Message From her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan

(Tuesday 18 September 2001 Managua - Nicaragua) To the Third Meeting of States Parties

I deeply regret that I am unable to be with you in Managua for this Third Meeting of States Parties. Only the extreme circumstances of the tragedies this past week have kept me from joining you. I would like to extend my appreciation to the Government of Nicaragua for hosting this important conference, and I am grateful to all of you who have been able to reach Managua to participate in these vital deliberations.

We have all seen at first hand, or through the media, the heartbreaking human costs of war. We were most vilely reminded last week that when innocents suffer in peacetime as in wartime, it is a travesty of justice. Landmines are no exception. Each day, men, women and children are wounded or killed by this subterranean terror. Many victims die. Some live, but lose their limbs, their eyesight, and their status in society. No one wins. Everyone loses.

We must ban this weapon. We must offer aid to the victims. I believe our cause is just and right. Like you, I am sometimes frustrated and angered by the political calcifications of many governments who refuse to respond to the urgency and humanitarian imperative to ban this scourge. It sometimes makes one feels hopeless and the battle impossible.

And then I meet another survivor or survivor’s family. Their courage and determination motivate me to keep speaking to government officials, NGO representatives and community leaders, to advocate for action and increased resources to alleviate the suffering inflicted by military litter. On recent working visits to Cambodia, Vietnam, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Bosnia, Kosovo, Croatia and Colombia, I have met with hundreds of survivors and can bear testimony to the enduring spirit and strength of individuals and families struggling to overcome the inherent trauma.

In my country, nearly 10% of the population lives in areas now rendered desolate and deadly by landmines. Over the past 25 years, I have grieved for the fathers, mothers, sons and daughters in Jordan who have been maimed or killed by these weapons. I’ve heard the Middle East called the landmine heartland of the world, with tens of millions of buried mines.

But this fuels our determination to work harder. Jordan was one of the first Middle Eastern states to join the international Mine Ban Treaty, in 1998. My late husband, His Majesty King Hussein, despised this scourge on our country, and in 1993 set a goal for a landmine free Jordan Valley. He wanted to make our beloved country free of landmines forever. That day, I believe, will soon come.

It is most appropriate that this meeting is held in Nicaragua. The Western Hemisphere is leading the race for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. All but two countries in the Americas have banned landmines—the United States and Cuba.

Everyone who cares about this issue is deeply concerned that the U.S. has not signed. Secretary of State Colin Powell tells us that the Bush Administration is reviewing the US pledge to join the Ban by 2006 if alternatives for antipersonnel mines are found. But he has not been particularly encouraging that there will be any change in U.S. landmine policy in the coming months. With the US and Cuba on board the ban, this Hemisphere could become the first real “Mine-Free Zone” in the world. That would be a victory to celebrate.

It is imperative that we get regional superpowers like the United States, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, Egypt and others to give up landmines. Failure to do so is not an option. Too many people are vulnerable, and too many have already suffered.

Those of us who campaign to ban landmines are waging a battle not to win a war but to win an enduring peace. War-torn societies can never be rebuilt if people continue to fear for their lives with every step they take.

Our ultimate goal in forging partnerships between governments and civil society is to set lives and land free, to promote global survival, healing and win real peace. We are all vulnerable to tragedy and trauma, but we refuse to accept defeat. That’s what makes us all survivors. You have all chosen not to be defeated by landmines but instead to build a safer, more peaceful world. Let us, through our work together, hasten the day when there will be zero new mine victims, and no one will have cause to fear the earth.

Thank you.

Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan
September 18, 2001