In one-third of the world's developing countries, death or dismemberment may be only a footstep away. In those nations' fields and alongside their roads and footpaths lie an estimated 100 million uncleared landmines, which can claim new victims years after the armed conflict has ended. Each week, nearly 500 people -- mostly women and children -- are killed or injured by these hidden weapons.
The Connecticut Coalition to Abolish Landmines will bring together experts on the topic for a conference to be held on campus on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 18 and 19. The event is designed both to raise public awareness about this global issue and to explore ways that individuals and groups can work together to speed the transition to a mine-free world. Highlighting the event will be a "Silent Walk for the Abolition of Landmines" led by Sambdech Preah Maha Ghosananda, supreme patriarch of Cambodia, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times for his campaign to ban landmines. The walk will take place at
1 p.m. on Sunday, and will begin at Battell Chapel, corner of Elm and College streets.
One of the topics that will be examined at the conference is the agreement reached recently among 100 nations to sign a treaty that would ban the use of antipersonnel landmines. The United States, Russia and China were among the nations that have refused to sign the treaty, which will be ratified in Ottawa in December. Participants will discuss whether the treaty will be effective without U.S. participation and how the ban will be enforced, and will consider ways to bring the United States and other nations under the treaty.
Other topics to be explored include the personal impact of landmines and what needs to be done to help victims of these weapons to rebuild their lives; the issues involved in removing the landmines that are already in place in developing countries; the producers of landmines in the United States; and the role of campus activism in addressing the issue. The UNICEF film "Small Targets" will also be screened during the event.
On Saturday, the conference will feature a morning session, 9:30-11:30 a.m., in the Yale University Art Gallery lecture hall (enter on High Street). This will be followed by a "Walking Meditation and Practice" beginning at the Yale Art Gallery, 1-2 p.m. The afternoon session, 2-3:15 p.m., will be held in William L. Harkness Hall, 100 Wall St.
The featured speakers at the conference will include Mary Wareham, coordinator of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines; Cambodian native Loung Ung, a spokes-person for the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation; Paul Spring of Hartford, Connecticut, a Vietnam veteran who was injured by a landmine; Mark Preslan, Asia Project Manager for the American Red Cross, including the organization's Cambodia Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Project; and Colonel J.P. Botha, deputy director for demining operation in the United Nations Department for Peacekeeping Operations.
In conjunction with the exhibit, there will be a "Landmines Exhibition," featuring a mock mine field, noon-6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16, and 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Oct. 18 on the New Haven Green.
The Connecticut Coalition to Abolish Landmines is an organization of groups and individuals committed to educating individuals and inspiring action to end the use of landmines and to repair the destruction they cause. Among the organizations affiliated with the coalition are Yale's Cambodian Genocide Program; Common Quest Foundation; Ethics, Politics and Econmics Program; and Ethnic Community Relation's Committee.
For further information about the conference, call (203) 782-9101 or send email to robert.forbes@yale.edu.