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Australian Ambassadors for Peace Join Landmine Conference
Written by UPF-Australia
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Sydney, Australia—On May 12, 2021, Australian Ambassadors for Peace joined a virtual conference on the landmine epidemic co-hosted by HOPEMAN Consultants UK and the Global Institute for Water, Environment, and Health (GIWEH), an international NGO based in Geneva, Switzerland.
The conference, titled, “The Landmine Epidemic and Virtual Contemporary Art Exhibition of Humanitarian Disaster Caused by Anti-personal Landmines,” was convened to increase public awareness at the regional and international levels about the potential risks of anti-personal landmines, discuss possible opportunities for eliminating those risks and find best practices for ensuring public safety.
The increasing number of casualties caused by the use of landmines in many war-torn countries has changed the landmine use issue from a political to a humanitarian one. Humanitarian crises start at the local level; therefore, early preventive actions need to be taken to avoid risks escalating and transforming into challenges of global proportions. Speakers from around the world noted that the consequences and potential risks of anti-personal landmines is a matter for all countries. The conference also underscored the importance of rapid, joint action at the international level to cope with rising challenges. The organizers hope that they will be able to develop a common vision on cooperation and coordination in the field of anti-personal landmines, ensuring the security and sustainable use of liberated zones.
Among the more than 20 speakers were:
- Leyla Gasimova, senior advisor, HOPEMAN Consultants UK
- Nidal Salim, founder and director, Global Institute of Water Environment and Health
- Bruno Donat, chief, United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) Geneva Office
- Ambassador for Peace Dr. Apollo S. Nsubuga-Kyobe, fellow, Institute of Managers and Leaders Australia, and Justice of the Peace
- Ambassador for Peace Dr. Steve Ratmetse, CEO, Nelson Mandela Organisation, and president, Nelson Mandela Day Australia
- John Bellavance, coordinator, International Association of Academicians for Peace (IAAP)-Oceania, and vice president, UPF-Australia
- Lala van der Kolk, co-founder, Mine Mark Foundation, Hague, Netherlands
- Naji Moulay Lahsen, executive director, Network of the Independent Commission of Human Rights in North Africa
- Lord Duncan McNair, senior consultant and advisor on education and human rights, and founder and director, Peaceful Planet Human Rights Education
- Imran A. Chowdhury, founder and CEO, Centre for Policy Promotion and Prevention
- Burcak Basbug Erkan, associate professor of statistics, Middle East Technical University; academic director, Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management (ICPEM) UK; and special advisor to former Turkish Prime Minister H.E. Ahmet Davutoglu, chairman of the Future Party
- Michela Pugliese, migration and asylum researcher, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor
- Ambassador for Peace Dr. Waseem Ahmed, CEO, HOPEMAN Consultants UK
The conference was covered by the London Post.
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