Author(s):
virginie <andre@icbl.org> .
geneva,
Tuesday 14 June 2005
Standing Committee Meeting on the General Status of the Convention
Geneva, 13 July 2005
Intervention from Jody Williams, ICBL Ambassador
Thank you, Madam Chair, for allowing me the floor.
I would like to just make a few brief comments on behalf of the ICBL which is also, of course, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition to thanking Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch for his overview and update on the Nairobi Summit Action Plan, I would like to echo his important words: We must not only speak about action but we must take action. We must all work diligently to fulfil the promise of the Nairobi Summit Action Plan.
The ICBL, as I am sure you all have no doubt, will do its part. We are here in force this week – some 60 representatives of NGOs that make up the ICBL as well as Landmine Monitor researchers – and of course we will be in Croatia at the Sixth Meeting of States Parties.
We believe, as stated by Amb. Petritsch, that if the 70 actions outlined in the Nairobi Summit Action Plan are carried out, we will go far toward meeting our common goal of ending the suffering caused by APMs. Ending that suffering once and for all means a MINE FREE WORLD. And I would like to point out that a MINE FREE WORLD is NOT just a catchy slogan: A MINE FREE WORLD is a world in which all mined areas are cleared. As has been most eloquently stated by the Croatian delegation, the only mine safe world is a mine free world.
We must all be very clear that mine action is not just taking mines out of the ground, it is a treaty compliance issue. We must all be very clear that meeting the needs of landmine survivors is not just a humanitarian gesture, it is a treaty compliance issue.
The ICBL reaffirms its commitment not only to universalising the mine ban norm, but also to working for -- and monitoring -- full implementation of and compliance with the Mine Ban Treaty. A universalised norm and full implementation of and compliance with the Mine Ban Treaty will insure a WORLD FREE OF ANTIPERSONNEL LANDMINES. It will insure a world where the needs of the tens of thousands of landmine survivors around the world are met, and it will insure that we live in a world in which no one ever needs to worry again about the daily terror of losing a life or a limb to an AP mine.
THANK YOU.