Today, the international taboo against landmines is under threat. Five states have formally withdrawn from the Ottawa Treaty, while still others have suspended their commitments, putting decades of progress at risk.
Canada played a key role in negotiating the Ottawa, which bans the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel mines and mandates their destruction, leading signed in 1997 in Ottawa, under former Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, now Chair of the Board of Governors of Humanity & Inclusion Canada.
Today, 166 states have ratified the Treaty, which also requires the clearance of contaminated land and ensures support for survivors and affected communities.
This historic achievement was made possible thanks in part to civil society and victims and survivors of landmines, including the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, co-founded by Humanity & Inclusion.
Thanks to the Treaty, the number of affected states and regions has fallen from 99 to 58 since 1999, over 30 countries are now mine-free, and more than 55 million stockpiled mines have been destroyed, greatly reducing the use and impact of these deadly weapons.
