Mines Action Canada: Make History Happen

MAKE HISTORY HAPPEN!

Photo: John Rodsted

Guide to taking action against cluster bombs and landmines

Mines Action Canada’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

Welcome to the Mines Action Canada community!

You are now a part of Canada’s campaign against landmines and cluster bombs — a movement of individuals and organizations committed to the goal of eliminating the serious humanitarian, environmental and development consequences of landmines and other explosive remnants of war.

What you need to know about the issue: • These weapons are lethal barriers to development impacting health, economy, environment, human rights and gender equality in affected communities.

• This is solvable within our lifetime. We know the answer. We have the legal and political tools to solve it.

But we need your help to make sure we finish the job of crossing banning landmines and cluster bombs off the global “to-do” list!

What you need to know about MAC: • MAC believes in the power of youth to promote social change and invests heavily in ensuring the next generation of civil society activists have the training and support they need to take action and become leaders in their communities by providing educational forums, apprenticeship opportunities and internships.

• MAC was one of the driving forces behind the two international treaties that limit the damage done by these weapons.

• MAC has a long track record of demonstrating international leadership in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Cluster Munition Coalition.

• MAC is the lead agency responsible for coordinating global research on landmines and cluster bombs resulting in the annual production of the Landmine Monitor.

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

Who this kit is for: The Ottawa treaty banning landmines and the new treaty banning cluster bombs became a reality because ordinary people decided that there were limits to war and came together from around the world to make their voices heard. This kit is for anyone who wants to help us make the world a safer place — a world that can be traveled safely and a place where everyone can walk without fear.

We believe any one individual is capable of initiating a chapter, group or club in their school or community and this kit is meant to provide you with everything you need to do this. When you take action, people watch.

When you talk, people listen. Inside this guide, you will find information about the issue, monthly calls to action featuring special monthly themes, and a list of resources and links to support your work.

Make sure you go the Our Network section of MAC’s website to sign up for MAC’s e-news, Facebook page or Twitter (MinesActionCan). At the beginning of each month, MAC will release new interactive resources and tools to support each month’s theme including live webinars with experts from the field, interactive games, applications for your social networking sites, and more!

Thank you for caring and getting involved! If you have any questions or need some guidance, don’t hesitate to contact us at actnow@minesactioncanada.org or 613 241 3777!

Together, we can continue to Make History Happen!

Paul Hannon Executive Director Mines Action Canada

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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Welcome i

Table of contents

Table of Contents iv About the Campaign 1 The Problem 3 Taking Action! Creating a MAC Group 6 September 2009: We Make History Happen!

10 October 2009: Explosive Barriers to Development 15 November 2009: A Veteran Is …

18 December 2009: 3, 2, 1, Action!

20 January 2010: When Your Investment Bombs …

23 February 2010: Bombs Away!

27 March 2010: Women, War and Peace 30 April 2010: Mission Possible! A Mine-Free World 33 May 2010: Wrapping Up … Next Steps!

35 Appendices 36 Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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Photo: John Rodsted

About

the campaign

As Canadians, we are proud of our country’s legacy of leading international efforts to create a world free of landmines and cluster bombs. The Convention banning landmines is known internationally as the Ottawa Treaty because of our role spearheading its creation. Last December, Canada was one of the

MAKE HISTORY HAPPEN!

first countries to sign the new Convention on Cluster Munitions banning a weapon that causes unacceptable harm to civilians.

Canadians like you have been key to ensuring our country is at the forefront of this movement. Mines Action Canada has six staff members headquartered in Ottawa. But the real Canadian campaign is people like you who dedicate time, effort and resources to ensuring the human-made disaster caused by cluster bombs and landmines is solved in our lifetime.

ACT

Share

Give

S o, we l c o me t o t h e f ut u r e … n o w!

Join the national campaign and Act, Share and Give your way to saving lives, improving communities, and cementing the reputation of Canadians as advocates of human rights and social justice.

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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Anatomy of the Campaign: Head, Heart and Muscles Starting from the top: the campaign’s head

The campaign features special monthly themes and resources. These include A Veteran Is … in November, When Your Investment Bombs … in January, and Women, War and Peace in March. Each month has different Act, Share and Give actions and ideas based on the theme to get you inspired and involved.

The muscles of the operation …

are individuals like you and the school, community and faith-based groups you work with! Through Acting, Sharing and Giving in unique and fun ways such as button drives, letter-writing campaigns, and webcasts, you will help achieve the following goals: 1) Generate 10,000 Canadian signatures on the People’s Treaty.

2) Ensure that Canada remains a top five donor to mine action by contributing $1 per Canadian per year until all major clearance deadlines are met in the next ten years.

3) Make Canada ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions by the end of 2009.

4) Convince all Canadian chartered banks to take a stand against investing in companies producing cluster bombs.

5) Raise $50,000 to support MAC’s work creating a mine free world.

Finally, the heart

The impact of cluster bombs and landmines extends beyond individual injury or death; victim-activated weapons cause a legacy of long-term destruction. Landmines and cluster bombs destroy people’s abilities to earn an income, place burdens on families and already strained health care systems to care for the injured, and alter the structure of communities by making land, such as farmland, too dangerous to tread upon.

In Canada, we are fortunate to not have to deal with the fear of losing life, limb or livelihood from victim-activated weapons. We do not take this for granted. And we are inspired by the survivors of these weapons who go on to lead courageous lives. This is the heart of the campaign. Please join us!

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

The Problem Antipersonnel landmines claim victims in every corner of the globe each day. Incapable of distinguishing between the

landmines

footfall of a soldier and that of a child, they remain a threat long after the end of a conflict.

Antipersonnel landmines are explosive devices designed to injure or kill people. They lie dormant for years and even decades under, on or near the ground until a person or animal triggers their detonating mechanism.

Antipersonnel mines cannot be aimed: they indiscriminately kill or injure civilians, soldiers, peacekeepers and aid workers alike.

Made of plastic, metal or other materials, they contain explosives and some contain pieces of shrapnel. They can be activated by direct pressure from above, by pressure put on a wire or filament attached to a pull switch, by a radio signal or other remote firing method, or even simply by the proximity of a person within a predetermined distance.

When triggered, a landmine unleashes unspeakable destruction. The blast causes injuries like blindness, burns, destroyed limbs and shrapnel wounds. Sometimes the victim dies from the blast, due to loss of blood or because they don’t get to medical care in time. Those who survive and receive medical treatment often require amputations, long hospital stays and extensive rehabilitation.

Stepping on a blast antipersonnel mine will invariably cause foot and leg injuries, and secondary infections usually resulting in amputation. Fragmentation mines project hundreds of metal fragments, showering the victim with deep wounds. Bounding fragmentation mines are more powerful versions: they spring up about 1 meter and then explode, firing metal fragments to a large radius.

The Ottawa Treaty banning landmines, spearheaded by Canada, defines an antipersonnel mine as: “a mine designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person and that will incapacitate, injure or kill one or more persons.” (Article 2.1) Landmines are everywhere. According to Landmine Monitor, over 75 countries and territories in all regions of the world are affected by landmines and/or explosive remnants of war. Nobody knows how many mines are in the ground. But the actual number is less important than their impact: it can take only two or three mines or the mere suspicion of their presence to render a patch of land unusable.

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cluster bombs Cluster bombs, or cluster munitions, are weapons containing from several to hundreds of explosive submunitions. They are dropped from the air or fired from the ground and designed to break open in mid-air, releasing the submunitions and saturating an area that can be as wide as several football fields.

