Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) told Lars Inge Staveland how they work for a multilateral commitment for a total ban on landmines. Kristine Lindberg is information officer on landmine issues and Janecke Wille is thematic coordinator for mine action.

AN: How did Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) build up experience in demining work?

KL: Norwegian People’s Aid has been working in the field of humanitarian demining since 1992, and is today present in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. We have gained experience from using different demining methods and have always had a very close relationship with other international organisations and forums. We have also been involved with technological research and development linked to demining.

AN: How many NPA staff are involved in demining?

KL: Our Mine Action Unit has ten staff in our headquarters in Oslo. Internationally, we have around 2,500 deminers in the humanitarian field. An important philosophy in our work is that we don’t place Norwegian staff to the field, but instead train local staff to clear mines in their own countries. So while we send out our own experts to direct the projects and train local staff, we have almost exclusively local staff doing the demining work in the field.

AN: NPA was involved with working out the Convention on the Prohibition of Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines. How did the international community respond?

KL: The agreement has been ratified by 130 countries, and 16 more have signed it with the intention off ratifying it. NPA has been very involved in mobilising around the convention and we have had a very good relationship with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), that won the peace prize in 1997. When the Landmine Convention was agreed we started monitoring the countries that had ratified it. The most important thing that we are working on right now is completing next year's Landmine Monitor Report for next year.

AN: Some people argue that the convention is too narrow. What do you say to that?

KL: The convention has been criticised because it only concerns anti-personnel mines. However, it was a very difficult task that we embarked upon in 1992 with Jody Williams, involving a lot of lobbying. The agreement is criticised for not including unexploded ordnance that is left behind after conflicts, but for us it is important to focus on the fact that we did at least get an agreement on anti-personnel mines.

AN: But NPA would prefer a broader definition in the agreement?

KL: NPA is working to reach international agreement to ban the use of cluster bombs. We are trying to raise awareness of the consequences of the use of cluster bombs through articles we write and through cooperation with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

AN: NPA recently attended a conference on landmines in Azerbaijan. What was your impression?

JW: The visit was important as it gave us a view of the situation in the country with regard to landmines and also an opportunity to see how our researchers work. This was a conference on landmines where representatives from different organisations met to discuss next year’s ICBL Landmine Report. We got to see the work done in the Fizuli region, which is one of the areas where the landmine problem is most serious as a result of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Landmines have continued to be a problem since the ceasefire in 1994. In central Asia the project to ban landmines is very new and few countries have signed the Convention. There is very little demining done apart from what the military does. Azerbaijan and Armenia are the countries that have advanced most in their demining work. In Azerbaijan there are two national NGOs which do the demining. In Armenia it is the military who carry out the demining work. It was very impressive to see how hard the local NGOs were working. The leader of the Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines has himself been displaced by the conflict.e Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines has himself been displaced by the conflict.rbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines has himself been displaced by the conflict.e Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines has himself been displaced by the conflict.

AN: Has international demining work progressed as you hoped since the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize?

JW: We have seen a decrease in the production of landmines, the transfer of landmines and the use of landmines. Landmines are still being used, but more rarely now than before. What could become a problem is that financial support for demining work has stagnated internationally for the first time since we started our work. This might be linked to a shifting focus from landmines to other important humanitarian emergencies such as HIV/AIDS.