Debate: 20 years of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines – is a mine-free world still a realistic goal?

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Landmines and Unexploded Weapons of Conflict
Chairman: Pauline Latham OBE MP

 

Debate: 20 years of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines – is a mine-free world still a realistic goal?

When – 6:30 pm, Monday 19th November, 2012.
Where – The Mandela Room at the Commonwealth Club, Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5AP.

 

Chairman: Stuart Hughes, Diplomatic Producer BBC News

 

Panel

• Nick Roseveare MBE, Chief Executive, Mines Advisory Group (MAG)
• Agnes Marcaillou, Director, UNMAS New York
• Chris Austin, Head of the Conflict, Humanitarian and Security Department at DFID
• Steven Smith, Chief Executive, Action on Armed Violence
• Judy Grayson, Head of the child protection section’s work on armed violence and weapons, UNICEF New York.

Special Guest:  Sir Bobby Charlton – founder of the landmines charity ‘Find a Better Way’

 

 Places are strictly limited so book your place now (click on link http://www.thercs.org/society/252). Cost is £15, of which £10 will go to Find a Better Way, plus booking fee.

 

Activity

 

A high level debate, in association with the Royal Commonwealth Society looking back over the past twenty years – and forward to the huge amount of work still needing to be done. The debate will be followed by a drinks reception kindly sponsored by Explore Worldwide adventure holidays and the CIPR international Group.

 

Background

 

"Millions of people live with the fear of landmines. And every day people die or suffer horrific injuries from abandoned weapons left behind after conflict".

 

2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. In October 1992, six NGOs held the ICBL’s founding meeting, with the goal of ridding the world of landmines. The odds were long, the challenges immense, but five years of intense lobbying and negotiations later the Ottawa Treaty came into existence. The Ottawa process was – and still is – seen as a model for how civil society groups can help resolve some of the pressing issues of our time, and that there is a place for “global citizen diplomacy.”

 

We need to re-awaken awareness of the continuing and often indiscriminate use of landmines and improvised explosive devices and their unacceptable humanitarian and developmental consequences – by openly exploring the successes and failures of the last 20 years. Two decades ago, the ICBL proved that NGOs could put issues on the international agenda and drive change. But 20 years on, what is the future for the ICBL and the wider mine ban movement? How does the movement remain energised and motivated – and how will it continue to attract donors in the years ahead? Is true universalization of the treaty realistic when major powers such as the US, Russia and China remain outside it? Is “virtual compliance” enough? Is it time for the ICBL to celebrate its successes and move onto other issues?

 

Contact

 

Nigel Ellway, APPG Co-ordinator,

Mob: 07586 329335

nigel.ellway@parliament.uk

New books - October 2012 (Part 2)

The second part of our list of selected new books added to the catalogue and collection in October. New books include reports on household incomes and poverty in the Pacific, works on young people in South Africa and the Solomons, and a number of books on war and conflicts and their aftermaths.


Wasserman, Herman (ed). Press freedom in Africa : comparative perspectives. London ; New York : Routledge, 2013

Gupta, Akhil. Red tape : bureaucracy, structural violence, and poverty in India. Durham : Duke University Press, 2012.

Bradley, Tamsin. Religion and gender in the developing world : faith-based organizations and feminism in India. London ; New York : I.B. Tauris ; New York, 2011

Afram, Gabi G. The remittance market in India : opportunities, challenges, and policy options. Washington, D.C. : World Bank, 2012.

Narsey, Wadan. Report on the 2008-09 household income and expenditure survey for Fiji. Suva, Fiji : Fiji Islands Bureau of Statistics, 2011.

Campioni, Maddalena and Patrick Noack (eds). Rwanda fast forward : social, economic, military and reconciliation prospects. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

Samoa. Bureau of Statistics. Samoa : a report on the estimation of basic needs poverty lines, and the incidence and characteristics of hardship & poverty : analysis of the 2008 household income and expenditure survey. Apia, Samoa : Samoa Bureau of Statistics and UNDP Pacific Centre, [2010]

Anderson, Mark Cronlund and Carmen L. Robertson. Seeing red : a history of Natives in Canadian newspapers. Winnipeg : University of Manitoba Press, c2011.

Perold, Helene, Nico Cloete and Joy Papier (eds). Shaping the future of South Africa's youth : rethinking post-school education and skills training. Somerset West, South Africa : African Minds ; Wynberg : Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET) : Further Education and Training Institute (FETI) ; Rondebosch : Southern African Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU), 2012.

Allina-Pisano, Eric. Slavery by any other name : African life under company rule in colonial Mozambique. Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2012.

Solomon Islands : Ministry of Women, Youth & Children's Affairs. Solomon Islands national policy on gender equality and women's development. Honiara, Solomon Islands : Ministry of Women, Youth & Children's Affairs, 2010

Solomon Islands : Ministry of Women, Youth & Children's Affairs. Solomon Islands national youth policy : 2010-2015 Honiara, Solomon Islands : Ministry of Women, Youth & Children's Affairs, 2010

Hofmeyr, Isabel and Michelle Williams (eds). South Africa & India : shaping the global South. Johannesburg : Wits University Press, 2011.