Cluster bombs are area-effect weapons: their impact is not limited to one precise target such as an individual tank. Instead, a whole area is scattered with explosives. At the time of use, anybody within the targeted area is very likely to be killed or seriously injured. Since the explosive submunitions are not precision-guided, not directed against a specific military object, their accuracy can be affected by weather and other environmental factors. Most cluster bombs therefore hit areas outside the military objective targeted.

History shows that the reliability rate of cluster bombs is very low. Many of the submunitions fail to explode as they are supposed to, leaving huge quantities of unexploded ordnance on the ground. After the attack, these unexploded submunitions remain, like landmines, a fatal threat to anyone in the area.

The definition of cluster bombs found in the new Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) constitutes the first legal definition of this weapon in international law. It covers all weapons with explosive submunitions and places a prohibition on this entire category of weapons.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions defines the weapon as ‘a conventional munition that is designed to disperse or release explosive submunitions each weighing less than 20 kilograms, and includes those explosive submunitions.’

The definition makes certain clarifications for weapons that have submunitions but are not considered cluster bombs, such as weapons with submunitions designed for smoke, flare, and electronic counter-measures. Also falling outside the definition are weapons that have submunitions but that do not cause the same indiscriminate area effects or UXO risks as cluster munitions. Such munitions must meet each of a series of five minimum technical characteristics set out in the Convention.

Canada has signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on December 2, 2008 but has yet to ratify it and become a full State Party (as of August 21, 2009).

Photo: John Rodsted

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

explosive remnants of war An explosive remnant of war (ERW) is the term for unexploded and/or abandoned ordnance left behind after a conflict or war. It includes all abandoned and unexploded weapons in an area — i.e. unexploded artillery shells, grenades, mortars, rockets, air-dropped bombs, anti-vehicle landmines as well as failed cluster bombs.

It excludes antipersonnel landmines. Scattered throughout the world, although the quantity of it is largely unknown, its impact is significant. Laos, Cambodia, Kosovo, Eritrea, Iraq, Afghanistan and now, Lebanon, have experienced ERW casualty levels on a scale similar to those caused by landmines.

Landmines are designed to be victim-activated and long lasting. Most other weapons that generally become ERW are not designed to indiscriminately harm people after hostilities are over. However, weapons that do not detonate as designed or are abandoned pose a threat to civilians similar to landmines.

Until cleared post-conflict, they pose an ongoing serious threat to civilians. They are particularly dangerous because they are unpredictable. Detonation depends on whether the weapon was fired, the arming mechanism and fuse used, corrosion and degradation, and how people interact with it. ERW can be wholly or partially visible, hidden by vegetation or buried.

On November 12th, 2006, Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War, as part of the UN’s Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), entered into force. It is the first multilateral agreement to address the range of unexploded and abandoned ordnance that threatens civilians, peacekeepers and humanitarian workers in a post-conflict situation. It addresses the responsibility for ERW clearance, sharing information for clearance, risk education, warning civilian populations, and assistance. Canada did not ratify Protocol V until May 19, 2009.

RESOURCES: •

The Problem with Landmines – A PowerPoint presentation that provides the facts about landmines, the progress of the global campaign to eliminate these weapons, and the role of Canada and Canadians in achieving a mine free world (www.minesactioncanada.org/tool_kit/presentations/en/the-problem-with-landmines.ppt)

•

Disable Cluster Bombs … Not People – This PowerPoint presentation provides a concise overview of the cluster bomb problem, the movement to ban them and how people can get involved. (www.minesactioncanada.org/tool_kit/presentations/en/disable%20cluster%20bombs%20 not%20people.ppt)

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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Taking Action Congratulations for wanting to help make history

creating a MAC group

happen! A fun and easy way of doing this is by creating a MAC group at your school, workplace, place of worship or community centre.

“Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead Why create a group?

Initiating a MAC chapter, club or group is a great idea because: •

You get to meet and work with people as passionate and interested as you are in making a difference in the world.

•

More people = more ideas, more resources, more great minds, more hands, more fun!

•

You’ll increase the visibility and chances of success of any event you organize.

•

It’s a great networking opportunity and you’ll get valuable experience to add to your CV.

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•

Recruit a group of people interested in making history happen. This can be as easy as setting up a table at your school’s Clubs Day, sending an email to friends and friends of friends, putting up a flyer on the bulletin board at your community centre, or making an announcement at your place of worship.

•

Decide on a name for your group. You can decide if you want to be called a club, chapter, group or whatever! We encourage you to use Mines Action Canada or MAC in your title.

•

Sign up on the Our Network section of www.minesactioncanada.org.

By signing up, you will receive monthly issues of MAC’s e-news with information, tools and resources.

•

Also sign up to MAC’s Facebook page and Twitter (MinesActionCan) so you don’t miss out on breaking news, campaign updates, ideas, and monthly interactive resources.

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

Photo: Mary Wareham, ANZ Cluster Munition Coalition

How to create a group

What do groups do?

By using this Make History Happen guide to action, groups will be actively working towards the following goals: 1) Generate 10,000 Canadian signatures on the People’s Treaty.

2) Ensure that Canada remains a top five donor to mine action by contributing $1 per Canadian per year until all major clearance deadlines are met in the next ten years.

3) Make Canada ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions by the end of 2009.

4) Convince all Canadian chartered banks to take a stand against investing in companies producing cluster bombs.

5) Raise $50,000 to support MAC’s work creating a mine-free world.

The Make History Happen! Guide to Taking Action Against Cluster Bombs and Landmines is intended to inspire you and help your group inspire others. We’ve included monthly ideas and tools to take action, spread the word and raise funds for a world free of landmines and cluster bombs. But your group has the freedom to run an event you think would work best with your community. We encourage you to run events every month but welcome one-time events too.

We ask that you report on any activity you run. Use the Event Report template in Appendix A and email it back to actnow@minesactioncanada.org. This helps us keep track of the impact we’re having collectively.

Learning about your activities also keeps our toolkit of ideas fresh and updated. Tell us what you did so we can tell others and recognize your efforts!

Tips for running a successful group

• Meet regularly to keep people engaged and involved.

The campaign’s monthly themes and action ideas should make this easy!

Photo: Cluster Munition Coalition

• Make sure all members play a role. Delegate tasks and let everyone contribute ideas, time and resources.

• Your group could be highly structured with a President or Coordinator, Vice-President / Vice-Coordinator and other official positions. Or it can be less hierarchical where no one has an official title and everyone does what they can.

• The most effective groups have clear lines of communication and expectations. You should know how your group is going to make decisions, who runs meetings to make the best use of people’s time, how money is handled, and who communicates with MAC and other groups. Make sure everyone knows who’s doing what by when.

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What can groups expect from MAC ?

In addition to the sense of achievement and satisfaction that comes with making history happen, your group can expect the following from MAC: •

Access to webinars and webcasts on leading issues and breaking news.

•

If you’re under 30: opportunities to participate in the “What if … ” multimedia YouTube competition, Youth Leaders Forum (28 November – 5 December, 2009 in Cartagena, Colombia), and internships in mine-affected countries.

•

Encouragement and advice from our Campaign Officer. Contact us at actnow@minesactioncanada.org or 613 241 3777.

•

We have a limited amount of resources such as Bombs Away! buttons, copies of the Landmine BANner newsletter and other “give-away” items. Contact the Campaign Officer to get some or download and print from our website.

