Civil society campaigns have driven humanitarian disarmament since its inception in the 1990s. While each campaign focuses on a different type of weapon or related activity, they all engage in “citizen diplomacy” in their efforts to end civilian suffering. The campaigns operate through global coalitions consisting of nongovernmental organizations from around the world that have joined forces to advance a common humanitarian goal. They actively involve survivors in their advocacy and partner with like-minded governments and international organizations. The campaigns seek to effect change through the establishment of new norms. Some of the humanitarian disarmament campaigns have achieved treaties and turned their attention to implementation and universalization; others are still in the process of norm building. Together they have shifted the focus of disarmament by placing people, not nations, at its center.
For more information on individual campaigns, including their Twitter feeds, click the links below:
Cluster Munition Coalition
The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), formed in 2003, works toward a world without cluster munitions, including by promoting universalization of and compliance with the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Conflict and Environment Observatory
The Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS), launched in 2018 as a successor to the Toxic Remnants of War Project, is committed to increasing awareness of the environmental and derived humanitarian consequences of armed conflicts and military activities.
Control Arms
Control Arms, whose coalition was founded in 2003, advocates for universalization and implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty in order to establish strong international norms for arms transfer decision-making.
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which was launched in 2007 and received the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, spotlights the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and promotes the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as it strives for the elimination of these arms.
International Campaign to Ban Landmines
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), founded in 1992, urges countries to join the Mine Ban Treaty and live up to its obligations; the ICBL and Jody Williams received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for their work to achieve that treaty.
International Network on Explosive Weapons
The International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW), established in 2011, seeks to prevent the human suffering from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas through international and national actions, including universalization and implementation of the 2022 political declaration.
Stop Killer Robots
Stop Killer Robots, launched in 2013, calls for an international treaty that includes prohibitions and regulations to ensure that meaningful human control is maintained over the use of force.