|
U.S. Campaign to Ban
Landmines Email Newsletter In this edition. . .
Tell Presidential Candidates You Care About Landmine Problem See easy ways to speak up to the candidates to convince them that
this is an important issue at Demining Experts Injured in
UN Blast in Iraq; de Mello Mourned The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) expresses its concern for all those injured in the attack on the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Baghdad, and its deepest sympathy for the families and colleagues of those who were killed, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Iraq. The explosion occurred as the leaders of the UN’s global mine clearance program were conducting a briefing for media and others on the landmine problem in Iraq. Several demining experts were injured, some seriously. The ICBL expresses its extreme disappointment that respected individuals working for humanitarian principles that we all uphold should be targeted in such an attack. Vieira de Mello also served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Shortly after assuming this position, on 16 September 2002, he delivered a message from the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the opening plenary of the Fourth Meeting of States Parties to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Vieira de Mello was a proponent of the elimination of antipersonnel mines and was very supportive of mine clearance efforts when he served as the UN’s Special Representative in Kosovo. He had extensive field experience in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations, including in the mine-affected countries of Cambodia, Cyprus, Lebanon, Mozambique, Peru and Sudan. Iraq is severely affected by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), including cluster munitions. These are believed to cause hundreds of civilian casualties each year. The UN has engaged in mine clearance in northern Iraq since 1997 and in recent months has expanded its mine action program to cover the whole country. Key mine action NGOs are also active in mine clearance in the country including local demining NGOs and ICBL members DanChurchAid, Handicap International, Mines Advisory Group, Norwegian People's Aid, and Swiss Foundation for Mine Action. USCBL, but not US Government, to be Represented at Global Landmines Conference September 15-18, government representatives from more than 100 nations and NGO representatives from dozens of country campaigns will gather in Bangkok, Thailand for the 5th Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty. The meeting will offer governments the opportunity to discuss international progress and areas where improvement is needed on the mine ban, demining, victim assistance, mine risk education, stockpile destruction. NGOs will be able to lobby and work with government officials. USCBL Coordinator Gina Coplon-Newfield and several members of the USCBL Steering Committee will attend the meeting as well as the subsequent International Campaign to Ban Landmines General Meeting. As far as we know, the US government does not plan to send a representative to the Bangkok meeting, which is sponsored by the UN. In conjuction with the 5th Meeting of States Parties, the 2003 Landmine Monitor, which is the most comprehensive document about the global landmine situation, will be released on September 9. To learn more about the Landmine Monitor, visit, www.icbl.org/lm/2003/ Special Appeal for Demining in Iraq The population of Iraq faces one of the biggest landmine and unexploded
ordnance (UXO) problems in the world. The recent conflict has made
a devastating problem even worse with the increased movement of
people throughout the country. For example, in just one week, Mines
Advisory Group reported 52 people killed and 63 injured. Landmine Scenario Cards for Your Educational Events Through a Demining Course at MIT, Professor Ben Linder and his students recently developed an educational game in which cards are passed out to participants. When someone turns over a card that says s/he stepped on a landmine, s/he reads the scenario to determine if s/he survived the blast. Survival brings other possible next steps that include transportation and medical care. It’s like a “choose your own adventure” type game, except that you don’t always have a choice (like in life). The game teaches about the problem of landmines and the reality of how difficult it is to survive them and then recover from the injuries they cause. If you’re interested in ordering these cards to use at a landmines event in your community, contact Benjamin Linder at blinder@alum.mit.edu. For more information about the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines or to donate on-line, please visit www.banminesusa.org To stop receiving these updates and action alerts, please write to landmines@fcnl.org from the email address that receives the newsletter and ask us to take you off the list. |
| FREE EMAIL CAMPAIGN UPDATES |
|
| Please enter your email address and click "Go" | |
|
| SEARCH OUR SITE |
For more on the Mine Ban Treaty, go to www.icbl.org |