedicated to engaging non-state actors (NSA) in the Mine Ban Treaty movement by negotiating with NSAs to sign a deed of commitment to abide by conditions laid out in the Ottawa Convention. Languages: English, French
AFRICA
Mereso Agina - Agina is the National Secretary of the Maendeleo Ya Wanawawake - Kenya’s largest and oldest women’s organisation with over five million members. She represents the Kenyan Coalition Against Landmines (KCAL), and served as a member of the ICBL’s Coordinating Committee from June 1997 until 2005. KCAL was instrumental in hosting the ICBL in Nairobi for the first Review Conference on the Mine Ban Treaty in 2004 - the most important diplomatic meeting on the Treaty since the 1997 negotiations. Languages: English
AMERICAS
Charlie Avendaño - Americas Research Specialist for the Landmine Monitor Report 2006, Avendãno has extensive experience of the mine issue in the Americas region. Languages: English, French, Spanish
Alvaro Jiménez - Jiménez is the Coordinator of the Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines. His professional background encompasses armed conflict, public administration and the construction of social policy. He is also an experienced public speaker. Languages: Spanish
ASIA-PACIFIC
Purna Shova Chitrakar - Chitrakar has coordinated NGO efforts to ban mines in Nepal since 1995. Additionally, she is the Landmines Monitor country researcher for Nepal and her advocacy work ahs most recently been focused on ensuring non-use of landmines in peace agreements between the government of Nepal and armed opposition groups. Languages: English, Nepali
Prasanna Rajiv Kuruppu - Kuruppu is a Sri Lankan war-injured landmine survivor and was the primary researcher for the Sri Lanka report in Landmine Monitor 2006. Prasanna has led efforts to establish rights and social services for combat casualties and the disabled in the wake of civil war in Sri Lanka. He was the first individual award recipient of the Landmine Survivors Network’s Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation Prize for Survivorship. The Prize, established to promote resiliency and recovery in post-conflict societies, will be awarded to a survivor who has contributed to reconstruction and reconciliation. Languages: English
MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA
Ayman Sorour - Sorour is the director of Protection, the only NGO working directly on the mines and UXO problem in Egypt. Sorour is the Landmine Monitor researcher for Egypt, and other countries of the Middle East. Languages: Arabic, English, French
