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What you should know about the GTO-14:

1. What is the GTO-14: The GTO-14 is a group of 14 non-government organisationsfrom the civilian population of Colombia that work in the field of anti-personnelmines and that have joined forces in order to achieve the best and most concreteresults to benefit the victims of this problem.

2. Who are the 14 organisations: The Asamblea permanente por la Paz, the BritishCouncil, the Colombian Campaign to Ban landmines (CCCM), CIREC, Corporacin

Retorno y Vida, the Colombian Red Cross, Fundacin Mi Sangre, Fundacin REI,Fundacin Restrepo Barco, Handicap International, Mercy Corps, Moviment Per laPau, Pastoral Social and United for Colombia.

3. What is the objective of this alliance: To demonstrate to the country and to theinternational community at the Second Revision Conference of the OttawaConvention that will take place in Cartagena from 30 th November to 4 th Decemberthat this group of organisations is dedicated to working together to protectingvictims of anti-personnel mines and to working towards a Colombia without mines.

4. What is the Ottawa Convention: Along with 157 other countries, Colombia signedthe Convention to ban the use, storage, production and transfer of anti-personnelmines and which calls for their destruction in 1997. Colombia ratified the

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convention in the year 2000. By signing this Convention, the States Parties arecommitting themselves to the removal and/or destruction of anti-personnel mineswithin their country within ten years of joining the treaty. Furthermore, theParticipating States should join together again for the Revision Conference in order

to discuss issues which relate to the fulfillment and success of the Convention.

5. What is the Revision Conference: Every five years, the participating states mustattend a Revision Conference in order to assess the application of the Conventionsterms and its current state, and to draw conclusions on how the Convention hasbeen put into practice. The first Revision Conference took place in Nairobi, Kenyain November 2004. It was here that the 2005-2009 Nairobi Action Plan was createdto establish the essential action to be taken in the fight against landmines duringthis period. Colombia will host the Second Revision Conference which will take

place in Cartagena from 30th

November to 4th

December 2009.

6. The launch of the Regional Forums pre- Revision Conference: The RegionalForums will cover almost the entire country. They are being carried out within theframework of the activities of GTO-14 in order to support the Second RevisionConference in Cartagena. The Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines (CCCM) andFundacin Mi Sangre are responsible for these forums.

7. What are the Regional Forums for: To revise, with the participation of Non-

Governmental Organisations, survivors of landmine accidents, communitiesaffected by landmines, Landmine Victim Associations as well as the general public,the Colombian Governments fulfillment of the pledges it made in 2004 at the FirstRevision Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

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8. The intended outcome of the forums:

a) That landmine victims, their families and communities affected by landmines

actively participate in the evaluation of Colombias implementation of theterms of the Ottawa Convention.

b) That organisations involved in the anti-landmine campaigns from the variousdepartments take up a stance with regards to the fulfillment of theConventions terms.

c) To produce both a written and a filmed document that presents the opinionsgiven at each forum on the realisation of and advances made with regard tothe Ottawa Convention in Colombia.

d) The document will be distributed at Cartagena to both National and

International Organisations and the information gathered will be used as asupport in the discussion forum that the singer Juanes will hold along withvictims of anti-personnel mines within the framework of the Conference.

For more information visit www.gto14.org