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ICBL Ambassadors
Jody Williams, was born in Vermont, USA, in 1950. She began acting against
injustice at an early age when other children made fun of her disabled
brother.
 After attending the University of Vermont in
Burlington, Williams returned to Brattleboro, Vermont, where she earned a
master's degree in teaching Spanish and English from the school of International
Training in 1976. She then taught English in Mexico for two years.
From Mexico, she moved to Washington, DC. There, she worked two jobs and
attended the School of Advanced International Studies at The Johns Hopkins
University, which led to a master's degree in international relations in
1984.
Concerned by a leaflet she had received on the street one day, Williams
attended a meeting to learn more about US involvement in the civil war in El
Salvador. Eventually she served from 1984 to 1986 as coordinator of the
Nicaragua-Honduras Education Project, leading fact-finding delegations to the
region. From 1986 to 1992, she also developed and directed humanitarian relief
projects as the deputy director of the Los Angeles-based Medical Aid for El
Salvador.
In a happy coincidence, Bobby Muller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of
America Foundation, called Williams in late 1991 to see if she was interested in
coordinating a new initiative to ban landmines worldwide. In October 1992, the
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) was launched, with Williams as
the coordinator. As the campaign's chief strategist, Williams wrote and spoke
extensively on the landmine problem and the need for a total ban. Her audiences
included the United Nations, the European Parliament, and the Organization of
African Unity.
Working without an office or staff, and relying primarily on fax machines and
e-mail to distribute information, Williams ultimately convinced more than 1,000
NGOs from over 60 countries to support the campaign.
In little more than five years, Jody Williams and the ICBL had achieved their
goal of raising public awareness about landmines and effecting a landmine ban.
In recognition for their efforts, the Norwegian Nobel Committee named Williams
and the ICBL as co-recipients of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.
In confirming the award to Williams and the ICBL, Francis Sejersted, chairman
of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said, "There are those among us who are
unswerving in their faith that things can be done to make our world a better,
safer, and more humane place and who also, even when the tasks appear
overwhelming, have the courage to tackle them... You have helped to rouse public
opinion all over the world against the use of an arms technology that strikes
quite randomly at the most innocent and most defenseless."
Cambodian Activist Tun Channareth
Photo: John Rodsted |
Tun Channereth lost both his legs in 1982 near the Thai-Cambodian border.
After the explosion he had to chop off part of his own leg to reduce his weight
so that his friend could carry him 30 kilometers to a medical post. He now lives
in Siem Riep, Cambodia and is married with 7 children. He is one of 4 disabled
veterans from different armies who started Cambodia's petition drive, which
collected more than 500,000 signatures calling for a ban on landmines. He
received the 1997 Nobel Peace Price on behalf of ICBL. As an ICBL Ambassador, he
continues to travel the world urging governments to join and implement the Mine
Ban Treaty.
Song Kosal |
Song Kosal lost her leg as a small girl in the town of Bavel, Battambang
province Cambodia. She spoke at the UN podium at the Convention on Conventional
Weapons meeting in Austria in 1995 when she was 12 years old and has promoted
the ban against mines untiringly since. On a visit to Australia in 1998 she
launched the Youth Against War campaign, which invites kids around the world to
build a mine free world for the next generation of children. Countries she has
campaigned in include Spain, Japan, Canada, Mozambique, Australia and Cambodia.
She was present at the signing of the Ottawa Treaty and presented the report at
the first meeting of States Parties. She is in her first class of high school
after a scholarship helped her to be able to go to school.
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