KOSOVO. Town of Pristina. Funerals of a man killed by a landmine after the war.

© Paolo Pellegrin

(via yourelegy)

Monongalia Arts Center
Benedum Gallery
107 High Street
Morgantown, WV 26507

Jan. 11-26, 2013
Opening Public Reception
Friday, Jan. 11, 6-8 p.m.
PSALM student guides available from 6-7 p.m.

“Ordinary People, Extraordinary Impact”: Publication celebrates 15 years of the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines

Ottawa — Mines Action Canada today launched a new e-book to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines. On December 3, 1997, the world came to Ottawa to sign a landmark treaty that banned antipersonnel landmines. The Ottawa Treaty is considered one of the most successful treaties and a significant addition to international humanitarian law. Fifteen years after it opened for signatures the global community continues to work together to end the suffering caused by these indiscriminate and inhumane weapons. Much of the success achieved over the past 15 years can be linked to the ordinary people who were the driving force behind and now are the foundation of the treaty. Ordinary people suffer the most from landmines. It was ordinary people including landmine survivors who started the campaign to ban landmines, ordinary people from civil society and from government departments that created the treaty and ordinary people who have implemented it. The Ottawa Treaty proves that ordinary people can have an extraordinary impact.

The publication, “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Impact: Personal Reflections on 15 Years of the Ottawa Treaty” contains personal reflections from a sampling of these ordinary people. From over a dozen countries, contributors provide insights into the groundbreaking Ottawa Process that brought governments and civil society together in negotiations for the first time; the challenges faced to implement the treaty; and, into what is needed in the next 15 years to truly achieve the goals of a world free from landmines. 

“Much has been written about the Ottawa Process and the Mine Ban Treaty in the past 15 years, but rarely has the immensely personal impact of the Treaty been examined. Mines Action Canada has collected the personal reflections of small number of campaigners, survivors and government officials to share the heart and passion at the root of the Ottawa Treaty – from a campaigner who met his wife through community awareness activities to a survivor dedicated to speaking out against the weapon that cost him his legs, from students who turned outrage into action to officials who took a risk and created a new framework for diplomacy,” said Paul Hannon, Executive Director of Mines Action Canada. 

Contributors include civil society members from Brazil, Pakistan, Kuwait, Germany, France and Poland; youth from Burundi, Canada, Georgia, Uganda, Yemen, and Kosovo; and landmine survivors from the United States, Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Senegal, plus the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs during the Ottawa Process. 

Editor Colleen McGrann said, “I hope that this publication inspires others to get involved in the landmine issue or other social justice or humanitarian issues that speak to them. Each entry in Ordinary People, Extraordinary Impact is proof that each of us can have an extraordinary impact on our global community no matter how small we may feel.” 

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Impact: Personal Reflections on 15 Years of the Ottawa Treaty Banning Landmines is available online at: http://www.minesactioncanada.org/learn/15th-anniversary.