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Site Admin <webmaster2SPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERicbl.org> .
Wednesday 14 November 2007
Amman/Geneva, 14 November 2007 – As the world prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the signature of the Mine Ban Treaty next December, government representatives, landmine survivors, international agencies, mine action operators and civil society activists from over 100 countries will gather by the Shores of the Dead Sea in Jordan, for the Eighth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty - 18-22 November - King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre (KHBTCC)
The meeting – the first ever of its kind to be held in the Middle East – will focus on the implementation of obligations under the Mine Ban Treaty, with particular emphasis on the clearance of mined areas, destruction of stockpiled mines, victim assistance, and mine risk education.
Only seven of the 155 States Parties to the treaty are from the Middle East and North Africa. These are Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Tunisia and Yemen. Although clearance in the region continues to improve, mine risk education (MRE) requires expansion, as it is still considered inadequate in Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Syria and Western Sahara. Lebanon recorded a tenfold increase in casualties in 2006, the vast majority of which were caused by cluster submunitions dropped by Israel during the conflict in the summer of 2006.
Members of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for its role in bringing about the ban on antipersonnel mines, will attend the meeting from over 60 countries.
ICBL-sponsored activities include:
· Briefing on the environmental impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW): the case of arid regions, co-sponsored by the Arab Network for Research on Landmines and ERW, Sunday 18 November, 13:00-15:00, Wadi Rum 1, KHBTCC.
· Turning Mines and ERW into improvised explosive devices: the urgent need for mine action in the Middle East and North Africa, co-sponsored by Protection, Monday 19 November, 13:00 – 15:00, Wadi Rum 1, KHBTCC.
· Briefing on the international process to ban cluster munitions, co-sponsored by the Cluster Munitions Coalition, Wednesday 21 November, 13:00 – 15:00, Mount Nebo 1, KHBTCC.
A more detailed programme of ICBL events, including exhibitions, will be available on-line at http://www.icbl.org/treaty/meetings/8msp. ICBL delegates – including mine action operators and landmine survivors – can provide interviews in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, Italian and other languages on the landmines situation in all geographical regions, mine clearance, victim assistance, stories of survival and more. ENDS../
Media contacts: mediamspSPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERlist.icbl.org - Natalie Abdou, + 962 (0) 79 983 9279 - Arabic media; Simona Beltrami, + 39 333 7142251, + 962 (0) 79 965 0189 (from 14 November) - international media.