| Posted: April 22 2010,04:24 |
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Postal address of organization/institution
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7-9 rue de Cornavin, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland
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E-mail address of organization/institution
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icbl@icbl.org
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Website address of organization/institution
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www.icbl.org
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Telephone of organization/institution
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+41 22 920 0325
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PRIORITIES: All of the organization's domains of culture of peace activity |
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
HUMAN RIGHTS
FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION
INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY
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TOP PRIORITY: The organization's most important culture of peace activity |
INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY
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PARTNERSHIPS AND NETWORKS: What
partnerships and networks does your organization participate in, thus
strengthening the global movement for a culture of peace? |
The
ICBL is itself a coalition of NGOs and individuals in over 70
countries. The ICBL is also a member of the Steering Committee of the
Cluster Munition Coalition.
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ACTIONS: What activities have
been undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence during the ten years of the Decade? If you already made a
report in 2005, your information from 2005 will be included in the 2010
report.
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The
ICBL works towards a world free of landmines and cluster munitions,
where the treaties banning these weapons are fully universalized and
implemented, and where mine and cluster munition survivors, their
families and communities see their right respected and can lead
fulfilling lives. The ICBL and its founding coordinator Jody Williams
received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for their work to bring about the
Mine Ban Treaty. Since then, the ICBL brought its collaboration and
shared its knowledge to also bring about the new Convention on Cluster
Munitions.
Our network includes human rights, humanitarian,
children, peace, disability, veterans, medical, mine action,
development, arms control, religious, environmental and women's groups.
While our members carry their activities in a variety of ways, they
regularly share political strategies, campaign activities, achievements
and ideas on how to address challenges. This exchange of information
among the different countries plus the hard work of the national
campaigns to ban landmines have created and maintained the momentum of
the ICBL.
In countries affected by landmines and cluster
munitions, we believe our work contributes to post-conflict
reconstruction, consolidation of peace and sustainable development.
Trough our national campaign mobilization and support programme, we
contribute to strengthening the voice of civil society in many
countries and we empower non-governmental organizations on the long
term, encouraging them to closely work with their governments on
implementing international humanitarian law and human rights.
Many
ICBL members are involved humanitarian demining, mine risk education or
victim assistance. As a network, the ICBL mainly plays an advocacy
role, raising the voice of civil society with decision makers.
Advocacy
efforts in 2001-2010 included outreach to governments through lobbying
meetings with delegates to the United Nations in Geneva and New York as
well as ongoing dialogue with government representatives at the
national level; active participation in all the official Mine Ban
Treaty meetings through the delivering of statements and the
dissemination of explanatory materials; correspondence; staff missions
supporting in-country advocacy; communication tools shared with
campaign members to encourage coherent campaigning worldwide; providing
information to the public; as well as reaching out to the media and
acting as an expert resource.
The ICBL’s advocacy work is
largely informed by its research and monitoring project, the Landmine
and Cluster Munition Monitor, which collects information and assesses
the international community's response to the global landmine, cluster
munition and explosive remnants of war problem.
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PROGRESS: Has your organization
seen progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence in your domain
of action and in your constituency during the second half of the
Decade? |
The
ICBL's domain of action, in a nutshell, is the universalization and
implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Cluster
Munitions. It covers aspects such as non-use of these weapons;
clearance; stockpile destruction; and assistance to survivors, their
families and communities.
The Mine Ban Treaty, adopted in 1997,
has turned the vision of a mine-free world into a reality we can
achieve in our lifetime. Use of antipersonnel mines is now a rare
occurence and trade is almost non-existent. More than 42 million
stockpiled mines have been destroyed, never to take a civilian victim.
Mine action programs have grown in leaps and bounds, and a large amount
of land is being cleared annually and returned to productive use. But
the landmine problem is not solved yet and needs the continued energy
of all actors.
The Mine Ban Treaty gave birth to a new kind of
diplomacy, wherein humanitarian issues are addressed through the
partnership of like-minded states, civil society, the United Nations,
and the International Committee of the Red Cross. We saw this
partnership in action again in the second half of the decade with the
process that led to the adoption of the Convention on Cluster Munitions
in 2008.
The second half of the decade was marked by the
adoption of the new Convention on Cluster Munitions (2008), and by the
adoption of the Cartagena Action Plan (2009) by over 120 governments, a
clear and concrete roadmap of what is required over the next five years
to bring us significantly closer to a mine-free world.
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OBSTACLES: Has your organization faced any obstacles to implementing the culture of peace and nonviolence? If so, what were they?
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The
ICBL's domain of action, in a nutshell, is the universalization and
implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Cluster
Munitions. It covers aspects such as non-use of these weapons;
clearance; stockpile destruction; and assistance to survivors, their
families and communities.
Assistance to survivors, their
families and communities is the aspect of mine action where the least
progress has been made in the last decade, with funding and action
falling far short of what is needed. Most efforts remained focused only
on medical care and physical rehabilitation, often only when supported
by international organizations and funding, rather than on promoting
economic self-reliance for survivors, their families and communities.
Services are too unsystematic an unsustainable to improve the living
conditions of most in any lasting way. Even when services for survivors
exist, they are often unaccessible: too long distance from
mine-affected areas, too expensive for survivors to afford, or
bureaucratically off-limits to one group or another. In addition,
survivors and their survivors' rights organizations continue to
indicate that they are not included in planning and in policy-making
processes, and that they are not consulted on what they perceive as
gaps in services.
The pace of Mine Ban Treaty universalization
has slowed down in the second half of the decade, and came to an
apparent halt with no new accessions/ratifications since November 2007.
Some major stockpilers of antipersonnel mines remain outside the
treaty, such as India, Russia and the United States. Promoting
universal adherence to the Mine Ban Treaty and ban norm remains one of
ICBL’s priorities.
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PLANS: What new engagements are
planned by your organization in the short, medium and long term to
promote a culture of peace and nonviolence? |
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GLOBAL MOVEMENT: How do you think the culture of peace and nonviolence could be strengthened and supported at the world level??
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