Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor has reported on global landmine and cluster munition problems and solutions since 1999 and 2010 respectively. It has become the monitoring regime for the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions and is a shining example of the concept of civil society-based verification that is now employed in many similar contexts.
A broad-based network of individuals, campaigns, and organizations from around the world contribute to the Monitor research work.
Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor is a program providing research and monitoring for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC). Before the Monitor’s inception, there was no systematic monitoring and assessment of the international community’s response to the problem caused by landmines, cluster munitions, and other explosive remnants of war (ERW).
Preparation of Monitor research products entails extensive collection, analysis, and distribution of publicly available information. Although in some cases it does entail investigative missions, the Monitor is not designed to send researchers into harm's way and does not include hot war-zone reporting. The Monitor’s key target audiences are governments, civil society, and international organizations, as well as media, academics, and the general public.
A brief history of the origin of the Monitor and the ICBL-CMC
During the process to negotiate the Mine Ban Treaty, the international community came to rely on the detailed and accurate information on the global mine and ERW problem that was provided by ICBL.
After the Mine Ban Treaty was opened for signature in December 1997, the ICBL, in consultation with key government, international organization, and civil society partners, recognized the need for accurate and sustained reporting with respect to landmines, cluster munitions, and other ERW, and for monitoring the universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
The ICBL created Landmine Monitor in June 1998 to meet these monitoring and reporting needs, and the first annual report, Landmine Monitor Report 1999: Toward a Mine-Free World, was published to coincide with the First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in May 1999. Annual reports have since been published each year prior to the respective meeting of States Parties.
On 3 December 2008, the Convention on Cluster Munitions was opened for signature. In November 2008, the Monitor decided to monitor the universalization and implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in addition to monitoring the Mine Ban Treaty, and published its first report on cluster munitions in May 2009.
The initiative formally changed its name from Landmine Monitor to Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor in December 2009 to better reflect its increased reporting of cluster munition issues. The Monitor produces three primary annual publications that began back in 2010: Country Profiles, Cluster Munition Monitor, and Landmine Monitor. The Monitor also produces a series of thematic factsheets and briefing papers to coincide with relevant treaty meetings.