States Parties 161 States Not Party 36
Dear all,
This is our third Action Alert for COUNTDOWN NAIROBI! We've just passed the 50 day mark -- the Nairobi Summit takes place in just over one and a half months time! Here we focus on encouraging States Parties to commit to accelerating mine clearance so 2009 deadlines can be met!
Why Mine Action? As you know, effective mine action is essential in order to help prevent deaths and injuries and to facilitate post-conflict reconstruction and recovery. Because of the looming challenge for State Parties to meet their deadline to clear mined areas (for those countries that joined in 1997 that deadline is 2009), the Mine Action issue is an important part of preparations for the Nairobi Summit.
You may recall that the ICBL Mine Action Working Group raised some important concerns during the last informal preparatory meeting of the Nairobi Summit in Geneva on 24 September. They were critical of the draft Action Plan and pointed to some key gaps: particularly the lack of commitment to accelerate mine clearance, without which States Parties would not be able to meet their deadlines, and the need for a more effective approach by all actors involved.
The President-Designate of the Summit, Ambassador Petritsch, gave October 4 as a new deadline for States Parties to submit their comments on the draft documents. However, these documents are not finalised yet so there is still an opportunity for input.
Talk to your government now, make sure they support stronger language on Mine Action in the Action Plan and the Review. To make it easy, they could just support the language proposed by the Mine action working group! Remind them of their obligation to destroy ALL mines in known or suspected mined areas as soon as possible and no later than ten years after entry into force for their country or to give assistance to mine-affected States Parties for this purpose.
Thanks a lot !
ICBL staff
A deminer works in suburban Sarajevo while a boy walks by behind him. Photo: John Rodsted
During the last informal preparatory meeting of the Nairobi Summit, on 24 September ,the ICBL Mine Action Working Group raised some important concerns regarding how mine action was addressed in the draft Action Plan and the draft Review. They questioned the willingness of States Parties to really demonstrate that they want to clear ALL mines by the deadlines, and do so by choosing the most effective approaches based on the real needs in the country.
The Mine action working group raised more particularly the following:
The lack of specific commitment to accelerate mine clearance, in the draft Action Plan, without which States Parties would not be able to meet their deadlines. Some mine affected States Parties have already started saying that they will not be able to meet the deadlines, or will have cleared only high impact areas and not destroyed ALL mines in mined areas, as the Convention requires.
A call for a more detailed language on how States Parties will commit themselves to implement mine action, like ensure that coordination is effectively done at the national but also local level, or that the current management tools are simplified to be easier to use for national authorities and help them to meet their Article 5 obligations. A call for relevant actors of cooperations, like donors, or regional organisations, to ensure that their commitment is long term, and that they improve their policies and strategies to enhance effectiveness in mine action, ensure it is based on real needs analysis and cost effective approaches.
The draft Review does not acknowledge the work and sacrifices of thousands of humanitarians deminers. There is an over emphasis on the development of new technologies. Our colleagues also believe there is an over emphasis on the role of the UN system, and that the Review does not address the cost of coordination, both national and global, that may be better achieved with more simpler solutions.
Please, include these questions in your discussions with the government; ask them to take a stronger stance on Mine Action, one of the key obligation of the Convention, and to come to Nairobi prepared to say how they will have CLEARED and DESTROYED ALL their antipersonnel land mines by their 10 years deadline, and/or how they will ASSIST mine affected countries to do so.
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