•

Acknowledgement and credit on our website and in our publications.

•

Unfortunately, MAC does not have a budget for group activities. We cannot provide you with funds to run an event. We will support you in your efforts to seek sponsorship, ask for in-kind donations, or request funding from your student government or other bodies. See the fundraising guidelines below for covering costs.

Guidelines for representing MAC

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•

You may use the MAC logo at your events and in your materials. Contact the Campaign Officer at actnow@minesactioncanada.org for the MAC logo. By using the logo, you agree to represent MAC responsibly and appropriately.

•

MAC does not accept liability for any events run its name except by prior agreement.

•

You should clearly identify your group’s name in any materials (e.g. posters) and at events. This will help you promote your own group and avoid confusion about being MAC “headquarters”.

•

Your group is welcome to set up its own webpage, Facebook group or listserv. It must be clear that this is a site, group, etc. particular to your group and not MAC as an organization.

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

Guidelines for handling money

MAC is held accountable to our donors and partners to handle all money matters responsibly and transparently.

We have annual audits and must show clearly where funds have come from and how they’ve been spent. As a MAC group, you are entrusted with the same level of accountability and responsibility.

•

To avoid overlap with sponsorship requests, contact the Campaign Officer at: actnow@minesactioncanada.org before requesting sponsorship support.

•

Fill out the Event Report template in Appendix A and send it to MAC after all fundraising events. Send the report and funds to MAC as soon as possible. This helps us track progress towards achieving the $50,000 goal and will ease your burden of tracking funds from various events at different times.

•

Do not send cash in the mail. If you have cash donations, send us a cheque payable for the amount or remit it online through PayPal or a credit card. Make sure you send us a message saying what it’s for so we can credit your group!

•

Donors at your events can make cheques payable to Mines Action Canada. You can collect them and send them to us at the same time.

•

Costs to run an event (e.g. equipment or space rental) can be claimed against the event. No costs above and beyond the actual costs should be claimed; for example, you can’t pay yourself a fee for running the event. The Event Report template will help you itemize expenses and revenue.

•

Your group can accept only cheques (made payable to Mines Action Canada) or cash donations. If people want to use a credit card, ask them to fill out the form on the back of the BANner newsletter (if you have them) or do it online at MAC’s website. You could consider having a laptop with internet access set up at your event so people can donate online right then.

•

Be very clear with all donors and on all materials who you are raising funds for.

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If you are organizing a joint fundraising event with one or more community groups, make sure you are clear in the event promotions about where the funds are going, and get a clear agreement in advance with the co-organizers about how the funds raised will be distributed.

Photo: John Rodsted

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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SEPTEMBER 2009 we make history happen!

KEY MESSAGES: • Welcome to MAC’s first annual national campaign! Each month from now to April 2010, there will be monthly themes, innovative resources and exciting opportunities to get involved in the campaign to ban landmines and cluster bombs. Make history happen with us!

• Join or promote the “What if … ” competition, a contest for young Canadians to submit multimedia presentations on the real, human impact of landmines and cluster bombs and why everyone should work towards a world free of these weapons. The prize is one spot to participate in MAC’s Youth Leaders Forum in Colombia (Nov. 28 – Dec. 5, 2009) and an Insignia High Definition SD Memory Camcorder.

Deadline for submissions is October 13, 2009.

• MAC is Canada’s campaign against landmines and cluster bombs. We believe the human-made disaster caused by these weapons is solvable in our lifetime. We do this by engaging the Canadian public; building our partners’ capacity domestically and internationally; researching and monitoring the performance and compliance levels of humanitarian laws and treaties; and developing and disseminating innovative resources to inspire action.

BACKGROUND: • Mines Action Canada (MAC) has a long and exciting history of making history! We are Canada’s campaign to ban landmines and cluster bombs, and have 15 years of experience getting Canadians involved in this powerful disarmament movement. MAC is headquartered in Ottawa with a staff of six, but the real campaign is the Canadians coast to coast who devote time, effort and money to achieving a world free of landmines and cluster bombs.

• We are a coalition of over 35 Canadian non-governmental organizations working in mine action, peace, development, labour, health and human rights that came together in the early 1990s. We are the Canadian partner of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), the 1997 corecipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. MAC is also a founding member of the Cluster Munition Coalition.

Photo: Cluster Munition Coalition, Philippines

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

Photo: Nora Sheets, PSALM

Photo: MAC

• The movement to ban landmines began in the early 1990s when concerned individuals and organizations witnessed the horrendous affect of landmines on the communities they were working with in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America and saw how landmines hampered and even prevented their development efforts in these countries. They realized that a ban on these indiscriminate weapons was needed, and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) was born to coordinate the effort. Mines Action Canada, the Canadian arm of the ICBL, coalesced in 1993 as a coalition of development, social justice, peace, faith, health and relief organizations. The civil society movement to ban landmines organized conferences and campaigning events all over the world, building momentum towards a global ban. In Canada, MAC contributed significantly to Foreign and Defence policy reviews, raised awareness amongst the Canadian public and media of the devastating impact of landmines and their futility as a weapon of war, and facilitated action through letter-writing campaigns, and public events including speaking tours by landmine survivors, a film festival and benefit concert, and exhibits.

• MAC has been working to ban cluster bombs since 2001. Cluster bombs have a failure rate ranging from 5-30%. Those that do not explode on impact become explosive remnants of war. These ‘dud’ munitions become de facto landmines and must be treated and cleared as such. For this reason, many individuals, organizations and governments who worked to ban landmines, are engaged in the movement to ban cluster bombs. Together with other civil society partners, MAC helped form and launch the international Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) in 2003. Working in concert with the Governments of Norway, New Zealand and others, the CMC was the civil society force behind the Convention on Cluster Munitions that opened for signature on 3 December 2008. As of 31 August 2009, 98 countries have signed the CCM and 17 have ratified. The Convention requires 30 ratifications before it enters into force as international law. Internationally, MAC has been a leader in the movement to ban cluster bombs through our role on the Steering Committee of the Cluster Munition Coalition. Nationally, MAC facilitated action by Canadians that resulted in Canada signing the CCM when it first opened for signature, a goal that seemed unlikely at the outset of the process.

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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In 2009 – 2010, MAC’s programming includes: • The MAKE HISTORY HAPPEN! national annual campaign that you’re now a part of!

• “What if … ” competition for Canadians aged 18–30 to submit short multimedia YouTube presentations on the real, human impact of landmines and cluster bombs.

• Youth Leadership, Education and Action Program (Youth LEAP), a multi-faceted international youth leadership development program that builds the capacity of young women and men to be effective advocates in their own countries. The signature event of Youth LEAP is the Youth Leaders Forum to be held in conjunction with the Second Review Conference of the Ottawa Treaty in Cartagena, Colombia from November 28–December 5, 2009.

• When your investment bombs: the national disinvestment campaign with the goals of having all Canadian banks clarify their positions on providing financing — indirectly or otherwise — to cluster munition producers, and educating the financial community on the impacts of victim-activated weapons and the need to ban their production (see January!).

• The Young Professionals International Mine Action Program (YPIMAP), an internship program for young Canadians to work with overseas partners in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munition Coalition.

• The coordination and production of the Landmine Monitor Report, an unprecedented civil society monitoring network that assesses and reports annually on the international community’s response to the problem of landmines, cluster bombs and explosive remnants of war.

