Over 100 delegates representing more than 25 countries and more than a dozen international and non-governmental organisations are meeting in Accra from 13-15 February, to discuss and seek solutions to address the ever-growing humanitarian impact caused by the use of improvised anti-personnel mines in parts of West Africa and the Sahel.
This gathering is being attended by a high-powered government delegation alongside distinguished Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) representatives.
The Regional Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (also known as Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention or Mine Ban Treaty) is a testament of the interest of countries in the region to find platforms for cooperation in this regard.
“The Convention was born in the late 90s from the global outrage of the humanitarian impact caused by anti-personnel mines around the world” said Juan Carlos Ruan, Director of the treaty’s Secretariat “Today, and after a sharp decline in new casualties, the use of this weapon mostly at the hand of non-state actors, is wreaking havoc in communities, many of them in remote areas with little or no access to services, creating a dire situation. We cannot stand idle without supporting those more in need,” he added.
The Regional Conference on Addressing the Humanitarian Impact of Improvised Anti-Personnel Mines Within the Framework of the Convention, is being hosted by the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons thanks to support provided through of a global project sponsored by the European Union (EU) to implement the landmine treaty.
“The EU and its Member States are parties to the Convention, and are strongly united in banning the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines including those of an improvised nature. The Convention is an example of what the EU stands for: a rules-based international order, rooted in the respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. Therefore, the EU urges countries that have not yet done so to accede to the Convention.” Said Irchad Razaaly, EU Ambassador to Ghana.
The European Union is the world’s second-largest donor for mine clearance, stockpile destruction, and assistance to mine victims.
Ghana became a State Party to the Convention in 2000 and has not known mine contamination nor stockpiled mines and strives to promote adherence to the Convention and its norms.
The hosting of this Conference is important for Ghana because, while it is not mine-affected, it is witnessing a troublesome trend in the region. African development and security are paramount and addressing these mines – factory-made or improvised – is a major enterprise for all Member States.
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