Ministers Graham and Whelan celebrate
fifth anniversary of signing of Ottawa Convention
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham and International Cooperation Minister Susan Whelan today announced that they will participate in events celebrating the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines. On December 3, 1997, 122 countries signed the Convention at a conference held in the nation's capital.
On
November 29, Minister Graham and Minister Whelan will participate in a
plaque unveiling ceremony to be held in the main lobby of the Department
of Foreign Affairs and International Trade headquarters in Ottawa. The
plaque, which will remain on permanent display in the foyer of the Lester
B. Pearson building, was created to commemorate Canada's support for the
Ottawa Convention.
"Five
years ago Canada challenged the international community to sign and ratify
a treaty that would oblige parties to end the use, production, stockpiling
and transfer of anti-personnel mines," said Mr. Graham,
"attribute much of the remarkable progress achieved to date to an
unprecedented level of cooperation and coordination between governments,
international organizations and NGOs. These partnerships have resulted in
130 ratifications of the Convention, millions of hectares of land being
cleared of mines, and a significant reduction in the number of new
landmine casualties. Canada will continue to play a leading role in
ensuring the full implementation of the Convention."
The
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade will also host an
international mine action symposium from November 29 to December 1 at the
Lester B. Pearson Building. This event is being organized by Mines Action
Canada, a coalition of Canadian organizations supportive of the global ban
on landmines. Participants, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody
Williams, former president of the International Committee of the Red
Cross, Cornelio Sommaruga, and former foreign affairs ministers Lloyd
Axworthy and André Ouellet, will review the progress achieved to
date in implementing the Ottawa Convention and discuss future mine action
strategies.
"Since
Canada signed the Ottawa Convention in 1997, the Canadian International
Development Agency has contributed $72 million toward mine action
activities in developing countries," said Minister Whelan. "We
have engaged in humanitarian demining projects, victim assistance, and
mine risk education. Canadian support is making a difference in the world.
It has helped save lives and limbs, not to mention returning useable land
to the people who rely on it."
The
Ministers underscored their pride in the direct participation of numerous
Canadians in mine action activities throughout the world, including
demining efforts, victim assistance programs, technology development and
fundraising, as well as technical assistance to other countries to enable
them to accede to the Convention.
In
addition, they highlighted the fine work being done by Canada's youth mine
action ambassadors, who will also be organizing and participating in
numerous fifth anniversary activities taking place across the country.
For
the past six years Canada has been at the forefront of international
efforts to eliminate anti-personnel mines (APMs) and alleviate the
suffering they cause. A major architect in the development of the Ottawa
Convention banning anti-personnel mines, Canada has also led international
efforts to fully implement it.
Since
1997, Canada has provided more than $100 million, through the Canadian
Landmine Fund, as well as other available resources, to support mine
action programs in the following key areas: Encouraging countries to sign,
ratify and implement the Ottawa Convention: Canada has hosted numerous
international meetings aimed at encouraging participating states to join
and implement the Convention. It has also provided technical assistance to
help nations meet their obligations under the Convention.
* Mine
clearance activities: Canada has funded mine clearance projects in every
region of the world, including financing mine action centres in
Afghanistan, Lebanon and Sri Lanka. Canadian experts also regularly
provide de-mining training to local clearance teams in affected
communities around the globe. The Canadian Centre for Mine Action
Technologies has helped Canadian companies develop cutting-edge
technologies that are being used in
both mine clearance and landmine survivor rehabilitation.
* Providing assistance to
landmine survivors: Canada has provided funding for a broad range of
services that support the rehabilitation and reintegration of landmine
survivors. These include surgery and hospital care, the provision of
artificial limbs, peer counselling and vocational training. Since the
Convention was established, the rate of new landmine casualties has
declined significantly. To help prevent new casualties, Canadian programs
also deliver mine risk education to threatened communities to raise
awareness of the dangers posed by mines.
* Destruction of stockpiled mines: Canada has provided technical
assistance to states in every region of the world to help them safely and
effectively destroy stockpiles of anti-personnel mines. In the last
decade, an estimated 34 million stockpiled mines worldwide have been
destroyed by 61 countries. Mine action initiatives undertaken by Canada
and the international community in the last five years have proven
remarkably successful, due in no small part to outstanding cooperation
between governments and civil society in addressing all facets of the
issue.
Results include:
* 130 ratifications of the Convention (as of November 2002), which entered
into force faster than any multilateral disarmament treaty in history
(March 1, 1999, after 40 ratifications). Most of the world's most
seriously mine-affected states have ratified or acceded to the Convention,
including Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia,
Mozambique, and Nicaragua;
* a significant
decline in the global use and production of anti-personnel mines (41
countries have ceased production of the weapon);
* a dramatic
increase in international resources committed to mine action, with
approximately US$1 billion allocated globally since 1997;
* a virtual
cessation of APM transfers;
* a significant
decline in APM-related casualty rates;
* a significant
increase in assistance to APM victims;
* vast tracts
of previously mined land cleared and returned to productive use; and
* an estimated
34 million stockpiled mines destroyed by 61 countries in the last decade.
While
the international community has taken important measures to rid the world
of APMs, much work remains to be done. According to the non-governmental
reporting network Landmine Monitor, there are still approximately 15,000
to 20,000 mine-related casualties a year occurring in 70 countries. There
are in excess of 230 million APMs stockpiled in 94 nations, and 65
countries have not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention, including
three permanent members of the Security Council, the United States, Russia
and China.
Canada
will continue to lead international efforts to fully implement the Ottawa
Convention banning anti-personnel mines, with the aim of eradicating these
weapons.
For further information on Canada's
initiatives in global mine action, please visit: http://www.mines.gc.ca