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the great clear up operation
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Written by Richard Evans,
ethics etc...
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Why campaign?
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In 1996, the bank began
campaigning alongside UK and international
organisations and governments for a ban on the
manufacture and use of anti-personnel landmines.i By
February 2003, 144 countries had signed the Ottawa
Treaty banning anti-personnel landmines, marking a
highly successful outcome for the campaign.
However, other types of unexploded ordnance, like
cluster bombs, have recently been shown to be as
devastating, causing death and terrible injuries to
innocent people and hindering economic development
long after conflicts have ended. Examples include
unexploded bombs, shells, mortars, missiles and
individual bomblets from cluster bombs. Until recently,
little was known about the effects of these unexploded
weapons in post-conflict regions.
The bank's 'cluster bomb' campaign aimed to raise
public awareness, to put up-to-date, objective research
into the hands of international decision makers and to
secure international agreement that countries using
these weapons should take responsibility for
subsequent clear-up operations and for protecting
innocent civilians. It also raised money through
Customers Who Care to fund organisations involved in
clearing explosive weapons in former war zones in Sri
Lanka, Cambodia, Sudan and Nagorno Karabakh.
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The provision of funding for ordnance
clearance operations undertaken by Landmine
Action in the Sudan, the Halo Trust in Nagorno
Karabakh and Mines Advisory Group (MAG) in
Cambodia, was a key element of the bank's
Cluster Bombs campaign, launched in
February 2002. |
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What has been achieved so far?
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Research and awareness raising Two substantial
pieces of research into the effects of cluster bombs
and other unexploded weapons were commissioned.
'Explosive Remnants of War' ii, published in March 2002,
provided the first detailed factual information about
numbers of victims, the causes of accidents and their
personal impact in Cambodia, Eritrea and Kosovo. It
showed that the level of incidents, fatalities and severe
injuries was significantly higher than those resulting
from anti-personnel
landmines. The research
also addressed the
extent to which
unexploded ordnance
interfered with farming
and economic life. The
report was praised for
including a number of
illustrated case studies
describing the tragic
effects on individuals
and communities. A second report on Sri Lanka was presented at the
United Nations Convention on Conventional Weapons
(UN CCW) in December 2002.
The impact of the 'Explosive Remnants of War' briefing
on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on Clare
Short at the Department for International Development
in March and on national delegates at the UN CCW in
May, was very significant. It was recognised that the
report provided reliable, and hitherto unavailable,
information on the effects of these weapons in post
conflict situations. The report resulted in an invitation
from the Chair of the UN CCW meetings for Landmine
Action to attend meetings and participate in the
discussions. The Ministry of Defence has said that the
"Explosive Remnants of War report has made an
important contribution towards greater understanding
of the humanitarian impact of explosive remnants." The
Minister for the Armed Forces welcomed the report in
a Written Parliamentary Answer on 10th April 2002.
The bank's advertisements in the national press and
the Guardian 'Aftershock' supplement, produced in
association with the bank, raised public awareness and
resulted in signatories for the bank's petition, donations
to the clearance operation and requests for the report.
The great clear up operation £370,000 was raised
by customers' spending on their Co-operative Bank
credit and debit cards. £129,000 was distributed to
partners to fund clear up operations and training for
teams of local experts in Sudan, Cambodia and
Nagorno Karabakhiii. This was in addition to £42,000
raised during 2001 and already used to fund clearance
work by The Halo Trust and MAG in Sri Lanka. While
the agencies get most of their clearance funding from
international governments, they readily acknowledged
the significance of other funding, which allows greater
flexibility in the field. It is also useful in leveraging
matching donations from other private sources.
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Published by Landmine Action in
March 2002, with research and
production costs funded by The
Co-operative Bank, this report
was used as an awareness raising
and lobbying tool. |
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Published during Landmine Action week in November 2002, the Guardian's 'Aftershock' supplement provided information on the impact of unexploded ordnance on post-conflict communities to the Guardian's 400,000 daily readers. |
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The campaign for a new international agreement
Richard Lloyd, Director of Landmine Action iv, has
expressed his delight at the impact of the 'Explosive
Remnants of War' report and the later Sri Lanka
research report. He believes that these would not have
been produced without the bank's funding. The reports
have been studied in detail by delegates to the UN
CCW Working Groups and have undoubtedly
influenced the decision to start negotiating a new
protocol on explosive remnants of war in 2003. Richard
Lloyd praised the bank not only for paying the research
and publication costs,
but also for the
bank's expertise,
management support
and real sense of
urgency.
Bank financial support
enabled Landmine
Action to prepare
materials and to
attend the UN
meetings in Geneva.
Even more important was the timing of a bank-hosted reception at
Westminster (for Ministers, MPs and Civil Servants),
national press advertising and the 'Aftershock'
supplement in The Guardian, which contacts in Whitehall described as "spot on".
Richard Lloyd has stated that these types of negotiations
at the UN are very sensitive to national military
capabilities and objectives and it can take many years
to even agree that a new treaty is needed or is a
realistic possibility. He believes the bank's actions have
accelerated the whole process at the UN negotiations.
In December, the UN CCW passed a resolution to start
negotiating an agreement on explosives remnants of
war early in 2003.
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Richard Lloyd, Director, Landmine Action, the Rt Hon Clare Short
MP, Secretary of State for International Development and Mervyn
Pedelty, Chief Executive, at the Westminster launch of 'Explosive
Remnants of War'. |
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Conclusion
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In 2002, the bank moved away from
its previous pattern of conducting two or more
'Customers Who Care' campaigns each year. In the
bank's assessment, the seriousness of the cluster
bomb issue demanded a longer commitment and a
focusing of resources if campaign objectives were to
be achieved. The words and actions of Government
Ministers and officials, and the Chair and delegates to
the UN negotiations, along with the endorsement of the
bank's campaign partners, have convinced me that this
commitment has been justified.
"The campaign supported by The Co-operative
Bank has undoubtedly played a central role in
raising awareness of the humanitarian issues raised
by explosive remnants of war. The recommendations
in the report on explosive remnants of war have
been clearly influential in the international
discussions."
Ministry of Defence "
DFID sees The Co-operative Bank's sponsorship of
this issue as constructive in increasing awareness
and knowledge of this subject. Their sponsorship of
Landmine Action's report was important."
Department for International Development
Landmine Action, a small organisation, admits working
with the bank was demanding at times. However, the
result has been that strategic objectives have been
achieved with impeccable timing and new initiatives,
that they would have found impossible to pull off alone,
have been successfully undertaken.
This outstanding campaign has raised public
awareness, paid for substantial work in clearing
unexploded munitions and made the possibility of a
change in global policy, through international
negotiation at the UN CCW, real and achievable. The
bank has played a key role, which confirms its
commitment not just to its ethical branding, but also to
making the world a better place for all. It is a campaign
that should make every one of the bank's customers
and employees proud, whether they have participated
directly or not.
Richard Evans,
ethics etc...
March 2003
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- www.co-operativebank.co.uk/ethics/partnership1997/97_national_deliver.html
- www.co-operativebank.co.uk/downloads/cwc/erw_report.pdf
- www.landmineaction.org, www.mag.org.uk and www.halotrust.org
- www.landmineaction.org
To follow any of the links mentioned within the Partnership Report 2002, please visit the links page.
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