Silent Killers: Inside the Movement to Ban Landmines – West Virginia Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines is pleased to announce the launch of Silent Killers, an ICBL Special Series Podcast. This initiative has been developed in collaboration with activist, speaker, and filmmaker David Peck, whose documentary Broken Courage highlights the experiences of landmine survivors in Cambodia.

Through this new series, ICBL aims to provide a platform for survivors, advocates, and experts to share their perspectives, while reinforcing the urgency of eliminating these indiscriminate weapons an
Silent Killers is a special series Podcast in collaboration between ICBL and David Peck, an activist, speaker, and filmmaker, who’s recent documentary Broken Courage highlights the lived experiences of landmine survivors in Cambodia. Through this collaboration, ICBL hopes to amplify the voices of survivors, advocates, and change makers, and to reignite a global movement rooted in justice, empathy, and the belief that no one should fear the ground beneath their feet.

Episode 1 – “Jody Williams: The Fight for a Mine Free World”

Episode 1. “Jody Williams: The Fight for a Mine Free World”
Available on Monday 1 September at 9 AM CEST on ICBL YouTube Channel.

Jody is a lifelong activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). In 1997, under her leadership, the campaign united NGOs, landmine survivors, and supportive governments to achieve the historic Mine Ban Treaty, which earned Williams and the ICBL the Nobel Peace Prize. She continues to advocate for human rights, disarmament, and social justice, and is recognized globally for her fearless voice against weapons that indiscriminately harm civilians.

In this first episode of Silent Killers, Jody reflects on the struggle to ban landmines and the lessons for today’s activists. She shares how the ICBL began and brought together a diverse movement of survivors, NGOs, and governments; the strategies of the 1990s that proved decisive in swaying states; and how today’s geopolitical tensions challenge humanitarian disarmament.

We also discuss her advice for young campaigners on sustaining activism without burnout, her response to arguments for reintroducing landmines in the name of national security, and where she still finds hope in the global movement to protect civilians from these indiscriminate weapons.

The first episode is with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams, who reflects on the fight to ban landmines and the lessons it holds for today’s activists.

Episode 2. “The Mine Ban Treaty: Why the Renewed Interest?”