Photo: NPA, Bosnia

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

ACT

• Join the MAC Community as a Change Ally, Change Advocate, Change Leader or Change Visionary. Visit the Our Community page in the Our Networks section of www.minesactioncanada.org for details on the benefits of each of these levels and to sign up!

• Promote the What if … multimedia YouTube competition, a contest for young Canadians to submit short multimedia presentations on the real, human impact of landmines and cluster bombs and why everyone should work towards a world free of these weapons. Contest deadline is October 13th. The prize is one spot at MAC’s Youth Leaders Forum in Cartagena, Colombia November 28 – December 5, 2009 and an Insignia High Definition SD Memory Camcorder.

• Start your own MAC chapter or club and stay involved in the annual campaign.

Give

• Inspire, inform and motivate others to become part of the annual campaign by hosting a film night and donating the proceeds to MAC. Suggestions for films — both documentary and Hollywood — can be found in Appendix B.

• Sign up to be a monthly donor by visiting the GIVE section of our website.

You can make history happen for the price of a couple of beers or coffees a month!

Share

• Put the “WE MAKE HISTORY HAPPEN ! ” banner on your email signature, blog, website or Facebook page. Check out the “Resources” page in the Tools section of www.minesactioncanada.org for this as well as web banners.

• Take part in the survey on MAC’s website and invite your friends to do the same.

• Are you signed up to the MAC e-news, Twitter (MinesActionCan) or Facebook page? At the beginning of each month, MAC will be releasing a new, interactive resource to support the monthly call to action — banners for your website or social networking pages, interactive games, videos, webinars with experts from the field. Visit the Our Network section of our website to sign up and stay current !

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Photo: Alison Locke (CMC)

RESOURCES: • We Make History Happen! PowerPoint presentation www.minesactioncanada.org/documents/campaigns/We_make_history_happen_September.ppt • YouTube video, Cluster bombs BANNED in Oslo — MAC was there! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sev9uXiYjb4 • Disarm, a documentary about the landmine issue and the movement that banned them. Trailer available here, www.disarmfilm.org/thefilm/index.php, full version available by contacting MAC at info@minesactioncanada.org.

• Unacceptable Harm, film detailing the effects of cluster bombs on civilians, www.youtube.com/watch?v=U54gfDwl_1k.

• No more landmines — Dangerous Ground, a short video about what it is like to live with landmines, www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCJgcl_KN1Y.

FURTHER INFORMATION: • www.minesactioncanada.org/index.cfm?fuse=about-us.history for a historical timeline.

• www.minesactioncanada.org/index.cfm?fuse=learn.what-we-do for more information on MAC’s programs.

• www.minesactioncanada.org/index.cfm?fuse=our-campaigns.index for more information on our campaigns.

• To read the latest news from the Landmine Monitor, go to www.lm.icbl.org.

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

OCTOBER 2009

explosive barriers to development KEY MESSAGES: • Landmines and cluster bombs hinder development of communities and countries.

• The effects of landmines or cluster bombs on a community go far beyond the injury or death caused to an individual.

• Mine action is a necessary first step in the recovery and rehabilitation of an affected community.

• MAC’s work supports the removal of explosive barriers to development by raising funds to support mine action in affected communities and training young people around the world to be effective community leaders.

BACKGROUND: • There are several international days to build activities around including: World Food Day (October 16), International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (October 17), and Global Week of Disarmament (October 24-30).

• The vast majority of victims of landmines, cluster bombs and explosive remnants of war are civilians and not soldiers. Year after year, Landmine Monitor has reported that civilians account for 70 to 85 percent of casualties. This is not just during a conflict — most of the countries where casualties are reported are at peace.

• Once planted, landmines and cluster bombs that fail to detonate don’t go away unless they are cleared by a deminer or unwitting victim.

Landmines sown during the First World War are still causing death and destruction in parts of Europe and North Africa. Failed cluster bombs dropped in South Asia are still maiming and killing people every month. These weapons don’t obey peace agreements or ceasefires. The only way to prevent long-term damage is to stop any landmine and cluster bomb use altogether and devote resources to clearing minefields and helping the victims.

Photo: Department of National Defence

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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• Uncleared landmines, cluster bombs and explosive remnants of war are lethal barriers to economic growth and post-conflict recovery by: • Slowing down the repatriation of refugees and displaced people, or even prevent it altogether if the land is not cleared or, at minimum, marked; • Hampering the provision of aid and relief services and threatening, injuring and killing aid workers by blocking access to roads or other important infrastructure; • Further burdening a likely already overstretched health care system with the need to provide medical treatment for victims; • Depriving communities of their productive land; and • Affecting access to economically important areas such as roads, electricity pylons and dams.

• Landmine and cluster bomb accidents may cost a family their breadwinner. This puts a burden on other members of the family to make up for lost income and/or provide ongoing care for the victim - if they survive. Often, children are pulled out of schools to help with this burden or simply because the family can no longer afford it.

• Vocational training and support are often not available so many survivors and their families struggle to make a living after an accident.

• On the flip side, a landmine or cluster-affected country stands to gain international assistance for clearance and victim assistance once they join the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines and/or Cluster Munitions Convention because each treaty contains an obligation to provide technical and financial assistance to affected states by countries (like Canada) in a position to do so.

Photo credit: John Rodsted

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

ACT

Give

Share

Encourage Canada to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions without delay! Contact your MP using our Write Now ! e-tool. Stage a public stunt like drawing chalk silhouettes around members of the public to represent the civilian victims of cluster bombs and landmines.

Organize a non-dinner party fundraiser. Have a discussion or plan some activities to help people understand how victim-activated weapons hinder people’s access to food, land and livelihood using some of the resources below.

Educate your community on these lethal barriers to development by creating mock minefields in public areas. Invite friends and family to participate in this month’s webcast featuring a Q&A session with a development expert working in an affected country.

RESOURCES: • Explosive Barriers to Development PowerPoint www.minesactioncanada.org/documents/campaigns/Explosive_barriers_to_development_October.ppt • Landmine Tools for Action, Canadian Physicians for Aid & Relief (CPAR), www.toolsforaction.ca/landmines.asp • Video, Economic Costs of Landmine Proliferation, Canadian Red Cross, www.redcross.ca/videos/economic.html • Video, Social Costs of Landmine Proliferation, Canadian Red Cross, www.redcross.ca/videos/social.html • Game, Get to the Market, Canadian Red Cross, a 10-minute activity suitable for all ages that helps convey a sense of the difficulties and dangers posed by landmines, www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=28759&tid=110 • Make sure to check out MAC’s October e-news, Twitter and Facebook for ideas for activities and simulations to help people understand what it means to live amongst landmines, cluster bombs and explosive remnants of war.

FURTHER INFORMATION: • Even Wars Have Limits campaign, Canadian Red Cross, www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=1945&tid=110 Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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NOVEMBER 2009 a veteran is …

KEY MESSAGES: • Conflicts are no longer fought on defined battlefields. They are fought where people live, work, learn and play.

• Canadians generally think of veterans as members of our armed forces who have served in wars or peacekeeping missions and this is true. However, conflicts today also make veterans of civilians, children and others who did not enlist.

• MAC’s work prevents civilians, children and others from becoming unintended veterans by limiting the use of indiscriminate, persistent victim-activated weapons through the enforcement and creation of international law. MAC also works to ensure the rights and dignity of those already affected is restored by supporting programs that assist survivors and their families, clear land, and provide risk prevention education.

BACKGROUND: • The 2009 Landmine Monitor report findings will be released on November 12th. Check out www.lm.icbl.org to get the latest statistics.

