September 23, 2004 No. 110 Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew today chaired a ministerial luncheon for members of the Human Security Network (HSN). During the luncheon, the Ministers endorsed a declaration for the upcoming Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World, which will be held from November 29 to December 3, 2004. As the first review conference of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (the Ottawa Convention), the Nairobi Summit will take note of progress to date and develop a five-year action plan to finish the work begun at the December 1997 Landmine Treaty Conference in Ottawa. The HSN declaration encourages countries to participate in this summit at the highest possible level, and pledges that members of the Network will strive for this themselves. The HSN is a cross-regional group created in 1999 to maintain dialogue and identify areas for collective action on human security issues. The Network includes Austria, Canada, Chile, Greece, Ireland, Jordan, Mali, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland and Thailand, as well as South Africa as an observer. Canada is the Chair of the Network from May 2004 until May 2005. For more information, visit the HSN on-line at http://www.humansecuritynetwork.org, or Canada’s Human Security Web site at http://www.humansecurity.gc.ca. - 30 - The HSN Declaration for the Nairobi Summit is attached. For further information, media representatives may contact: Sébastien Théberge Director of Communications Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs (613) 995-1851 Media Relations Office Foreign Affairs Canada and International Trade Canada (613) 995-1874 http://www.international.gc.ca HUMAN SECURITY NETWORK DECLARATION FOR THE NAIROBI SUMMIT ON A MINE-FREE WORLD We, the members of the Human Security Network1, take note of recent developments since the 5th Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their Destruction in September 2003 in Thailand, including on resource mobilization, destruction of stockpiled mines, and universalization of the Convention, and look forward to the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World, the landmark First Review Conference of the Convention, which will take place from 29 November to 3 December, 2004, in Nairobi, Kenya, marking the fifth year since the Convention’s entry-into force. All of our countries are States Parties to the Convention, and we remain steadfast in our determination to end the human devastation caused by anti-personnel mines through their total elimination. We recognize the significance of the Nairobi Summit for the Convention. Meeting today, the Foreign Ministers of the HSN member countries agreed to ensure their countries will be represented in Nairobi at the highest possible level, and called for the same ambition of participation by all States and relevant international organizations at its High-Level Segment. At this critical juncture, the Network welcomes the significant progress made to date towards achieving the Convention’s core humanitarian objectives and towards ensuring that the human tragedy caused by anti-personnel mines is permanently resolved. In particular, the agreement by 143 states to be formally bound by the Convention’s obligations, the return of vast tracts of land to safe and productive use, the destruction of over 37 million stockpiled mines and the ongoing decline in the rate of new mine victims demonstrate its impact. Members of the Network continue to be encouraged by the unprecedented manner in which the international community has rallied to end the devastation of landmines. We recognize that more remains to be done and reaffirm our full support as States Parties in promoting implementation of the Action Plan, to be adopted at the Nairobi Summit for the period between 2005 – 2009, in order to fulfil the Convention’s aims. We call upon all States and relevant actors to do the same. The Network further recognizes that mine action, an essential element for increasing human security worldwide, also contributes to broader development and peacebuilding objectives. Members of the Network therefore undertake to promote the integration of mine action into national development plans and will consider the integration of mine action into peace frameworks, strategies and plans. In order to ensure that the Convention fulfills its promise to landmine survivors, we also undertake to promote the mobilization of additional resources for their assistance and reintegration. The Network welcomes all recent ratifications and accessions to the Convention. We call upon all States that have not yet done so to join the Convention prior to the Nairobi Summit, and to attend the Summit as observers. We encourage those not in a position to join by that time to share their plans to ratify or accede to the Convention at that time. We encourage the remaining States not Party to participate as observers at the Summit so as to experience the universal humanitarian importance of the movement against anti-personnel landmines. The Nairobi Summit ushers in a critical phase of the Convention in ensuring that the promises made to mine-affected communities and their people are fulfilled. To this end, we pledge to continue to strengthen, and ultimately universalize the international norm against anti-personnel mines, and to do our part to finish the job of eradicating the world of these inhumane weapons. 1 The Human Security Network is an inter-regional grouping of like-minded countries with a shared vision of promoting a more humane world where people are free from fear and want. Launched in 1999, members of the Human Security Network include Austria, Canada, Chile, Greece, Ireland, Jordan, Mali, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Thailand, with South Africa as an observer. Canada assumed Chairmanship of the Network in May 2004, for a period of one year.
