30 November 2004

Minister to attend review of landmines Convention

Disarmament and Arms Control Minister Marian Hobbs leaves this evening for Nairobi to lead New Zealand's delegation to the first Review Conference of the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines.

"New Zealand has been a long standing, strong, and high profile supporter of the Convention," Marian Hobbs said. "This includes our role as co-rapporteur and then co-chair this year of the Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Treaty.

"The Ministerial Forum will be a time to celebrate the enormous progress that has been made since the Convention entered into force in 1999. But it will also be an opportunity to look to the future and determine the Convention’s next steps.

"We need to find new ways to engage those states remaining outside the Convention. And in particular, we need to engage the significant landmine producers and users. "The Ottawa Convention stands alone as an unprecedented success in the disarmament arena in recent times.

"The partnership between States Parties, Inter-governmental Organisations, and Non-Governmental Organisations has contributed to the now firmly established international norm against the use of anti-personnel mines." The conference ends on Friday and Marian Hobbs will return to New Zealand arriving on Sunday.

ENDS

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