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Cowan: Invictus Games an opportunity for Canada to recommit to landmine campaign

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When Prince Harry arrives in Toronto this weekend to open the third Invictus Games, he will bring the eyes of the world with him. The Prince puts his personal popularity to the service of several important issues and set up the games to inspire the recovery and rehabilitation of service men and women with life-changing injuries. His commitment to the cause is both laudable and personal. 

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The Prince has spoken publicly of his shock at witnessing the injuries sustained by his fellow soldiers on his return from serving in Afghanistan. Many Invictus participants have lost limbs due to the scourge of contemporary warfare: the improvised explosive device, or IED. But the Prince is also associated with another campaign, one which is personal to him and to Canada: the campaign for a landmine-free world. 

December 2017 will mark the 20th anniversary of the birth of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention. Known colloquially as the “Ottawa Treaty,” it is regarded as a shining example of recent Canadian commitment to international assistance and humanitarianism. Under the steerage of then foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy, the Liberal government produced a treaty that not only dealt with a cruelly indiscriminate weapon, but also ensured that its victims were placed at the very heart of the text. Furthermore, the treaty created a new dynamic between governments and civil society which has been mirrored in subsequent treaties, such as the Cluster Munition Convention. 

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Back in January 1997, few people knew about the landmine crisis. That all changed when Princess Diana, Prince Harry’s mother, agreed to walk through a minefield in the process of being cleared by the HALO Trust in war-torn Angola. The Ottawa Treaty came into force by the end of the year – quicker than any disarmament instrument before it. Today, 162 countries are now signatories to the treaty. 

Significant progress has been made in the last two decades. Ottawa has led to almost 30 countries – including Mozambique, formerly one of the most heavily mined countries in the world – becoming mine-free. Hundreds of thousands of landmines have been destroyed and global production has been brought to a halt. But there remains much to do.

More than 60 million people are still affected by landmines worldwide. Casualty rates were the highest for 10 years in 2015 and 80 per cent of these were suffered by civilians. This rise was mostly due to the conflicts in Ukraine, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, where the majority of IEDs meet the treaty definition of anti-personnel mines. Landmines continue to displace significant numbers of people in places such as Cambodia, even though the conflict there ended decades ago. And yet global funding for mine action has steadily declined in the last two decades; so much so that the treaty’s target of clearing the most mine-affected countries in the world by 2025 is in grave danger of not being met. 

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The United Kingdom has recognized that the 20th anniversary of Ottawa is a moment for the world to reinvigorate its commitment to mine action. Last April, on International Mine Awareness Day, the British government announced that it would put $166 million Cdn towards the $1.3 billion Cdn needed to clear mines from the 15 most affected countries by 2025. 

The announcement was followed by a powerful speech by Prince Harry, who recalled his mother’s determination to highlight the suffering of the landmine victims she had met before her death in August 1997. Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland was among the visiting dignitaries who witnessed him address two men who had met his mother in Bosnia when they were young boys struggling to come to terms with mine injuries. Diana had promised them that they would not be forgotten. “Please help me keep her word to Žarko and Malic, and other people like them throughout the world, who still need us to finish the job and rid the planet of landmines,” the Prince said. 

For just one dollar per citizen per year, or  $36 million, Canada can stand alongside the UK as a global leader in striving for a mine-free 2025. Through this commitment, Canada will not only reassert its leadership of the campaign for a mine-free world, but also showcase the administration’s feminist aid policy.

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Most civilian landmine victims are men and boys because of their involvement in agriculture or livestock herding. But the less visible impact falls on women and girls. During and after conflicts, women and girls are more vulnerable, and where minefields prevent them from returning to their homes, they are at greater risk of abuse and violence. The protection and participation of women and girls are therefore central to landmine clearance. Their employment as de-miners not only offers livelihood opportunity for women in places where they are traditionally excluded, but also helps them to reclaim the land and have a say in its future use. It can also help women provide for their families when husbands and sons have been killed or wounded in conflict. 

There are few clearly proven humanitarian initiatives which have the potential to free 60 million men, women and children from both direct harm and economic deprivation. There are even fewer which could be achieved in less than a decade and for which most of the mechanical equipment, human capacity and global will is already in place. Finishing the job that Canada started is a unique and achievable endeavour. Prince Harry’s visit is the ideal time for the UK and Canada to cement their determination to see it through together. 

James Cowan is CEO of The HALO Trust, which co-founded the Landmine Free 2025 campaign with the Mines Advisory Group (MAG).

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