Landmine Monitor Report 2005

Year-end Message from Landmine Monitors Global Research Coordinator

As a long but rewarding year draws to a close, on behalf of the Landmine Monitor Core Group I would like to communicate our sincerest thanks to everyone that participated in and supported the production of our sixth annual report, Landmine Monitor Report 2004. From the research to the editing to the release to the translations to the distribution far and wide, this was a team effort. We are extremely proud of the continued commitment and boundless energy of our research network and coordinators. Many of you have been with us since the beginning of the initiative, back in 1998, and we are very privileged to have been able to work with you on such a special and unique endeavor.

In 2003 and 2004, the Core Group undertook a series of discussions with researchers, coordinators, campaigners, donors, and others to collect feedback on and recommendations for the future of the Landmine Monitor initiative. As we are now about to start implementing the new system in 2005, I would like give you a brief overview of the major elements to the system in this new phase.

To start with, there have been several changes to the structure. The Core Group and Coordination Team held their final meetings last month in Nairobi. We plan to restructure the initiative to emphasize thematic aspects of our research with the goal of increasing quality, consistency and efficiency in our reporting. Starting in 2005 these bodies will be replaced by an Editorial Board and Editorial Team respectively.

The Editorial Board assumes overall responsibility for, and decision-making on, the Landmine Monitor system and is comprised of the principal thematic coordinating organizations: Human Rights Watch (HRW), Handicap International (HI), and Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), as well as Mines Action Canada (MAC), which has agreed to take on the lead agency tasks carried out by HRW since 1998, including responsibility for the production and dissemination of the annual report and other research products.

While Landmine Monitors research coordination will be adjusted along thematic lines, we will still issue our core product: an annual report featuring country updates. We however plan to reduce our country reporting to approximately 85 countries (see attached list), chosen because they represent challenges for the future work of the ICBL and ban movement (namely mine-affected, mine users, producers, exporters, stockpilers, and non-States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty). We plan to continue to monitor every country, and may report in summary and overview formats on donor countries and issues of concern in other countries.

To fulfill its new role, MAC is circulating job descriptions for the positions of Editor-in-Chief and Project Manager. To increase its capacity to produce credible thematic sections of publishable quality, Handicap International, with thematic responsibility for victim assistance and mine risk education issues, has advertised two new positions: Mine Risk Education Coordinator and a Disability Research Officer. Similarly, NPA as thematic coordinator for mine action has advertised two Mine Action Research Coordinator positions. For the moment, HRW does not anticipate taking on any new staff as Mary Wareham, Steve Goose, and Mark Hiznay are not going anywhere and remain committed to ensuring quality research and writing is continued on the thematic ban issues concerning landmine policy, use, production, trade, and stockpiling. Together, these old and new positions will comprise a new Editorial Team, replacing the previous system of regional coordination. We strongly encourage applications from the research network and ban/mine action community for the new positions.

In addition, each thematic coordination organization will seek to supplement its capabilities with a small number of experts/writers (likely part-time) who may have some combination of sectoral, country, regional, language, writing, and/or editing expertise. These experts/writers will help to fill the gaps and to fully address complicated and difficult countries and issues. The thematic coordination organizations will likely recruit and hire their experts/writers beginning in February 2005.

We will of course continue to need the Research Network, but the network may decrease in size, as we increase our focus on priority countries. The Call for 2005 Researchers was issued at the end of 2004 with a deadline of 31 January 2005. Research applicants have been asked to identify their thematic strengths and interests.

The Landmine Monitor plans to continue reporting on an annual basis for the period from 2005-2009 and we anticipate producing a full annual report by November 2005, in advance of the Sixth Meeting of States Parties that is scheduled to take place in Dubrovnik, Croatia from 28 November to 2 December 2005. This means the production schedule will be quite similar that of the 2004 report, with research decisions taken by February, principal research carried out between March and June 2005, editing done between June and September, printing in October and release and distribution in November and December. A more precise production schedule will be issued early in 2005.

You may have noticed that the person featured on the cover has grown up from a child (in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002) to a teenager (in 2003 and 2004), reflecting the growth of the Mine Ban Treaty, the ban movement, and the Monitor. We hope that future reports will no longer have to feature the youth who suffer so terribly from the consequences of landmines and unexploded ordnance. With our continued and combined dedication to providing quality research, credible writing, and effective advocacy we hope antipersonnel mines can become a historic relic of the 20th century and that communities around the world can move freely, without fear.

Seasons Greetings and best wishes for the coming New Year!