What is the Ottawa Treaty?
An important aspect of ridding the world of landmines is the Ottawa Treaty formed in 1997. MAG’s executive director Lou McGrath is co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize because of his work in bringing this forward with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. This treaty is now ratified, or approved, by 151 countries and this ensures that signatories do not use, produce, stockpile or transfer landmines (anti-personnel landmines only). This has helped reduce the reliance on landmines during conflict and the use of them by others has become marginalized and but there are still around 15 countries which produce landmines. The treaty also doesn’t stop any signatory from using anti-vehicle mines. Ultimately the landmines that target innocent people and have already been laid still need to be dealt with.