• The 2008 Landmine Monitor reported 5,426 casualties — 71% were civilians. Men made up 48% of civilian casualties, where gender was known, and children constituted 46%.

• Significant dates to organize events around include the International Day for Preventing Exploitation of the Environment in War & Armed Conflict (November 6); World Science Day for Peace & Development (November 10); Remembrance Day (November 11); and the release of the Landmine Monitor 2009 report (November 12).

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

Photo: Simon Conway

• Animals and the environment are also adversely affected by landmines, cluster bombs and explosive remnants of war. The most famous example of this is Motola, the Thai elephant who lost a foot and part of a leg in a mine accident 10 years ago. In August 2009, she received an artificial limb (www.breitbart.com/ article.php?id=D9A411180&show_article=1)

ACT

Give

Share

Join Jacqueline Hansen, Landmine Monitor Program Manager, via webcast as she explains and answers questions on how Canada rates in terms of its commitment to mine action and aid. Send letters to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and CIDA on how Canada did last year and what we expect this year in terms funding for mine action.

Organize an educational fundraising event such as a trivia pub night exploring the theme of “A Veteran is … ” or a candlelight vigil honoring all of the veterans around the world. Use the Landmine Monitor 2009 Report as a resource to develop your questions !

Photo: ICBL

MAC will be releasing a viral tool on November 1st showcasing all the different types of veterans there are today for passing on to friends, family and colleagues.

Resources: • A Veteran Is … PowerPoint (www.minesactioncanada.org/documents/campaigns/A_Veteran_is_November.ppt) • Against All Odds, the UNHCR simulation game that lets you experience what it is like to be a refugee, www.playagainstallodds.com/

FURTHER INFORMATION: • Real-life Survivor Stories, Cluster Munition Coalition: stopclustermunitions.org/the-problem/real-stories/ • What is International Humanitarian Law? Fact Sheet www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/humanitarian-law-factsheet/$File/What_is_IHL.pdf • Exploring Humanitarian Law Virtual Campus, a web-based resource centre with a wide variety of resources such as learning modules, workshops, training videos and an online discussion forum, www.ehl.icrc.org/ Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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DECEMBER 2009 3, 2, 1, action!

KEY MESSAGES: • December 3rd is an important anniversary in bringing humanity one step closer to peace and social justice by restoring the rights and dignity of affected individuals and communities. It is the International Day for People with Disabilities, as well as the anniversary of the signing of the Ottawa Convention banning landmines (1997) and the Convention on Cluster Munitions (2008).

• Civil society is the guiding force behind banning landmines and cluster bombs. We challenge and change international norms to advance the rights and protection of civilians during times of war and peace.

• For over 15 years, MAC has been a leader in mobilizing international civil society to ban landmines and cluster bombs. MAC does a lot of “heavy lifting” for both of these movements by providing grassroots capacity building programs and governance to the Cluster Munition Coalition and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

BACKGROUND: • Until the 2008 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), there was no international convention to guarantee the rights of people with disabilities. Prior to this, the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines was the only tool for affected states to attract international cooperation to assist people with disabilities. The Ottawa Treaty established the global norm for assisting survivors and people with disabilities.

• The CRPD and, in particular, the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) have benefited from the experience that civil society and governments have learned from trying to effectively implement the victim assistance obligations of the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines.

• The CCM has the strongest language to date in terms of clear and specific obligations for states to provide aid to people with disabilities. Ground breaking elements of the CCM include: • A stand-alone article (Article 5) specifically outlining State Parties’ unequivocal obligation to provide assistance to victims of cluster bombs; Photo: CNAD

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

• A broadened definition of “victim” that includes affected individuals, families and communities; • An obligation of states to incorporate victim assistance into existing national disability, development and human rights frameworks; • A mandate to consult with and actively involve cluster bomb victims and their representative organizations in decisions related to victim assistance; and • A requirement to develop a national victim assistance action plan with clear timelines, allocated resources; a government focal point responsible for implementation; and an obligation to report annually on its progress on fulfilling these obligations.

• The overlap and mutual reinforcement amongst the three treaties is particularly important for those most affected. A person missing a leg due to a landmine explosion isn’t just a “landmine survivor” — they are also a person with a disability. A person blinded because of a cluster bomb isn’t just a “cluster bomb survivor” — they are a person with a disability.

Photo: Cluster Munition Coalition

ACT

Give

Help us reach our goal of generating 10,000 Canadian signatures for the People’s Treaty banning cluster bombs by signing the Treaty and encouraging your friends and family to sign! You can sign online at www.minesactioncanada.org/peoples_treaty or download hard copy petition forms.

• Organize a film festival fundraiser profiling films and documentaries related to landmines, cluster bombs and people with disabilities. Film suggestions — documentaries and Hollywood — can be found in Appendix B. • Donate a gift to MAC in the name of your friend or family member and they will receive a handmade gift card created by landmine survivors in Cambodia acknowledging your gift.

Share

Post the Your Signature Can Save Lives ! YouTube video on your social networking sites and send the link to you network, www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNFGBeIsS-I.

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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Photo credit: Mary Wareham

RESOURCES: • 3, 2, 1, Action! PowerPoint (www.minesactioncanada.org/documents/campaigns/3_2_1_Action_December.ppt) • The People’s Treaty banning cluster bombs website, a one-stop shop for everything you need to know about the cluster bombs, the people trying to ban them and the petition, www.minesactioncanada.org/peoples_treaty • Sample film festival suggestions of documentaries and Hollywood films featuring landmines and cluster bombs. A list of films can be found in Appendix B.

FURTHER INFORMATION: • Connecting the Dots: Victim Assistance and Human Rights, a report aiming to familiarize readers with the connections between the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Survivor Corps, www.survivorcorps.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=17 • Full text of the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines, www.icbl.org/index.php/icbl/Treaties/MBT/Treaty-Text-in-Many-Languages/English • Full text of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, stopclustermunitions.org/the-solution/the-treaty • Full text of the Convention on the Rights of People With Disabilities, www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=259 • Ban Advocates, a blog featuring the voices of individuals directly affected by cluster bombs, Handicap International, www.banadvocates.org 22

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

JANUARY 2010

when your investment bombs …

KEY MESSAGES:

• Although 98% of cluster bomb victims are civilians, cluster bomb producers do not have any problems attracting capital from financial markets. Canadian financial institutions have been implicated in providing funds to companies that produce cluster bombs.

• The Ottawa Treaty banning landmines and the Convention on Cluster Munitions state ”each State Party undertakes never under any circumstance to assist, encourage or induce, in any way anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention.” Financing the production of antipersonnel mines or cluster bombs or their components should clearly constitute “assistance” or encouragement, but in reality the implementation of these treaties does not automatically lead to banning these types of investments.

• MAC is working towards a Canadian ban on direct and indirect investments by researching the involvement and clarifying policies of Canadian financial institutions; encouraging Canadians to question how their money is being used; and advocating for Canadian legislation that would ban such investments.

BACKGROUND:

Photo credit: Cluster Munition Coalition

• When your investment bombs is the Canadian component of the international Explosive Investments disinvestment campaign coordinated by the Cluster Munition Coalition. There is a major movement all over the world to raise awareness about and push for action to deny funds to producers of cluster bombs as the Convention on Cluster Munitions becomes international law this year. The allocation of capital resources lends legitimacy to these companies and their continuing production of cluster bombs, and should be considered illegal.

