The Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines was the result of unprecedented close cooperation between civil society organizations and like minded governments concerned about the landmine issue. Initiated by non-governmental organizations which had witnessed first hand the devastating effects of anti-personnel mines, the call for a total ban on these weapons was later supported by governments which worked to enshrine such a ban in international law.

Working together, this coalition of NGOs and governments produced a dramatic breakthrough on the landmines issue – the negotiation, signature and ratification of the convention banning anti-personnel landmines was completed in just over 23 months.

Staff and volunteers of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), working alongside people in landmine-infested areas, were the first to turn world attention to this terrible problem. Development projects in various sectors, including agriculture and water, were impossible where there were landmines. More gruesome were the lost lives and limbs which organizations such as the local affiliates of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) saw daily.

In October 1992, six of these organizations gathered in the New York office of the Human Rights Watch to issue a “Joint Call to Ban Anti-Personnel Landmines,” launching the International Campaign to Ban Landmines

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 along with its coordinator, Jody Williams, for their work in pushing for a global ban on anti-personnel mines.

Web Source: Canada’s guide to the Global Ban on Landmines

External Links

International Campaign to Ban Landmines– Website for group of 1,400 Non governmental organisations working to ban landmines

International Campaign to Ban Landmines at Nobel Prize.org