The General Meeting of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), a biennial meeting of representatives of all national campaigns and member organizations, provides an opportunity for country campaigns of the ICBL and representatives of international organizations to take major decisions on the ICBL’s strategic direction and activities over the coming years. This, the Third General Meeting, was held in Washington DC, USA 6-7 March 2001B. The previous meeting was held in Maputo, Mozambique in May 1999 just after the First Meeting of States Parties to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.
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This year the ICBL held its meeting at the same time as the Landmine Monitor researchers meeting, held in order to prepare for the ICBL’s Landmine Monitor Report 2001 (www.icbl.org/lm), to be released at the Third Meeting of States Parties in Managua, Nicaragua in September 2001. The ICBL accepted the generous offer of the US Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL) to host the meeting in Washington, DC. This marked the first time that the ICBL has come to the United States of America. The ICBL agreed to hold the Third General Meeting in Washington in order to lend its support to the USCBL in its call for the United States to join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. To date, 139 countries have joined this historic treaty, which prohibits the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines, but not the United States. The ICBL and USCBL joined forces to organize a series of public events, trainings, advocacy meetings and media events in order to urge the new presidential administration to join the treaty now. In support of these events, Washington DC Mayor Anthony Williams proclaimed the week "Ban Landmines Week". Secretary of State Colin Powell met with HM Queen Noor of Jordan and Jerry White, chair of the USCBL and Song Kosal, Youth Ambassador of the ICBL.
180 participants from 90 countries participated in the General Meeting. The meeting adopted the ICBL 2004 Action Plan, a comprehensive plan in which the ICBL challenges itself to accomplish its goals as quickly as possible. The first Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty will be held in 2004. Simultaneously, 200 activists from 46 of the 50 states, including members of Students Against Landmines from schools nation-wide, met in Washington for a USCBL national conference and four days of activities including over 300 meetings with their Congressional representatives (For more details visit http://www.banminesusa.org).
Ban Landmines Week was a very successful series of events on the road to our ultimate goals of universalization and implementation of this treaty. ICBL members adopted a comprehensive 2004 Action Plan, and Landmine Monitor researchers submitted their finalized research reports for LM report 2001. The public events served to raise awareness among the American public about the landmines issue. The variety of public events, including a theater piece, amputee sports competition, film, photographic exhibits and rally enabled the USCBL to reach out to varied audiences. The ICBL participants contributed in their own countries, before coming to the US, by collecting signatures on petitions, preparing peace symbols to present to the US administration, visiting US embassies and conducting media interviews. While there were concerns that it might prove difficult to raise awareness and garner media coverage in the US, Ban Landmines Week events did receive substantial media coverage from a variety of sources in country as well as worldwide.
For many of the US activists who came to DC from across the nation, it was the first time they were able to meet and interact with landmine survivors, deminers and campaigners from landmine-affected countries and other nations around the world. They gained a feeling of being part of a large, international movement, while the international activists learned that there was a network of committed campaigners in the US who shared common goals and are dedicated to working together to bring the US on board. Both left with a renewed sense of commitment and enthusiasm to reach our common goals of a mine-free world.
