Ten years on, the campaign continues
Anne Villeneuve, head of mine lobbying at Handicap International, looks at the impact of the Ottawa Treaty since it came into force.
“There are still several points of concern. The mine ban treaty, or Ottawa Treaty, came into force in March 1999. Ten years on, 156 countries have signed the treaty. It's a major success. However, 37 countries, including some very significant ones, have not signed the treaty. They include China, Russia, India, Israel, Pakistan and the US.
The new US administration may revise its position, although nothing has been decided yet. The other issues we need to keep an eye on are mine clearance and victim assistance.
Out of 30 signatory states that committed themselves to clearing their whole territory of mines before 2009, 15 have announced that they would not meet the target. Our role is to continue to influence public opinion in favour of the Ottawa Treaty to ensure it gains universal support.”
Key figures
5,426 mine victims were officially recorded in 2007. More than a quarter of these victims suffered fatal injuries. It is still difficult to gather data in many countries and numerous accidents are not recorded. 71% of victims are civilians, 31% are children. 8.4 million people benefited from mine risk education programmes in 2007.
Source: Landmine Monitor, 2008.
