Following the adoption 10 years ago of the Mine Ban Convention, the number of mine victims has dropped significantly. However, most victims have yet to see substantial improvement in their access to many basic services, explains Peter Herby, head of the ICRC's arms unit.

This fact sheet highlights the achievements of the Mine Ban Convention, ten years after its entry into force. It also outlines the remaining challenges that will need to be addressed by the 156 States party to the Convention, at the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World (29 November-4 December 2009), the name given to the Second Review Conference of the Convention.

The suffering caused by anti-personnel mines is horrific. A victim who survives typically requires amputation, multiple operations and prolonged physical rehabilitation, commonly suffering permanent disability – with serious social, psychological and economic implications. Fortunately, 156 States have joined the Mine Ban Convention, which establishes a comprehensive ban on these weapons. The number of new mine victims has fallen significantly since the Convention was adopted.

Link to the IHL Treaty database

Link to the IHL Treaty database

Link to the IHL Treaty database

Link to the IHL Treaty database

States parties and signatories to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction.

Link to the Landmine Monitor website

Link to the Landmine Monitor website

Cartagena, Colombia, 29 November - 4 December 2009. Second Review Conference of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction.

Fact sheet describing the obligations of States regarding the national implementation of the norms contained in this particular instrument of international humanitarian law.

Fact sheet describing the obligations of States regarding the national implementation of the norms contained in this particular instrument of international humanitarian law.

The brochure summarizes the problem of weapon contamination, presents the ICRC's Weapon Contamination Unit, and describes how the ICRC acts to protect civilians from the effects of weapon contamination. Topics include clearance, risk education and risk reduction.

This booklet contains the text of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction adopted on 18 September 1997 by a Diplomatic Conference in Oslo, Norway. It is intended to promote understanding of the Convention's rules and to facilitate its ratification and implementation by governments.

This leaflet provides an essential overview of the achievements and challenges of the Ottawa Convention to date and includes a time-line detailing the progess made by the international community so far. As preparations are made for the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World in December 2004, this brochure also outines the steps that should now be taken to ensure that the anti-personnel mine epidemic is finally put to an end.

This study examines the military case for continued use of anti-personnel landmines. Mines employed in conflicts since 1940, whether by professional armies, by insurgents or in counter-insurgency operations, have rarely been used in conformity with international law, and have little or no effect on the outcome of hostilities. These conclusions were unanimously endorsed by senior military commanders from various countries at a meeting on the subject held in Geneva in February 1996.

Igor Ramazzotti works as a weapon contamination adviser in the regional delegation in Nairobi. His job is multifaceted and covers large regions of the continent, with the overall goal to alleviate suffering of those affected by wars long after the active hostilities have ceased, as he explains.

Link to an article published on the Arms control association website

Statement by Mrs Christine Beerli, vice-president of the ICRC. Second Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-personnel Mines, Cartagena, Colombia, 30 November – 4 December 2009.

United Nations, General Assembly, 64th session, First Committee, Items 96 & 100 of the agenda, Statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), New York, 9 October 2009

Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, Geneva, 24- 28 November 2008. Statement by Christine Beerli, Vice-President of the ICRC

The Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines (known as the Ottawa Convention) marks its tenth anniversary on 3 December 2007. While considerable progress has been made in the past decade towards eradicating these weapons worldwide, major challenges remain - not least addressing the lifelong needs of hundreds of thousands of mine victims. Moreover, landmines are not the only type of weapon that go on killing after conflicts. Philip Spoerri, the ICRC's director of international law, explains.

Eighth Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, statement by Mr. Olivier Vodoz, vice-president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Dead Sea, Jordan 18 November 2007

December 2004, over 1,400 delegates, including heads of state, government ministers, Nobel Prize laureates and mine survivors, as well as representatives of the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, gathered in Nairobi, Kenya to assess the achievements to date and the challenges that remain on the road to a world free of anti-personnel mines – Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 1, 2005

This article by Jakob Kellenberger, President of the ICRC, was published by the "International Herald Tribune" on 30 November 2004

The Cartagena action plan commits States Parties to undertake a range of specific actions during the next five years in order to strengthen implementation of and promote universal adherence to the Mine Ban Convention.

This documents records the progress made in implementation of the Mine Ban Convention since the First Review Conference in 2005, as well as the challenges that remain in fulfilling its obligations.

In the Cartagena Declaration, States Parties to the Mine Ban Convention reaffirm their commitment to ending the suffering and casualties caused by anti-personnel mines and to achieving a world free of anti-personnel mines.

Priorities for implementation of victim assistance commitments in the context of the Mine Ban Convention, the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War, recommendations from an expert meeting hosted by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Norwegian Red Cross, Oslo, 23-25 June 2009

This appeal to the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World (the Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Convention) was signed by participants at an expert meeting on assistance for victims of anti-personnel mines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war that the ICRC organized together with the Norwegian Red Cross in Oslo, Norway on 23-25June, 2009.

Overview of the convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines, also called the Ottawa Convention

First Review Conference of the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines - The Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World, 29 November to 3 December 2004

The purpose of this information kit is to assist States in developing legislation to implement the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel mines.

adopted at the Council of Delegates - October 29-30, 1999 (Resolution 10)

The Center for International Stabilization and Recovery's Mine Action Information Center (CISR/MAIC) at James Madison University is a public policy center which manages information and conducts training relevant to humanitarian mine clearance, victim assistance, mine risk reduction and other landmine-related issues.