Civil society and the Mine Ban Treaty- From Scrappy Start-up to the Nobel Peace Prize

The Mine Ban Treaty, known in full as The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, was negotiated in 1997 at unprecedented speed. It has been hailed as an arms control and human rights triumph and a powerful illustration of what can be achieved when civil society and governments work together. Twenty years since the convention came into force, Sue Wixley will talk about her experience of campaigning for the global prohibition of anti-personnel landmines and reflect on the lessons she draws for global civil society campaigns today.

Originally from South Africa, Sue co-founded and led the South African Campaign to Ban Landmines, which successfully lobbied the Pretoria government to ban the weapons from its arsenal. She was part of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines team which was jointly awarded the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize with Jody Williams. Sue got involved in campaigning against apartheid in the late 1980s when she was a student at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. In 1999, she moved to the UK and has worked for human rights and health care organisations and served as a trustee on several charity boards.