Help give landmines the boot on International Peace Day: Every Step Counts

Today, on the International Day of Peace, Handicap International UK is launching Every Step Counts, a new campaign highlighting the continued danger of landmines and cluster bombs and their impact on young people worldwide. The campaign will lead up to 3rd December, the fifteenth anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty.

© Sebastian Bozada/Handicap International

Fifteen years after the Mine Ban Treaty was signed, landmines are still killing and maiming people every day. Worldwide, an estimated 100 million landmines remain on the ground, waiting for their next victim. One third of the casualties are under 18 years old.

Phongsavath Manithong is a cluster munition survivor from Laos who is supporting the campaign. He met Hillary Clinton on her recent visit to Laos. He says "I can no longer work to support my family or myself. But I decided to make a difference by campaigning to get rid of these weapons. I would like to see all governments ban landmines and cluster bombs and clear the bombs and help the survivors."

Campaigner Beatrice Cami says: ‘We want to remind young people in the UK that young people just like them are living with this deadly threat in more than 80 countries. We’re asking them to imagine what it’s like to be in their shoes and join our campaign to give landmines and cluster bombs the boot. Every step counts!’

Handicap International UK is launching the campaign as a member of the Peace One Day Global Truce 2012 coalition, a group of NGOs worldwide that are committed to marking International Peace Day through their work.

We are asking people in the UK to upload a photograph of their old shoes with a fun caption saying where their shoes have taken them, for the chance of winning a new pair of Timberlands. The campaign website allows participants to share their photos and invite friends to vote for them. Every two weeks, a new pair of Timberland shoes will be given to the picture with the most votes.

To upload a photo of your old shoes and join the campaign, visit www.everystepcounts.org.uk

- ends -

Notes to Editors
For more information or interviews please contact:

Tom Shelton
Communication Officer, Handicap International UK
Tel: +44 (0)870 774 3737 | Direct: +44 (0)203 463 2377
Mob: +44 (0)7508 820 520
Email: tom.shelton@hi-uk.org
Please call for photos, case studies and campaign logos.

About the campaign
The campaign launch coincides with the International Day of Peace on 21st September and will run until 3^rd December, the fifteenth anniversary of the signing of the international Mine Ban Treaty.

Handicap International UK is a member of the Peace One Day Global Truce 2012 coalition, a group of NGOs worldwide that are committed to marking International Peace Day through their work. http://peaceoneday.org/global-truce-2012-ngo-coalition/

About Handicap International
Handicap International is an international aid organisation working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster in 60 countries worldwide.  Its activities include clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance, educating communities about the risks, supporting survivors and campaigning for their rights.

Handicap International is a co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize and a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Cluster Munition Coalition.
www.handicap-international.org.uk

This campaign has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this campaign are the sole responsibility of Handicap International UK and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.