Binney, Judith. Stories without end : essays 1975-2010. Wellington, N.Z. : Bridget Williams Books, 2010.

Tanzania General Elections, 31 October 2010 : report of the Commonwealth Observer Group / [Commonwealth Observer Group]. London : Commonwealth Secretariat, c2010.
India. Finance Commission. Thirteenth finance commission 2010-2015. Vol I : report. India: Finance Commission, 2009.

Gopakumar, Govind. Transforming urban water supplies in India : the role of reform and partnerships in globalization. New York, NY : Routledge, 2012.

Pham, Phuong N. and Patick Vinck. Transitioning to peace : a population-based survey on attitudes about social reconstruction and justice in Northern Uganda. Berkeley, CA : Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley : Berkeley Law, 2010.

Nyamnjoh, Frances B., Walter Gam Nkwi and Piet Konings. University crisis and student protests in Africa : the 2005-2006 university students' strike in Cameroon. Bamenda, Cameroon : Langaa groupe d’intiative commune en recherche et publication, 2012.

India. Planning Commission. Uttarakhand development report. New Delhi : Academic Foundation, 2009.

Dinstein, Yoram. War, aggression, and self-defence. New York : Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Lui, Andrew. Why Canada cares : human rights and foreign policy in theory and practice. Montreal, QC : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2012.

Chidester, David. Wild religion : tracking the sacred in South Africa. Berkeley : University of California Press, c2012.

Saikia, Yasmin. Women, war, and the making of Bangladesh : remembering 1971. Durham, NC : Duke University Press, 2011.

The Global Peace Index

The Institute for Economics & Peace produces a number of indexes which measure levels of peace and conflict worldwide. Its Global Peace Index ranks 153 nations according to 23 dimensions of peace. These include democracy, wellbeing, and violence, crime data which is drawn from a number of sources including the International Institute of Strategic Studies, the World Bank, a number of UN Agencies, peace institutes and the EIU. The report and an interactive map are available at the website. http://economicsandpeace.org/research/iep-indices-data/global-peace-index

Out of the 153 countries Commonwealth nations are in the top ten (New Zealand ranking 2nd (after Iceland), and Canada 8th) and also represented in the bottow ten (Pakistan being ranked 146th). the site shows detailed indicators including number of external and internal conflicts fought, relations with neighbouring countries, political instability, respect for human rights, level of violent crime, military expenditure and number of armed personnel.

Culture and Conflict - call for projects and research proposals

The Prince Claus Fund and the Commonwealth Foundation are calling for high quality, multi-disciplinary and innovative project proposals from civil society organisations addressing the issue of culture and conflict, within the framework of the Culture and Conflict Programme.


Grants will be awarded to civil society organisations in Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Organisations should submit a proposal for the development and delivery of activities that use culture as a way of engaging with local communities. Projects should also include a tangible output that captures the experiences of the participants and highlights the impact of the project.

The Prince Claus Fund and the Commonwealth Foundation are also calling for high quality and innovative research proposals from individuals exploring the role of culture in conflict and post-conflict situations, within the framework of its Culture and Conflict programme.


Two researchers will be appointed with responsibility for examining arts and culture-led initiatives for conflict resolution, including the work of the Culture and Conflict Programme grant recipients in Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. One researcher will be appointed from Africa and another from Asia.

Applicants should have proven professional research experience or practice in the field of culture and conflict and/or development.

All applications and queries should be sent to: h.thomas@commonwealth.int

Deadline: 27 January 2012, 17:00 (GMT)

United Nations report on Sri Lanka

The recent Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka has been made public and released on the UN website.

The panel was set up to advise Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on accountability issues relating to the final stages of the conflict, which ended in May 2009 when Government forces declared victory over the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The panel found credible allegations of serious violations committed by the Government, including killing of civilians through widespread shelling and the denial of humanitarian assistance and credible allegations regarding the LTTE concerning numerous serious violations, including using civilians as a human buffer and killing civilians attempting to flee LTTE control.

The Sri Lanka conflict was fought over three decades and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies contains a wide range of material on the conflict and peacebuilding in Sri Lanka. Collections include primary material published by both the Sri Lanka Government and LTTE, as well as publications on topics including the conflict, peacebuilding, resettlement, development, displacement, ethnicity and human rights.

Recently acquired books also include works on recovery from the tsunami of 2004.

New on Intute - Pakistan Conflict Monitor

Intute is a free online service that helps you to find the best web resources for your studies and research. Recently added to Intute is the following resource, do check the website and its own blog for new resources.

Pakistan conflict monitor

The Pakistan Conflict Monitor is maintained by the Human Security Report Project at the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University. It aims to highlight research about conflict and international security relating to Pakistan. This includes coverage of terrorism, Al-Qaeda, fundamental Islam, the links with the Taliban in Afghanistan and more generally government and development initiatives. The site summarises and links to key research data, press releases and reports. Information is generally available from 2009 onwards.

Remember to check the website for a complete list http://www.intute.ac.uk/