Ending the Tragedy of Landmines Through Innovation and Cooperation

Seattle, Washington / USA
30 September -  1 October 2002

Executive Summary

This two-day event will be held in Seattle, Washington, USA, on September 30 and October 1, 2002. The conference is being sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Office of Mine Action Initiatives and Partnerships, and hosted by the Mine Action Information Center at James Madison University, located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. 

The purpose of the conference is to educate Rotarians from around the world on the latest information and best practices regarding landmine eradication, technology, mine risk education, and survivors assistance. Rotary Clubs currently engaged in mine action projects will describe their work.

The two-day conference will feature speakers from around the world who are actively engaged in landmine eradiation and survivors assistance programs. Invited speakers include:

• Her Majesty Queen Noor al-Hussein

• Rotary International President Richard King

• Mr. Colin King, President of Colin King Associates and editor of “Jane’s Mines
  and Mine Clearance”

• Mr. Eric Filippino, head of the socio-economic section at the Geneva 
  International Center for Humanitarian Demining

• Mr. Ken Rutherford, Co-founderof Landmine Survivors Network and Professor 
  of Political Science at Southwest Missouri State University

NGOs working in the area of mine action will be present with displays and resource people to provide information and discuss their programs. Examples of invited NGOs include:

• The United Nations Association Adopt-A-Minefield Program

• Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation

• United Nations Foundation

• Landmine Survivors Network

• Humpty Dumpty Institute

• Marshall Legacy Institute

• The HALO Trust

• Mines Advisory Group

• Roots of Peace

• Clear Path International

• PeaceTrees Vietnam

• Prosthetics Outreach Foundation

• Wheelchair Foundation
   

Rotarians will learn about a wide variety of projects in many countries and how they can partner with these projects. The above-mentioned NGOs have projects in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Croatia, Mozambique and Vietnam, to name a few. The assistance they provide includes the provision of mine detecting dogs, trained deminers and rehabilitation and employment opportunities for survivors of landmine accidents. Rotarian networking will be encouraged and time will be provided for clubs to discuss ways they can join together to fund projects of mutual interest. The State Department will underwrite the participation of 8 to 10 Rotarians from mine affected countries, e.g., Mozambique, Eritrea, Croatia, and Cambodia, and is seeking good candidates

One of the conference goals is the establishment a Land Mine Action Fund through Rotary International that clubs throughout the world can access via the matching grants program. Our goal is to raise $100,000 for this Fund, with the expectation that it will be increased over time