Landmine survivors worldwide join Ban Ki-moon, celebrities and Nobel Peace Prizewinning movement to launch inspirational anti-landmine campaign
(Geneva, 1 March 2012): On the 13th anniversary of the global landmine ban becoming law, the world is coming together again to urge governments to put a full stop, within our lifetime, to the devastating harm mines still cause.
Click here to see the awesome Lend Your Leg 2012 video in 10 different languages on YouTube and please share!
(Geneva, 1 March 2012): On the 13th anniversary of the global landmine ban becoming law, the world is coming together again to urge governments to put a full stop, within our lifetime, to the devastating harm mines still cause.
Today, a video featuring United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Colombian megastar Juanes and landmine survivors from the U.K, Somalia, Afghanistan, Cambodia and many other countries will be screened at events in more than 50 countries and shared with millions online, urging people to Lend Your Leg for a mine free world.
CLICK HERE to see our gallery of images showing ICBL campaigners all over the world Lending Their Legs to launch this campaign.
Kasia Derlicka, Director of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) said: “Every day, landmines still threaten thousands of people around the world. As we begin our 20th year of campaigning we are proud of the progress already made to reduce the devastating impact of landmines, but we are also very aware this fight is not yet over.”
Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, X-Men star Ben Foster, Slovenian professional boxer Dejan Zavec, and ICBL Youth Ambassador Song Kosal also feature in the Lend Your Leg film.
“Today we are honoured to stand alongside these brave survivors from all over the world to remind governments and the international community that more must, and can, be done to end the suffering landmines cause for good. The massive global support this inspirational campaign has already got shows that together we really can achieve a mine free world in our lifetime,” Derlicka said. Lend Your Leg is strikingly simple. On 4 April, the UN Day for Mine Action and Mine Awareness, people all over the world will be asked to roll up their trouser legs showing solidarity with survivors of landmines and other explosive remnants of war, calling on the international community to eradicate these weapons for good.
HRH Prince Mired of Jordan and Juan Pablo Salazar at the 11MSP in Phnom Penh, Cambodia Colombian NGO Fundación Arcángeles and its President Juan Pablo Salazar are the architects of this global campaign. One of the world’s most mine-affected countries, last year thousands of Colombians, including President Juan Manuel Santos, took part in the first Lend Your Leg action. The widespread media coverage and pressure it created saw a draft law to increase protection for victims of conflict, including rehabilitation for landmine survivors, jump in legislative priority list from number 38 to 4. It was enacted by Congress a few weeks later.
Now Lend Your Leg is going global. The United Nations network, the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and the ICBL’s global network will be working in capital cities and rural communities, across social media networks and through the press, urging everyone to get on board.
Between today’s launch and the 4 April – the global day of action – ICBL campaigners from Tokyo to Kinshasa, Phnom Penh to Ottawa, Istanbul to Taiwan will be organising concerts, sporting events, flash mobs and giving hundreds of media interviews, all urging as many people as possible take part in Lend Your Leg, forcing governments to recognise their vital role in helping the ICBL reach its goal. Firoz Alizada, ICBL Campaign Manager and Afghan landmine survivor said: “I am one of the luckiest. I survived a horrible landmine accident and managed to enjoy a happy life despite losing both legs, but hundreds of people die on the spot after they step on landmine or hit an explosive remnant of war. I am hoping that Lend Your Leg as a symbolic action draws the international community’s attention to step up efforts to bring the number of new landmine victims to zero and enhance much-needed resources to address needs of my fellow survivors.”
Since the ICBL was founded 20 years ago, 80 per cent of the world’s countries have banned landmines, millions of mines have been removed from the ground and destroyed and billions of dollars have been invested in stopping the damage mines do.
But despite this, last year’s Landmine Monitor recorded 4,191 new casualties of landmines in 2010. That’s nearly 12 people every day. Tens of thousands of survivors, often in vulnerable and poor communities, are still coping with the terrible aftereffects of the injuries landmines cause. And although the vast majority of countries have banned mines, some outside the Treaty still produce them, and last year saw the most use of landmines by government forces since 2004.
Juan Pablo Salazar said: “It shocks me that landmines still claim lives every day and yet the majority of people aren’t aware of the damage they cause. They kill, they maim people for life and they act as deadly barriers to people struggling to survive the aftermath of war. Through Lend Your Leg we want to wake the world up and see that by taking part in this simple action and by saying NO MORE to this injustice we truly can put an end to these weapons for good. I’m honored to work with the ICBL on this initiative, and to export this Colombian success case all over the world.”