Attachments
Two decades ago, Diana Princess of Wales walked in Angola’s minefields. In doing so, she captured the conscience of states, civil society and the public and helped inspire the final successful push to achieve the groundbreaking 1997 Ottawa Treaty banning landmines. States, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and campaigners came together in a way that changed the world.
Two decades later, we celebrate massive progress, including against the 2025 deadline for completion of clearance, agreed to in 2014. Since the Treaty was signed, over 51 million stockpiled anti-personnel landmines have been destroyed, 29 states have been declared free from a weapon that does not rest until it kills, maims and breaks the human spirit, and hundreds of thousands of survivors have been assisted and empowered.
Despite the successes, there is significant work still to do. The latest report by the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor shows casualties have more than doubled in the last two years. A 133% rise since 2014 saw injuries and deaths hit their highest level since 1999. Shockingly, 42% of those killed or injured were children. Many had not known conflict, only its deadly legacy.
While the Monitor also reports that annual international funding has gone up by $85.5m – the third highest level in a decade – the bulk of additional funding has gone to new emergencies.
Meanwhile, several mine-affected countries are facing significant shortfalls.
Among them is Angola, an icon of the treaty, where support for clearance has slumped by nearly 90% in the last decade to its lowest level on record.
An extra $422m is needed over the course of the next eight years to get Angola,
Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe back on track to complete clearance. These countries are not on a trajectory to meet their deadlines and risk being forgotten.
But completion by 2025 is achievable with less than two and half times their current funding – a total of $54m per year.
This December, in this 20th anniversary year of the treaty, donor and affected states, NGOs and campaigners come together in Vienna for the Ottawa Treaty’s annual meeting of States Parties. It is an opportunity to renew their commitment and ensure that no one affected by landmines is forgotten.