1997

International Campaign to Ban Landmines

Jody Williams

for their work for the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines

International Campaign to Ban Landmines

USA

Turning point for a landmine-free world

Landmines are the scourge of poor countries. 100 million un-detonated anti-personnel mines still remain buried in 60 countries after wars and armed conflicts. Their purpose is to maim or kill soldiers, but it is the civilian population that suffers most. Each year 25,000 people are injured. The ICBL began its work in 1991. Its object was to bring about an international ban on landmines. Moreover, governments all over the world were to be urged to finance mine clearance. The organization was fronted by Jody Williams from the USA, who shared the Peace Prize with the ICBL in 1997. In 1997, the ICBL had the support of over 1,000 organizations in 60 countries. That year, the representatives of 120 countries signed the Ottawa Convention prohibiting landmines. It was the world's small and medium-sized states that got the resolution adopted, strongly supported by the ICBL. But the great powers did not sign.

Jody Williams (1950 -)

USA

Peace Activist and a Driving Force in the Campaign against Landmines

When Jody Williams was studying international politics in the 1980s, she became involved in aid work in war-torn El Salvador. Landmines were a constant threat to the civilian population, and she was given responsibility for providing artificial limbs for children who had lost arms and legs. From 1991 on, Jody Williams was a driving force in the launching of an international campaign against landmines. By 1997, thanks to her strength and organizational talent, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) had 1,000 organizations from 60 countries on its list of members. The Ottawa Convention, which was signed by 120 states and entered into force in 1999, will always be associated with the names of Jody Williams and the ICBL. It banned the use, production, sale and stock-piling of anti-personnel mines. In addition it contained provisions concerning mine clearance and the obligation to provide humanitarian assistance.