• A February 2007 report by Netwerk Vlaanderen, a Belgian organization that promotes socially responsible approach to money, focused on six cluster munition producers found that 68 financial institutions played a role in financing these companies. The cluster munition producers included in the report are: GenCorp (USA), Lockheed Martin (USA), Raytheon (USA), Textron (USA), Thales (France), and EADS (Netherlands). Financial institutions from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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Switzerland, The Netherlands, UK and USA were all implicated. Together they secured credit facilities for these six cluster munition producers worth a total amount of US$12.6 billion during 2004-2007. Investment banking services have also arranged bond issues for two companies worth a total amount of US$1.3 billion during the same period. Several financial institutions have also been found to hold significant shareholdings in four cluster munition producers.

Photo: Cluster Munition Coalition

• A wide range of financial institutions (FIs) operate in our globalised world. These include banks, insurance companies, investment funds, investment banks, pension funds, export credit agencies, multilateral financial institutions, and government funds, and they play a crucial role in allocating financial resources. As a large majority of companies and governments in the world are dependent on the financial markets and financial institutions to find the capital needed to operate, financial institutions play a key role in every segment of human activity.

Simply by choosing the companies and projects they will finance and invest in, financial Photo credit: Cluster Munition Coalition institutions are fostering certain (business) evolutions. Unfortunately, financial institutions are generally taking investment decisions based solely on profit maximizing criteria. Most of the time, the impact of these investments on human rights, armed conflict or environmental destruction are not taken into account. Of course there are exceptions, but a big majority of banking groups and other financial institutions are blindly investing in any profit-gaining activity and are totally neglecting — and even ignoring — the impact of their decisions on human lives.

• Most of the time banks are using their clients’ money to make their investments. Banks have a redistributing function. They collect money from their clients (you and I) in savings accounts and investment funds.

This money is in return used to finance projects and to invest in companies. If you are a client of a bank without a restricted investment policy regarding weapons generally or cluster bombs specifically, this means your money could be used to invest in cluster bombs. Most of the time you don’t realize it, but still you are earning interest or profit on your account that is partially coming from arms production or cluster munition production.

• Canadian banks are implicated in financing cluster munition producers through their participation in inter24

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

national financing syndicates. As such, they are providing indirect assistance to the manufacturers of weapons that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. Canadian bank involvement includes: • Bank of Nova Scotia: Part of a 30-member international banking syndicate the provided a US$2.2 billion five year revolving credit facility to Raytheon in March 2005.

• Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia: Part of 19-member syndicate that provided a $1.25 billion five year revolving credit facility to Textron in March 2005.

• Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto Dominion: Part of a 36-member syndicate that provided a £3 billion seven year revolving credit facility to EADS in July 2005.

• Countries including Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands have banned investments in the producers of cluster bombs and / or their components. MAC’s disinvestment campaign is aimed at having all Canadian banks clarify their positions on providing financing — indirectly or otherwise — to cluster munition producers; educating the financial community on the impacts of victim-activated weapons and the need to ban their production; and advocating for the strongest possible interpretation of banning “assistance” in the production of cluster bombs.

ACT

• Write a letter to your bank asking them to clarify their policies on investing in producers of cluster bombs, letting them know you do not want your money financing weapons that pose unacceptable risks to civilians and are banned by the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Let us know what they say!

• Use MAC’s Write Now ! e-tool to let our government know that you want Canada to follow the lead of Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands and ban investments in cluster bombs ! (www.minesactioncanada.org/index.cfm?fuse=act.write#take-action)

Give

• Organize a Monopoly, Payday or Life tournament. Charge an entrance fee or ask players to donate a portion of their game winnings in real funds !

• Gather a group of friends or classmates and auction off your goods and services (e.g. one hour of snow shoveling, babysitting for an evening, music lessons).

Share

• Are you signed up to the MAC enews, Twitter (MinesActionCan) or Facebook page? At the beginning of each month, MAC will be releasing a new, interactive resource to support the monthly call to action — banners for your website or social networking pages, interactive games, videos, webinars with experts from the field. Visit the OUR NETWORK page of our website to sign up and stay current !

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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Photo: ICBL

RESOURCES: • When your investment bombs … PowerPoint presentation www.minesactioncanada.org/documents/campaigns/When_your_investment_bombs_January.ppt

FURTHER INFORMATION: • Check out the Cluster Munition Coalition’s global disinvestment campaign’s website at www.explosiveinvestments.org, which will be launched in October 2009.

• Explosive Investments: Financial Institutions and Cluster Munitions briefing paper by Netwerk Vlaanderen, February 2007: www.netwerkvlaanderen.be/nl/files/documenten/publicaties/mini-dossiers/net-vl. briefingpaper0207.pdf

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

FEBRUARY 2010

bombs away!

KEY MESSAGES: • The Ottawa Convention banning landmines became international law on March 1st, 1999. Canadians have commemorated our role in this important achievement by celebrating Canadian Landmine Action Week through organizing educational, media and fundraising events.

• February 22–March 1st, 2010 is the 11th annual Canadian Landmine Action Week (CLAW).

• It is widely acknowledged that much progress has been made towards eliminating the suffering caused by landmines and, more recently, cluster bombs, in a very short period of time. However, what remains to be done is increasingly challenging. CLAW is an opportunity to shed complacency and recommit to realizing a world free from landmines and cluster bombs in our lifetime.

• MAC calls for a worldwide ban on landmines and cluster bombs; clearance of all mined areas in affected countries; and immediate, sustainable support for the needs and rights of survivors - no reservations, no exceptions, no loopholes and no excuses.

BACKGROUND: • CLAW typically consists of activists and volunteers from around the country organizing a series of public, media and fundraising events including concerts, exhibits and demonstrations to highlight the diverse and extraordinary ways Canada and Canadians are working towards a mine-free world. There are typically over 100 events organized in over 20 cities.

Photo: MAC

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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• The work of Canadians, as well as civil society groups and supportive governments around the world, is what made the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines and the newly created Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) a reality.

Photo: CNAD

• Events in the past have included Beats not Bombs club nights; silent and service auctions; donate to dress casual days; Paws for Peace dog walk-a-thons; Take a Slice Out of Landmines pizza fundraisers; creating mock minefields; candlelight vigils; Dine to Stop Mines dinner parties, and many more.

• Even with the significant achievement of these two treaties, mines and cluster bombs continue to menace communities. Their presence makes simple everyday tasks like pursuing a livelihood or going to school extremely dangerous. The good news is we have the solution to both of these problems and we can solve them within our lifetime — but only with the support and help of people like you. A treaty is merely words on paper unless people take action to implement it.

• Eighty percent of the world’s countries have agreed to be bound by the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines and many others have indicated their intention to join in the future. However, it is increasingly difficult to get the “tough nut” countries like the US, Russia, Israel, India, Pakistan, etc to join. Sustained and extensive outreach efforts by States Parties and ICBL partners, like MAC, have helped to expand the ban on antipersonnel mines to countries that at one time expressed difficulties with joining. Most of the countries that have not joined the treaty yet, abide de facto by its provisions and have stopped using, selling and — in many cases - producing landmines. We now need to work to ensure that this same thing happens with the new cluster bomb treaty.

• Non-state armed groups are using antipersonnel mines in more countries than government forces. In order to achieve a truly universal ban on these weapons, non-state armed groups must be encouraged to ban them. A significant number of non-state armed groups have already pledged to halt landmine use as a result of engagement and bridge-building efforts of civil society.

