16/7/2004
Nairobi Summit Will Boost Anti-Landmine Drive

This year's Nairobi Summit for a Mine Free World should generate international momentum towards eradicating the indiscriminate weapons, experts were told this week. But optimism was tempered with reminders of the ongoing threat posed by these weapons.

The Ottawa Convention mandates a global ban on antipersonnel landmines, the destruction of stockpiles, the clearance of antipersonnel mines, and assistance for victims of those weapons in some 20 countries. In the last 5 years 143 countries have ratified it and more than 37 million stockpiled landmines have been destroyed.

However, landmines are still being laid in Chechnya, Colombia, Myanmar and Nepal. In addition, 10 million stockpiled mines have yet to be destroyed by states that have signed the Convention.