Norway participates in global landmine meeting in Cambodia.

Since the mid-1990s, Norway has given high priority to efforts to reduce the suffering caused by landmines. Norway played a leading role in the process that ended with the adoption of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (the Mine Ban Convention), and the text of the Convention was finalized in negotiations that took place in Oslo in September 1997. The Mine Ban Convention was opened for signature on 3 December 1997, and entered into force on 1 March 1999. Norway held the presidency for the Mine Ban Convention in 2001 and 2010.

The prohibition of anti-personnel mines is generally considered to be an important international human rights principle. In addition to preventing the use of anti-personnel mines in warfare, the ban on anti-personnel mines paves the way for socio-economic development in countries affected by war. Clearing minefields after a war is an important means of building trust between the parties and enabling the land to be used for other purposes.

The Mine Ban Convention has created a completely new norm as regards anti-personnel mines. Since the Convention came into force, there has been a marked decrease in the use of anti-personnel mines, a sharp drop in their production, an almost complete halt to their sale, a rapid reduction in stocks, clearance of even more minefields and, not least, a considerable reduction in the number of new mine victims.

Norway ratified the Convention on 9 July 1998, and the Convention entered into force for Norway on 1 March 1999. In its initial transparency report submitted on 26 August 1999, Norway reported that it had completed the destruction of all stockpiled anti-personnel mines in 1996. In total, Norway reported having destroyed 160,000 mines.

Norwegian NGOs play an important role both in efforts to implement the Mine Ban Convention and in other humanitarian anti-mine initiatives. Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) is one of the largest actors in the humanitarian mine clearance field, and the organization’s expertise has helped to make Norway a leader in this area. Cambodia was the first country where NPA started mine clearance in 1992, and the organisation has grown considerably since then. Since 1993, NPA has provided financial and technical assistance to the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC). In Thailand, NPA has carried out a national Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) in collaboration with the Thailand Mine Action Centre (TMAC). From 2008, NPA has provided technical advice on TMAC’s capacities in strategic planning, on information management and introducing the concept of land release.

 

Read more about the outcome of this year's conference here.