Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to welcome you all to Nairobi and to The Nairobi Summit On a Mine-Free World.

I note that we have amongst us over sixty victims of landmines from Africa, Asia, Central and Latin America and Europe. Their presence here today is a living testimony to the devastating and dehumanizing effects of landmines.

To these and to the many others throughout the world whose lives have been shattered by landmines, this gathering is an affirmation of our common concern and commitment to rid the world of one of the most destructive and traumatizing weapons.
The problem of anti-personnel mines is one of the most pressing humanitarian and developmental issues of our time. Every year, throughout the world, more than 22,000 people are killed, maimed or mutilated by uncleared landmines. These are deaths that can be prevented. We are in a position to spare victims of landmines the pain and suffering caused by these senseless weapons.

After all, the majority of victims of landmines are innocent civilians who are affected long after the conflicts have ceased. In some countries, landmines have compounded the problem of hunger and malnutrition by rendering huge areas of land unusable. In addition, surviving landmine victims are often severely maimed and therefore become a burden to society.

This First Review Summit of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction marks the most significant gathering of world leaders to address the global landmine problem since the historic signing of the convention in Ottawa in December, 1997.

The Summit provides world leaders with an opportunity to assess progress made in ending the suffering caused by anti-personnel mines and to put in place a plan of action for overcoming the remaining challenges.

I am particularly delighted to welcome the high level dignitaries who have joined us on this auspicious occasion, as well as those who are set to arrive in the next few days. Your participation in this conference underscores your commitment to the eradication of landmines.

Kenya is honoured to host this first review conference. It is most appropriate that the conference is taking place on African soil, because the continent is the most mined and has the greatest number of victims of anti-personnel mines. Indeed, twenty-two Sub-Saharan African countries are severely contaminated by anti-personnel mines.

It is therefore encouraging to note that Africa is well represented in this conference. Moreover, all but four African states are parties to the Convention. This is a clear demonstration of the Continent's commitment to destroy all stockpiles of landmines.

In this regard, I am happy to report that we in Kenya have taken necessary steps to destroy the land-mine stockpile in accordance with our treaty obligations. We are also in the final stages of making those obligations part and parcel of our domestic legislation.

At the global level, the Mine Ban Treaty has been ratified by 143 countries out of the total U.N. membership of 191 countries. This is an indication that people throughout the world would like to see an end to production, stockpiling, and use of landmines.

Accordingly, the success of the Convention must be measured by its real and practical impact on the ground, including, the number of lives saved, the acreage of land cleared of mines for agricultural use and the number of de-mining operations.

While significant strides have been made in these areas, there are a number of challenges that are yet to be overcome. One of these is the question of universality of the Convention. This Convention is unique because to be truly successful, it must be embraced by all States.

It is estimated that there are still close to 200 million mines held by various states. I appeal to those States that are still not parties to join the Convention and destroy their landmine stockpiles. Unless all the existing stocks are destroyed, and unless production of these lethal weapons is brought to an end, the threat posed by landmines will continue to be with us.

We must not rest until every landmine is destroyed. Our conscience cannot be at peace until every minefield is cleared, and until all those persons injured or maimed by landmines are assisted and re-integrated into their societies.

In this regard, it is also necessary to increase funding levels for mine action, if the momentum is to be sustained. Mine action must be treated as a development priority and incorporated in all development plans and initiatives.

Above all, we must intensify conflict resolution efforts. Conflicts create conditions for production and use of anti-personnel mines. We should support and strengthen mechanisms established to resolve conflicts before these escalate into full-scale war.

Another dimension to this problem is the merchants of war who seek to make quick profits from situations of conflict. They must be told that landmines kill innocent civilians and should not be traded. The conference must also send a strong and clear message to both producers and users of landmines that this is not a weapon of choice in any war.

Let us also bear in mind that poverty breeds conflicts. The large number of conflicts in Africa is a clear case in point. There is need to reduce expenditure on defence, while increasing development assistance to poor and needy countries. It is sad that millions of people throughout the world continue to go hungry, and barely survive on less than one dollar a day even though there is enough food to feed everyone on earth. In concluding my remarks, I would like to pay tribute to the role that international and civil society organizations continue to play in championing the objectives of the Convention.

I wish in particular to commend the role of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian De-mining and the International Committee of the Red Cross. These organizations have been instrumental, together with other NGOs, in augmenting the efforts of governments and providing invaluable leadership in the campaign against landmines.

I encourage you all, and those who have ratified the Mine-Ban Treaty not to relent on the crusade against these devastating and destructive weapons, but to continue highlighting the dangers of mines and lobbying the citizens of those governments that remain outside the Mine-Ban Treaty to join the noble efforts to eradicate landmines.

The task before us can only be achieved through concerted action. My challenge to the conference is that we must come up with a practical and effective mechanism that will address these issues. My government will ensure that your stay in Kenya is comfortable and memorable.

I wish you fruitful deliberations for the next one week, and I hope that the Summit will come up with clear strategies and priorities over the next five years towards ending the suffering caused by anti-personnel mines.

Thank you.