OTTAWA CONVENTION SUBJECT OF SPECIAL DISARMAMENT NEWSLETTER

Press Release
DC/2593

OTTAWA CONVENTION SUBJECT OF SPECIAL DISARMAMENT NEWSLETTER

GENEVA, 7 November (UN Information Service) -- The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) has cooperated for the first time with the European Commission's Joint Research Centre and produced a special issue of the UNIDIR Newsletter focusing on the Convention, that will ban the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines, to be opened for signature in Ottawa in December.

The Newsletter also covers the latest demining and mine-clearance technology and stresses that demining needs to be at the top of the agenda of all governments and non-governmental organizations, since there are tens of millions of anti-personnel landmines scattered across the world today, destroying the lives of countless persons.

The signing of the Ottawa Convention from 2 to 4 December by approximately 100 nations will be a significant achievement for both disarmament and humanitarian concerns. However, the Ottawa Convention is only a first step, which will ensure that new landmines will not be laid. The latest demining and mine-clearance developments, both in tools and methodology, are discussed in the special issue, which includes 10 articles written by international experts on the elimination of landmines.

Canadian Minister for Foreign Affairs Lloyd Axworthy, the driving force behind the Ottawa process, has written an article entitled "The Ottawa Process: To December and Beyond." He explains the developments which led to the signing of the Ottawa Convention. Mr. Axworthy writes that, while the Ottawa Convention will not solve the landmines problem overnight, it will put a cap on the problem by ensuring that no more landmines are added to the ones already in the ground. "A treaty ban will represent a milestone in the international effort to put an end to the humanitarian scourge of anti-personnel landmines", Mr. Axworthy concludes.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Chairman of the National Demining Commission of Mozambique, Leonardo Santos Simao, urges the international community to increase its assistance to the ongoing demining operations around the world, particularly in developing countries.

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The special landmines issue will make its debut at the European Information Technology Conference (EITC), which will be held in Brussels from 24 to 26 November. On 26 November, a workshop on "Landmines: Humanitarian Demining", will be organized.

The UNIDIR is an autonomous institution within the framework of the United Nations. It was established in 1980 by the General Assembly for the purpose of undertaking independent research on disarmament and related problems, particularly international security issues. The Institute has its seat at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The new Director of UNIDIR, Patricia Lewis, took up her post in October 1997. Ms. Lewis has a broad background in disarmament and arms control issues, and will be participating in the EITC meeting. The UNIDIR will be continuing work on landmine-related issues following the Ottawa Convention.

The UNIDIR Newsletter, number SI 3/97, is on sale at United Nations Publications Units in Geneva and New York.

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