Author(s):
Simona Beltrami <simona@campagnamine.org> Nancy Ingram <nancy@minesactioncanada.org> .
Zagreb, Croatia,
Friday 02 December 2005
Zagreb, Croatia – “In the first year since the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World, encouraging progress has been made in terms of destroying stockpiled mines, clearing mined land, and assisting victims,” said Steve Goose, Head of Delegation of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). “We have also seen positive movement towards the Mine Ban Treaty by States yet to join.”
Over 600 delegates, representing governments, civil society and international organizations from more than 115 countries, converged in the Croatian capital of Zagreb for the 6th annual global meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty. This was the first opportunity for the world’s mine action community to assess whether any real progress has been made on the 70-point, five-year Action Plan agreed to during the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World, the first Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in November 2004.
Key announcements at the meeting included: Guatemala completing mine clearance; Algeria and Guinea-Bissau completing stockpile destruction; Nigeria destroying mines previously retained for training; and Australia pledging $75 million Australian dollars for mine action over five years.
At the opening of the meeting, the ICBL, represented by over 180 delegates from 63 countries, clearly stated its expectations for outcomes. Expectations and assessment of outcomes included:
Countries remaining outside the Mine Ban Treaty would report significant progress towards their membership to the Treaty
China's delegate speaking during a plenary session. China, and Azerbaijan (seated to the right) are two states not party to the treaty which participated in the 6MSP.
This year, 20 States not Party participated in the meeting – including some of the most notable holdouts. Palau and Haiti announced that they will be acceeding to the Mine Ban Treaty shortly. India, for the first time, spoke at a Mine Ban Treaty meeting. Azerbaijan, Egypt and China were in attendance again showing their support for the eventual elimination of landmines, although reiterating their reasons for not being able to join the Treaty yet.
States Parties would announce commitment of new financial and other resources, with a special emphasis on victim assistance
Australia pledged renewed financial resources to support mine action. Although the ICBL is disappointed that there were not more funding announcements, we were pleased States Parties recognised the need to sustain funding and political will on the issue. This was reflected in the high level of participation and depth of discussions during the meeting.
The 24 countries self-identified as having significant numbers of landmine survivors would progress towards having clear plans with measurable benchmarks and targets to deal with the pressing needs of survivors
Margaret Arach Orech, speaking on behalf of the ICBL about appropriate attention to survivor needs.
“The ICBL has actively advocated that victim assistance should be considered in poverty reduction strategies as well as in mine action,” said Margaret Arach Orech, Co-Chair of the ICBL Working Group on Victim Assistance. “Much of the work at the meeting concentrated on the 24 countries self-identified as having the largest number of mine survivors or the greatest need for assistance. However, many other States participated in debating these issues in this meeting, which the ICBL considers a very positive move forward.”
As the Treaty-mandated, 10-year deadlines for States Parties to clear all mined territory approaches for many affected countries, States would discuss and agree on the need to establish mechanisms to deal with issues related to the fulfilment of mine clearance obligations and potential requests for deadline extensions
Norwegian delegation seated in the plenary hall.
The ICBL was pleased with renewed focus of States Parties on Article 5 (mine clearance) deadlines, and especially Norway’s offer to spearhead a process to facilitate fulfillment of these obligations. Since several States are likely to ask for an extension of clearance deadlines, developing a transparent and meaningful process for treating possible extension requests will be crucial to maintaining the momentum and integrity of the Treaty. The ICBL pledged to work with governments over the next few months to create such a process. “Although States Parties demonstrated continued commitment to removing these hidden killers, their reports this week also showed that much more needs to be done. The ICBL urges donors to maintain or increase levels of funding to mine-affected countries and calls upon the affected States to take greater responsibility for meeting their clearance obligations,” said Eva Veble, Co-Chair of the ICBL Working Group on Mine Action. “Best practices show that national ownership of mine action programs; inclusion of mine action in the wider humanitarian and development context; and nationally appropriate solutions developed by all stakeholders will move us closer to a mine free world.”
Progress would be made on issues of interpretation and implementation of Mine Ban Treaty Articles 1, 2, 3
Jody Williams, speaking during the ICBL closing press conference on December 2nd, with Dijana Plestina, Secutary General of the 6MSP.
States Parties agreed on a new, expanded reporting format for mines retained for training and development purposes. The ICBL believes this will help to ensure that this most notable exception in the Mine Ban Treaty is not abused. The ICBL pointed out that while many States Parties have determined that anti-vehicle mines with tilt rods are prohibited under the Treaty, Croatia continues to stockpile such mines and a Croatian company is offering them for sale.
“For the goals of the Nairobi Action Plan to be realized over the next five years, discussion on the important issues addressed at this meeting must be translated into concrete action”, said Nobel Peace Prize Co-Laureate, Jody Williams. “We, at the ICBL will be working vigilantly over the coming year to ensure that this happens.”
CONTACT: Nancy Ingram (English speaking) at + 385 (0)98 958 7256 or media@icbl.org