• Under the Ottawa Treaty, affected states must clear their land within 10 years of joining. In 2009-2010, many countries’ deadlines are approaching and some will not be able to meet it. Civil society has played a strong, proactive role in addressing this issue by providing criteria to governments on how extensions requests should be considered so that states are held accountable and requests are not automatically granted. States with upcoming deadlines include Albania, Argentina, Cambodia, Niger, Namibia, Philippines, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tajikistan.

• The 2008 Landmine Monitor reported that there were 5,426 new casualties in 2007 resulting in approximately 500,000 landmine survivors across the world today. In addition to overcoming physical trauma, mine survivors struggle to achieve social acceptance, gain meaningful employment and ensure their rights are respected. Mine survivors and other people with disabilities are among the most impoverished groups 28

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

in every society. Funding for victim assistance remains insufficient and programs are inadequate in all but a handful of mine-affected countries. MAC, in partnership with ICBL partners, advocates for the full realization of state parties’ assistance to survivors dictated under the Ottawa Treaty and Cluster Munition Convention.

ACT

Join the Bombs Away! fundraising button drive. Let’s get as many people as possible wearing Bombs Away! buttons for CLAW !

Give

Organize a CLAW fundraising event for MAC.

Share

Put the Bombs Away! image on your Facebook page, blog and email signature. Make sure you are signed up to the MAC e-news, Twitter (MinesActionCan) or Facebook page for the interactive “spread the word” tool of the month! It’s easy — just go to the Our Network section of the website.

RESOURCES: • Bombs Away! PowerPoint presentation www.minesactioncanada.org/documents/campaigns/Bombs_away_February.ppt • CLAW Organizer’s Toolkit: www.minesactioncanada.org/documents/resources/CLAW%20 2009%20Organizer%20toolkit.doc • How to Organize a Fundraiser Guide: www.minesactioncanada.org/documents/resources/ how%20to%20kit/organize%20a%20fundraiser.doc • How to Give a Presentation Guide: www.minesactioncanada.org/tool_kit/how-to%20guides/ en/how%20to%20give%20a%20presentation.doc • How to Engage the Media Guide: www.minesactioncanada.org/documents/resources/ CLAW%202009%20Get%20media%20attention.doc

FURTHER INFORMATION: • Looking for the most current statistics on landmines and cluster bombs? Check out the major findings of Landmine Monitor 2009 (to be released in November 2009) at www.lm.icbl.org.

• The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and campaigners around the world celebrate March 1st by issuing an action alert. Check out the ICBL website to see what the 2010 action alert will be and search for “March 1st” to see what actions people around the world are taking at www.icbl.org!

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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MARCH 2010

women, war and peace KEY MESSAGES: • Women and men are affected differently during conflict and post-conflict situations.

• The 2008 Landmine Monitor reported 5,426 casualties — 71% were civilians. Men made up 48% of civilian casualties, where gender was known, and children constituted 46%.

• Although males make up the greatest number of casualties (when gender is known), women bear a disproportionate burden in affected communities. The official definition of victim not only includes those directly injured or killed by landmines, cluster bombs and explosive remnants of war but also those — mainly women — living with, depending on and becoming caregivers of victims.

• MAC’s Youth Leadership, Education and Action Program (Youth LEAP) works to build the skills, capacity and knowledge of BOTH young women and men from affected and non-affected countries to be social justice leaders.

BACKGROUND: • March 8th is the International Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.

• Women and men have different mobility patterns and thus have different exposure and vulnerability to these weapons. While women are more vulnerable when gathering fuel or water, men are in greater danger while traveling on public roads.

• Gender impacts the likelihood of becoming a victim of landmines or cluster bombs, accessing medical care, reintegrating into society after being injured, and accessing mine risk education. For example, in countries where it would be

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

Photo: Cluster Munition Coalition, Cambodia

• In many countries, women and men tend to have different work responsibilities, and thus have different exposure to the victim-activated weapons in their region. In many countries, such as Afghanistan and Yemen, women have primary responsibility for household work and for the care of family and dependants, and are also the primary caregivers of victims.

inappropriate for a woman to be seen by a male doctor and if there are not enough female doctors, this would greatly compromise her access to adequate medical care.

Photo: Cluster Munition Coalition, Cambodia

• It is often women and girls who provide care and long-term support for victims immediately following injuries. In the majority of affected countries, disabled men rely on their wives for support, while disabled women are often abandoned by their partners or have difficulty finding one.

• Being disabled can affect a woman’s chance of marriage.

In many cases, married women with disabilities face immediate divorce and are left with the responsibility of children, and thus a high risk of poverty. The Women and Disability Resources organization reports, “The unemployment rate for disabled women in developing countries is virtually 100 percent.”

• Women played a critical leadership role in the creation of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the creation of the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines.

Some notable examples include Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Jody Williams and Princess Diana. The ICBL Executive Director, the Program Manager of Landmine Monitor and all of the current ICBL senior staff positions are held by women.

ACT

Organize a vigil or presentation to commemorate the impact of victim-activated weapons on women.

Give

Host an “Other’s Mothers Day” dinner or tea to commemorate the important women in your life and donate the proceeds to MAC.

Share

Tune into a webcast on women making a difference in peace and disarmament. Make sure you are signed up to the MAC enews, Twitter (MinesActionCan) or Facebook page for the announcement of the webcast date and for the interactive “spread the word” tool of the month!

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Photo: ULSA

Photo: Cluster Munition Coalition, Thailand

RESOURCES: • Women, War and Peace PowerPoint presentation www.minesactioncanada.org/documents/campaigns/Women_war_and_peace_March.ppt • YouTube video, Jody Williams: The Necessity of Activism www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ebS9jXeVk

FURTHER INFORMATION: • The Nobel Women’s Initiative was established in 2006 by sister Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire after deciding to bring together their extraordinary experiences in a united effort for peace with justice and equality (www.nobelwomensinitiative.org).

• Swiss Campaign to Ban Landmines’ web portal with information on gender and mine action, www.scbl-gender.ch. Information includes: Why gender matters in mine action; Reducing short term impact: improving long term development; What has been done and what is preventing progress?

• The Journal of ERW and Mine Action, Issue 12.2 Winter 2008/09, maic.jmu.edu/journal/12.2/.

This issue has a special focus on gender and mine action. Articles include: • Gender Stigma and ERW Injuries by Shruti Chaganti • Reaching the Right People: Gender and Mine Action by Melissa Sabatier and Reuben McCarthy • Increasing Female Voices in Mine-action Planning and Prioritization by Catherine Cecil and Kristen Rasmussen • Gender in Community Consultations by Hilde Vandeskog Wallacher • NPA’s All-female Demining Team in Sudan by Leah Young • Gender in the Mine-action Community by Rachel Canfield and Chad McCoull • Gendered Structures of Mine Action by Marie Nilsson and Virginie Rozès • Gender Issue: An Example from Lao PDR by Jo Durham • Gender in Mine Action: The Tajikistan Experience by Shahrinisso Davlyatova 32

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

APRIL 2010

mission possible! a mine-free world KEY MESSAGES: • April 4th is the UN’s International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. This day was created as opportunity to bring attention to and revitalize international support for mine action. This is the 5th year this day has been commemorated.

• April is also the final month of MAC’s Make History Happen 2009-2010 campaign and the final window for you to take an action to meet this year’s goals. Goals for the 2009-2010 campaign include: • Generating 10,000 Canadian signatures on the People’s Treaty.

