SECRETARY-GENERAL CONGRATULATES 'INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO BAN LANDMINES' ON WINNING NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Press Release
DC/2592
SECRETARY-GENERAL CONGRATULATES 'INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO BAN LANDMINES' ON WINNING NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
19971010 NEW YORK, 10 October (Promotion and Public Services Division of DPI) -- "This well-deserved honour is a victory for every child and mother and for all those vulnerable people who have been killed or maimed by these silent weapons", Secretary-General Kofi Annan today told Jody Williams, coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the organization which is the recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.The International Campaign to Ban Landmines played an important role in motivating Governments to adopt a draft anti-landmine treaty on 18 September in Oslo. The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction will be opened for signature in Ottawa, Canada on 3 to 4 December. It will come into force on the 1st day of the sixth month after the month in which the fortieth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession has been deposited. In a statement issued earlier today, the Secretary-General urged all Governments to sign on to the Convention.
The United Nations, which since 1993 has taken a leading role in mine- clearance and awareness programmes worldwide, will also play an important role in implementation of the new Convention. The Secretary-General is to be the depository for the Convention and will oversee compliance. Under the terms of the treaty, requests for assistance for landmine victims and with mine clearance can be made to the United Nations, which is already actively engaged in many countries in demining programmes and awareness campaigns aimed at reducing the risk of mine injuries, both to deminers themselves as well as to the general population at risk.
Earlier today, the Secretary-General placed a telephone call from United Nations Headquarters to Ms. Williams at her Vermont residence. He told her that the achievement of a draft Convention shows that "when non-governmental organizations come together and work with Governments, a lot can happen in a relatively short time".
Ms. Williams thanked the Secretary-General for his strong voice in efforts to ban landmines and said she was looking forward to working with him to bring the treaty into force quickly.
The International Campaign to Ban Land Mines is a coalition of more than 1,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in more than 60 countries. Initiated by
a handful of NGOs in 1992, it carries out educational activities concerning the dangers of landmines and urges Governments to take urgent action to eliminate those weapons from their arsenals.