Anti-personnel mines injure indiscriminately and continue killing long after a conflict ends, placing a heavy burden on civilians. Founded in 1992, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) united some 1,200 NGOs, with Jody Williams coordinating global lobbying toward governments. Gathering victims’ testimonies, the campaign highlighted the inhuman nature of mines in major diplomatic meetings. As a result, 122 states adopted the 1997 Ottawa Treaty, which bans the production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of anti-personnel mines. The treaty also obliges signatories to clear existing mines and assist survivors. Their work is hailed as a landmark example of civil society achieving concrete disarmament progress.

The ICBL emerged within the post-Cold-War trend toward humanitarian disarmament. Jody Williams expanded the network using e-mail and international conferences, reframing the issue from national security to human security. Field missions in affected states quantified casualty figures and contamination, creating the Landmine Monitor to provide evidence-based policy input. During the Ottawa Process the campaign partnered with the Canadian government, bypassing slower UN forums and drafting a treaty in record time. The resulting convention achieved an unprecedented total ban on a conventional weapon and set clear deadlines: three years for stockpile destruction and ten years for clearance. This paradigm influenced subsequent treaties on cluster munitions and nuclear weapons, advancing international humanitarian law. Remaining challenges include persuading major non-party states such as the United States, China, and Russia, and improving demining technology for faster, safer clearance.

The ICBL employed evidence-driven advocacy, quantitatively assessing casualties and state compliance through its annual Landmine Monitor. The campaign advanced implementation of AP I Art.36 weapon reviews and contributed to the stigmatization norm that delegitimized landmines both legally and morally. Article 6 of the Ottawa Convention institutionalizes mandatory international cooperation, creating a disarmament mechanism sensitive to North-South disparities. ICBL and Jody Williams demonstrated that civil society can act as a de facto co-drafter rather than a mere observer in treaty negotiations. Universality now covers 81 % of UN member states, yet challenges persist: continued minimum-pressure mine use by non-parties and IED deployment by non-state actors. Technologically, GPR-equipped clearance robots and biosensors detecting explosive vapor are approaching operational maturity. Strengthening compliance will require activation of APLC Art.8 fact-finding missions and increased funding for the UNMAS multi-donor trust fund. Analyses of the landmine ban’s success inform process-design studies for cluster munitions and nuclear weapon prohibition negotiations.