• Ensure that Canada remains a top five donor to mine action by contributing 1$ per Canadian per year until all major clearance deadlines are met in the next ten years.

• Ensuring Canada ratifies the Convention on Cluster Munitions by the end of 2009.

• Convincing all Canadian chartered banks to take a stand against investing in companies producing cluster bombs.

• Raising $50,000 to support MAC’s work creating a mine free world.

BACKGROUND: • The term “mine action” includes mine risk education, mine clearance, victim assistance, stockpile destruction and advocacy.

• Mine clearance involves conducting surveys to assess the actual extent of contaminated land; land reduction and release back to the community; mine field marking; and the clearance of ordnance.

• Victim assistance (also called survivor assistance) includes emergency and continuing medical care; comprehensive psychological and physical rehabilitation programs; programs to assist the Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

Photo: Cluster Munition Coalition

• Mine risk prevention education includes educating affected communities on how to recognize and avoid unexploded ordnance as well as longer-term education through the development and delivery of school curriculum; community theatre; mass media campaigns; and train-the-trainer certification to members of affected communities.

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economic and social reintegration of survivors into the community; and collection and reporting of data on casualties, laws and public policies to ensure the full and equal participation of survivors, their families and communities in society. It is estimated that there are approximately 500,000 survivors around the world today and victim assistance programs have received the least amount of money out of all the funds pledged to support mine action.

• Under the Ottawa Convention banning landmines, State Parties have four years to destroy their stockpiles. In the Convention on Cluster Munitions, State Parties must destroy stockpiles as soon as possible but no longer than eight years after joining. Landmine Monitor 2008 estimates that there are 176 million anti-personnel landmines stockpiled in 44 countries. Human Rights Watch estimates that 79 countries currently stockpile cluster bombs with the number stocks likely being in the billions. Destroying stockpiles is important as it prevents these weapons from ever being used in the first place and, in the long run, this is a more cost-effective option.

• Advocacy is the final pillar of mine action and the main driver for ensuring that the mine action obligations under both treaties are fully realized and that a mine-free world is indeed possible within our lifetime. This is the main role of civil society groups like MAC — to make sure the obligations under the treaties do not become broken promises.

ACT

Share

This is the final month where you can have an impact in the 2009-2010 campaign. Check out MAC’s April e-news, Twitter and Facebook for a report on the progress made towards this year’s goals. Pick the goal where you can make the most impact and take action!

Give

MAC will be releasing a new, interactive resource to support this month’s call to action — stay tuned and sign up for alerts on the Our Network section of our website !

RESOURCES: • Mission Possible! A Mine-Free World PowerPoint (www.minesactioncanada.org/documents/campaigns/Mission_possible_April.ppt) • Check the Our Campaigns section of our website as we will be releasing updated statistics and resources following the release of Landmine Monitor 2009 in November.

FURTHER INFORMATION: • Landmine Monitor is an initiative providing research for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC). It is the de facto monitoring regime for the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines and the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Landmine Monitor 2009 report to be released November 12, 2009 www.lm.icbl.org/index.php.

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

MAY 2010

wrapping up … next steps!

KEY MESSAGES: • Please make sure to send us all of your event reports and submit any outstanding donations as soon as possible — we want to make sure we record your contributions and recognize your efforts! Use the Event Report template in Appendix A and email to actnow@minesactioncanada.org.

• Please also let us know if you plan to stay involved next year so we can make sure you can receive all the important information about the launch of the 2010-2011 campaign. If you are part of a school group where someone else is taking over as a MAC focal point next year, just let us know who we should be contacting.

• This month, you can expect to receive a special edition of the MAC e-news reporting back on progress made on this year’s goals and profiling some of you history-makers.

Thank you so much for being a part of the 2009-2010 MAKE HISTORY HAPPEN campaign! Movements that change the world begin with people like you — ordinary people taking extraordinary actions — and we could not continue towards a mine-free world without you!

Photo: John Rodsted

Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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APPENDIX A: EVENT REPORT TEMPLATE We helped make history happen! Here’s how …

Group Name

Event contact person

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Revenue Summary for the event

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Please send photos of your event and your group in action!

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

APPENDIX B: FILM FESTIVAL SUGGESTIONS There are a variety of films – campaign videos, documentaries and Hollywood – featuring landmines and cluster bombs that you can download, rent or obtain copies from MAC. Disarm , (Next Step Productions & Toolbox DC, USA, 2004) Visually stunning, Disarm features harrowing footage smuggled out of the isolated nation of Burma, scenes from minefields in Iraq and Colombia, never-before-seen helmet camera footage shot by Afghan and Bosnian deminers, unprecedented access into warehouses storing millions of stockpiled Soviet mines, and insightful comments by outspoken Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams. Looking beyond landmines, this film provides a contemporary, intelligent and critical investigation into how weapons systems, war and the way it is waged are being redefined in the twenty-first century with devastating consequences. Limited copies available upon request from MAC or from www.disarmfilm.org. To view a trailer of the film, go to disarmfilm.org/thefilm/index.php A Weapon Out of Control , (Human Rights Watch, USA, 2007) A short film documenting the lethal effects of the use of cluster munitions worldwide, with commentary, new statistics and analysis from military experts at Human Rights Watch. Footage shows how cluster munitions have endangered civilian populations from the Vietnam era through current conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ualb3kYR9TQ Cluster bomb duds that should not exist , (Norwegian People’s Aid, 2007) Australian John Rodsted films M85 cluster bomb duds for Norwegian People’s Aid in Lebanon. The duds are the deadly remnants of the Israeli attacks in 2006. The duds will lie like landmines, ready to kill and maim, until they are cleared, or they blow up when disturbed by local civilians. The film shows a dud problem that producers and some states insist cannot exist because of the M85’s self destruct mechanism. www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_jsyObTG8k Yellow Killers , (Norwegian People’s Aid, 2007) A film detailing the impact of NATO’s use of cluster bombs in Serbia in 1999 that is still causing victims today.

Limited copies available upon request from MAC. Are we the Enemy? , (Women’s Media Centre, Cambodia, 1995) Women who have been directly or indirectly affected by landmines in Cambodia appeal for a ban. This film received a best film award during the fifth International Women Conference in Beijing. Limited copies available upon request from MAC. Spotlight on a Massacre , (Handicap International, France, 1997) Ten short films from filmmakers around the world illustrating the impact of antipersonnel landmines and what could happen if landmines were in our backyard.

Limited copies available upon request from MAC. To view an example of the film, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiY8hCjTaG0 Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign

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Measured Steps: The Global Movement to Ban Landmines , (Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada, 2000)

With a focus on Canada’s role, Measured Steps provides an introduction to the landmine problem, the Ottawa Convention and mine action challenges such as stockpile destruction, mine clearance and survivor assistance. Limited copies available upon request from MAC.

Other films that can be rented include: • Charlie Wilson’s War (2007), showing effect of landmines on refugees and children • Turtles Can Fly (2004), children as victims of landmines and selling landmine scraps for money • Beyond Borders (2003), main character is killed by landmines • No Man’s Land (2001), dark comedy about the Bosnian war • Three Kings (1999), soldiers contending with mines as obstacles in the Gulf War • The General’s Daughter (1999), character activates a bounding fragmentation mine • Saving Private Ryan (1998), characters talking about mines as obstacles For a more detailed list of Hollywood films featuring landmines, please visit the Manitoba Campaign to Ban Landmines website at mbcbl.org/films.aspx

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Make History Happen: MAC’s 2009–2010 National Campaign