Mine Ban Treaty
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On 1 March 2009, the Mine Ban Treaty celebrated the tenth anniversary of its entry into force as international law. The treaty bans all anti-personnel mines, requires that States destroy stockpiles within four years of becoming a party, requires clearance of anti-personnel mines already in the ground within 10 years, and urges supports to the victims of mines.The treaty has proved a major success in stigmatizing anti-personnel mines. Since it came into force on 1 March 1999, use has decreased to such an extent that in recent years only Myanmar and Russia and a dwindling number of non-state armed groups have laid significant numbers of mines. In addition, trade in the weapon has virtually ceased and only about a dozen of the 50 nations that manufactured anti-personnel mines in the past still retain the capacity to do so.
As a result of the efforts of the international community since 1999, more than 40 million anti-personnel mines have been destroyed from stockpiles. Almost 1,000 square kilometres of mined land have been cleared and returned to productive use. Demining has led to a dramatic drop in the number of civilians killed and wounded by mines and explosive remnants of war each year—from more than 20,000 a decade ago to around 5,000 today.A total of 156 nations are party to the Mine Ban Treaty—more than three-quarters of the world’s nations—and another two states have signed, but not yet ratified. China, India, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States are among the 37 states that have not yet joined. But nearly all of these nations are complying with the core norms set down by the treaty.
The greatest challenges for the treaty, in addition to universalizing adherence, is to ensure ever faster release of suspected mined areas, through survey and clearance operations, so that even more lives can be saved and more livelihoods enabled. For those who have already fallen victim to mines, we must continue to strive over the coming years to ensure they receive sustained assistance which gives them both dignity and a chance to contribute to the well-being of their families and communities.
Since 1992, Norwegian People`s Aid (NPA) has become one of the lead NGOs in the field of humanitarian mine action, undertaking programs to battle mines and ERW (explosive remnants of war) in a total of 25 countries worldwide. Active today in 18 affected countries, NPA is one of the major global NGO contributors to reduction of the world wide problems created by landmines and ERW, spending more than USD 30 million annually on this activity alone.
NPA’s approach to the problem of landmines is:
a) Implementation of humanitarian demining programs
b) Support to national mine action structures of affected countries
c) Political, methodological and technical advocacy work to influence the development of this field of humanitarian assistance.
These abovementioned approaches are considered by NPA as mutually reinforcing and synergistic activities that in the most effective way address the humanitarian and political objectives and ambitions of the core framework for our work, namely the Mine Ban Treaty of 1999
NPA is currently also in process of defining its role in an overall initiative to address the general use and availability of explosives in the world and is of course also a vital player in the Convention on cluster munitions of 2010.
Placed under or on the ground, antipersonnel mines explode from the contact or presence of a person. When triggered, they kill or cause injuries like blindness, burns, destroyed limbs and shrapnel wounds.
Until the Nineties, antipersonnel landmines had been used by almost all armed forces of the world, in one form or another. Thanks to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, landmine use has dramatically dropped. But the weapon still poses a significant and lasting threat.
There are dozens of reasons to ban antipersonnel landmines and to campaign for this goal. Anti-personnel landmines pose an indiscriminate threat both during the conflict and after the end of conflicts. Landmines threaten lives and limbs of civilians, hamper provision of relief and impede post-conflict reconstruction
