Religions for Peace is a member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), a global network in over 70 countries that works for a world free of antipersonnel landmines and cluster munitions, where landmine and cluster munition survivors can lead fulfilling lives. The Campaign was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of its efforts to bring about the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.
An antipersonnel mine is a device "designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person…that will incapacitate, injure or kill one or more persons," according to Article 2 of the Ottawa Treaty that bans these mines. They are victim-activated weapons that do not discriminate between civilian and military personnel, adult or child, war or peace-time. The Ottawa Treaty that bans landmines continues to change the world every day. It bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. States who join the treaty agree to rid their territory of known minefields within ten years and destroy their stockpiled mines within four years. Over 80% of the world's countries have joined the treaty.
To learn more about anti-personnel landmines, read our Fact Sheet here.
Our Commitment in Action
· On 2 December 2009, Religions for Peace co-hosted a panel discussion in Cartagena, Colombia as part of the Mine Ban Treaty Summit. This event explored how religious communities can better assist survivors of landmine or cluster munitions accidents. Read the report here.
