NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT. The U.S is reviewing its mine ban policy and timing is vital. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines is asking people all around the world to contact the US embassy in their own country to encourage the Obama administration to finally sign the Mine Ban Treaty. Please write polite letters to Ambassador Bleich at: The United States Embassy, Moonah Place Yarralumla, ACT 2600
AUSTRALIA TOO SLOW TO RATIFY.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions comes into force on August 1 2010.
36 countries have so far ratifed the Convention and will thus be bound by it.
Australia has not yet completed drafting necessary legislation and may not have ratified by August 1 or even by the first Meeting of States Parties in November.
Please write polite letters urging swift ratification by Australia to:
The Hon Stephen Smith MP
Minister for Foreign Affairs
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House.
ABOUT US
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines-Australian Network Inc is popularly known as the Australian Network to Ban Landmines. We are a non-profit, non-political organisation with no paid staff.
The Network works towards:
Universalisation of the
Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions
Funding and resources
for land clearance and landmine and cluster munition awareness programs.
Funding and resources
for landmine and cluster munition survivors.
Contact Us
Who is on our National Committee? Click Here
Landmines and Cluster Bombs do not discriminate for age, gender, or occupation.
The Mine Ban Treaty
The Mine Ban Treaty, sometimes called the
Ottowa Treaty, came into force on March 1 1999.
Over the past 10 years, the number of countries
joining the treaty has continued to grow—from 71 as of 1 March 1999 to 156 as of 1 March 2009. Under the treaty’s guidance States Parties have cleared and returned to productive use large tracts of land; educated mine-affected communities about the risk of antipersonnel mines and other unexploded ordnance; provided support to and protected the rights of landmine survivors; and destroyed millions of stockpiled antipersonnel mines, ensuring they can never be planted in the earth again. Today, use of antipersonnel mines is the exception rather than the rule, and the trade in these weapons has virtually stopped. Thanks to the advance of mine clearance and risk education programs, the number of new landmine casualties has steadily decreased.
However, many challenges still remain on the road to a mine-free world, especially in the areas of mine clearance, stockpile destruction, and ensuring real and lasting change in the lives of landmine survivors,their families and communities.
For more information on the mine ban treaty go to
:http://www.icbl.org/Treaties/MBT/Treaty-Basics
