Date/Time
Date(s) - 01/04/2026
10:00 - 12:00
Location
Press Club Brussels Europe
Categories
To mark International Mine Awareness Day, Handicap International and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
will symbolically dismantle the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize they were awarded, through the campaign “A Nobel Prize in Pieces.
Twenty-eight years after this historic achievement, the global norm against anti-personnel landmines is under growing threat. Landmines are once again being used in current conflicts conflicts, new production is re-emerging, and some states have stepped back from their commitments under the Ottawa Treaty.
90% of fatal victims are civilians
Given the current geopolitical situation where civilians continue to pay the highest price in different ongoing conflicts, Handicap International and ICBL urgently calls on states to uphold their responsibilities, respect the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines, and stop the use of these insidious weapons, which kill civilians in 90% of cases. This powerful symbolic act is a call to responsibility: a reminder that the progress once achieved can be reversed—and that states must act now to protect one of the most important humanitarian disarmament norms of our time.
Press moment in Brussels
At a press event at the Brussels Press Club, Handicap International and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) will present fragments of the Nobel Peace Prize to Belgium—one of the first countries to sign the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty—and to the European Union as a whole.
This Prize, once awarded in recognition of the peace they helped build, now lies in pieces—fractured by the renewed use of landmines and the erosion of global commitments to ban them.
By placing these fragments in the hands of decision-makers, Handicap International and ICBL deliver a clear message: the responsibility to defend this norm cannot be taken for granted. It must be actively upheld.
Representatives from Handicap International, the ICBL, the Finnish Campaign to Ban Landmines (one of the countries that withdrew from the Mine Ban Treaty), and a landmine survivor will speak at the event, grounding this symbolic act in lived experience.
Throughout the week, additional fragments will be sent to governments and policymakers across Europe and beyond—each piece a reminder that the peace once achieved is now at risk, and that restoring it requires urgent political will.
Speaking Panel:
Antoine Sépulchre, Director Handicap International Belgium
Tamar Gabelnick, Director of the ICBL-CMC
Laura Lodenius, Representative of Finish Campaign to Ban Landmines
Nijaz Memic, landmine survivor and Paralympic athlete
Cecilia Strada, Member of the European Parliament (online)
Moderator:
Alma Taslidžan, Disarmament and Protection of Civilians Advocacy Manager, Handicap International
Press materials
Press release and images of the Nobel Prize fragment handover will be available after the event.
Contact Duarte De Munter
(d.demunter@hi.org, tel: +32 478 95 47 07).
Please confirm your attendance by phone (+32 478 95 47 07) or by sending an email to Duarte De Munter, press officer for Handicap International Belgium (d.demunter@hi.org).
About Handicap International
Handicap International supports people with disabilities during conflicts, disasters, and other vulnerable situations. The NGO works to remove barriers in society, restore people’s independence, and advocate for an inclusive world—a world where every person has the same rights and opportunities, and where everyone counts, with or without a disability.