{"id":1589,"date":"2019-11-29T10:03:31","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T14:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/?p=1589"},"modified":"2019-11-29T10:03:31","modified_gmt":"2019-11-29T14:03:31","slug":"toward-a-landmine-free-world-conference-marks-20-years-of-the-mine-ban-treaty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/?p=1589","title":{"rendered":"Toward a Landmine-Free World Conference Marks 20 Years of the Mine Ban Treaty"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/b>\"OsloRevConSigning599_500x333<\/a><\/b>
\nThe Fourth Review Conference of the international Mine Ban Treaty opened in Oslo, Norway on November 25th, 2019. A total of 164 states have joined the treaty,\u00a0committing to cease production<\/a>, use, and transfer of antipersonnel mines, to destroy their stockpiles, clear mine-affected areas, and assist mine survivors.<\/p>\n

It is worth celebrating the significant steps states have taken over the past 20 years to alleviate the suffering caused by antipersonnel mines through this treaty. Since the Mine Ban Treaty entered into force on March 1, 1999, 27 additional countries\u00a0have joined<\/a>, including many that possessed large stockpiles of or were significantly contaminated by landmines. New use of antipersonnel mines has decreased dramatically due to stigma created by the ban treaty.\u00a0In 2018<\/a>, only\u00a0Myanmar<\/a>, which has not joined the treaty,\u00a0used antipersonnel mines<\/a>. More than 50 states previously produced antipersonnel mines, but 41 have ceased production, including the\u00a0United States<\/a>\u00a0and three others that have not joined the treaty. Governments have\u00a0collectively destroyed<\/a>\u00a0more than 55 million stockpiled antipersonnel mines. A total of 31 countries once affected by antipersonnel mines have been declared mine-free. In 2018, funding for mine action totaled approximately $699.5 million, the second-highest yearly total to date.<\/p>\n

However, considerable challenges remain. Thirty-three states have yet to join the Mine Ban Treaty, including China, Russia, and the US. In 2018, non-state armed groups\u00a0used antipersonnel landmines<\/a>, often improvised versions, in six countries. According to the annual\u00a0Landmine Monitor<\/a>\u00a0report by the\u00a0International Campaign to Ban Landmines<\/a>, over 6,800 people were killed or injured by landmines or explosive remnants of war in 2018. Where the age of victims was recorded, more than half of the casualties were children. Around the world, 55 countries are still mine-affected.<\/p>\n

States still outside the treaty should take steps to join. They should participate in the Review Conference and other meetings of the treaty, submit voluntary transparency reports, and vote in favor of the annual United Nations General Assembly resolution promoting universalization and implementation of the treaty.<\/p>\n

As a co-founder of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate along with\u00a0Jody Williams<\/a>, Human Rights Watch challenges all states to step up their efforts to achieve a landmine-free world under the auspices of the Mine Ban Treaty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Jacqulyn Kantack<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Associate, Arms Division<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch<\/p>\n

1275 K St. NW Suite 1100<\/p>\n

Washington, DC 20005
\nPhone\u00a0: +1 202 612 4351<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Fourth Review Conference of the international Mine Ban Treaty opened in Oslo, Norway on November 25th, 2019. A total of 164 states have joined the treaty,\u00a0committing to cease production, use, and transfer of antipersonnel mines, to destroy their stockpiles, clear mine-affected areas, and assist mine survivors. It is worth celebrating the significant steps states […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1589"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1591,"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589\/revisions\/1591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}