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As Eve Ensler says in her inspired foreword to this book, "Jody Williams is many things-a simple girl from Vermont, a sister of a disabled brother, a loving wife, an intense character full of fury and mischief, a great strategist, an excellent organizer, a brave and relentless advocate, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. But to me Jody Williams is, first and foremost, an activist."From her modest beginnings to becoming the tenth woman-and third American woman-to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Jody Williams takes the reader through the ups and downs of her tumultuous and remarkable life. In a voic.

Banning Landmines: Disarmament, Citizen Diplomacy, and Human Security looks at accomplishments and setbacks in the crucial first decade of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Edited by Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams and two other long-time leaders of the mine ban movement, Stephen Goose and Mary Wareham, this book features contributions by grassroots activists, diplomatic negotiators, mine survivors, arms experts, and human rights defenders.

I have thought a lot about the extent to which civil society has underestimated the risk or probability of nuclear war. I do not think that civil society—normal human beings, if you will—has underestimated the threat of nuclear weapons, nuclear war, and the annihilation of life on the planet. Certainly, after the Vietnam period and the nuclear contest disarmament was higher on the agenda. As I contemplate, I always wondered why the anti-Vietnam movement did not solidify into a movement to bring about change consistently. We just see it as a movement to end U.S. participation in the war. This is certainly a noble goal, but it is not moving us toward a different system or view of war.

No es nueva la preocupación suscitada por los efectos de determinadas armas convencionales, especialmente de las minas terrestres no es nueva. Si no hubiera existido tal preocupación, no se habría elaborado la Convención de 1980 sobre Armas Convencionales (CAC). Tampoco habrían realizado algunos de los estudios previos sobre esta cuestión organismos de las Naciones Unidas. Lo que sí es nuevo, es el acrecentado interés por los problemas que originan las minas terrestres, particularmente en el contexto postbélico. Sin embargo, toda una serie de factores obliga cada vez más a reconocer que, a pesar de la existencia de la CAC, ésta no ha servido para encarar el deterioro de este tipo de situaciones sobre el terreno desde que fue formulada (el Ejército estadounidense calcula que, de los 400 millones de minas terrestres sembradas desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial, 65 millones se han colocado en los últimos 15 años)

Concern about the effects of certain conventional weapons, particularly landmines, is not new. Had that concern been lacking, the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) would not have been formulated. Nor would some of the earlier studies on the issue by UN bodies have been written. What is new is a heightened interest in the problems caused by landmines, particularly in post-conflict settings. Several factors have contributed to the increased recognition that even though the CCW is in place, it has not addressed the ever-worsening situation on the ground. (The United States army estimates that 400 million landmines have been sown since the beginning of the Second World War, including at least 65 million in the last 15 years.)

Il y a quelque temps déjà que les effets de certaines armes classiques — les mines terrestres, en particulier — retiennent l'attention. Sans l'inquiétude qu'ils suscitent, la Convention de 1980 sur les armes classiques n'aurait pas vu le jour et certaines des premières études consacrées à ce problème par les organes des Nations Unies n'auraient pas été rédigées. L'élément nouveau, c'est l'intérêt accru porté aux problèmes posés par les mines terrestres, notamment après la fin des hostilités. Plusieurs facteurs ont contribué à faire prendre davantage conscience du fait que, malgré l'adoption de la Convention de 1980, la situation sur le terrain ne cessait de se détériorer. (L'armée américaine estime que 400 millions de mines terrestres ont été mises en place depuis le début de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, dont 65 millions au moins au cours des 15 dernières années.)

Outlines the effects of landmines worldwide as one of the three most serious public health issues. The use of landmines has changed since the US Civil War. Humanitarian law, ie, laws of war, seeks to limit destruction & injury during armed conflicts, but landmine consequences go beyond the period of actual conflict. Areas of economic impact of landmines are discussed, including the cost of medical care & lost wages due to injury, the loss of crops & grazing animals, the damage to road systems & subsequent disruption of refugee resettlement, & the disruption of the flow of goods & services. 16 References. C. Whitcraft

As Eve Ensler says in her inspired foreword to this book, "Jody Williams is many things--a simple girl from Vermont, a sister of a disabled brother, a loving wife, an intense character full of fury and mischief, a great strategist, an excellent organizer, a brave and relentless advocate, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. But to me Jody Williams is, first and foremost, an activist." From her modest beginnings to becoming the tenth woman--and third American woman--to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Jody Williams takes the reader through the ups and downs of her tumultuous and remarkable life. In a voice that is at once candid, straightforward, and intimate, Williams describes her Catholic roots, her first step on a long road to standing up to bullies with the defense of her deaf brother Stephen, her transformation from good girl to college hippie at the University of Vermont, and her protest of the war in Vietnam. She relates how, in 1981, she began her lifelong dedication to global activism as she battled to stop the U.S.-backed war in El Salvador. Throughout the memoir, Williams underlines her belief that an "average woman"--through perseverance, courage and imagination--can make something extraordinary happen. She tells how, when asked if she'd start a campaign to ban and clear anti-personnel mines, she took up the challenge, and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) was born. Her engrossing account of the genesis and evolution of the campaign, culminating in 1997 with the Nobel Peace Prize, vividly demonstrates how one woman's commitment to freedom, self-determination, and human rights can have a profound impact on people all over the globe.