Landmine Survivors Network
Encyclopedia
Survivor Corps is a global network of survivors helping survivors to recover from war, rebuild their communities, and break cycles of violence. The organization currently operates programs in Albania
, Armenia
, Azerbaijan
, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi
, Colombia
, Croatia
, El Salvador
, Ethiopia
, Georgia
, Jordan
, Kosovo
, Macedonia
, Montenegro
, Serbia
, Uganda
, Rwanda
, the United States
and Vietnam
.
Survivor Corps is a leading proponent of the peer support
method, in which survivors are linked to one another to share information
as well as emotional and practical support, and work together on issues affecting their lives. The Survivor Corps peer support program connects survivors with survivor role model
s to offer encouragement and motivation
. Peer support is used to help new survivors find hope, get jobs, and get on with their lives.
Survivor Corps also brings conflict survivors together to promote reconciliation
and rebuilding through community service
projects and local activism
.
By training and organizing survivor advocate
s to campaign for their rights, survivor corps has brought the voices of survivors into international negotiations, to ban weapons that cause unacceptable harm to civilians and to honor the rights of survivors of war and of persons with disabilities.
In May 2008, Survivor Corps emerged out of Landmine Survivors Network
. The name change reflects the expansion of the organization's mission to include all types of survivors of global conflict and war, including United States
service members and veterans returning from the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan
.
coalition (ICBL), which has over 1100 member organizations and whose goal is to abolish the production and use of anti-personnel landmines. Survivor Corps co-founders Jerry White
and Ken Rutherford helped lead the coalition's efforts that secured the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which in turn earned the coalition the Nobel Peace Prize
. Prominent Survivor Corps supporters include Queen Noor of Jordan
and the late Diana, Princess of Wales
.
The Mine Ban Treaty bans the use, stockpiling, production and trade of antipersonnel mines. It was also the first arms control agreement in history to require governments to provide assistance to victims of the weapon. This was achieved by an unprecedented level of participation by survivors in the treaty process.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
entered into force on May 3, 2008, affecting 650 million people with disabilities around the world, including survivors of violent conflict. Survivor Corps helped ensure that this progressive human rights
treaty addressed persons with disabilities not as charity cases, but as equal and autonomous citizens entitled to their human rights and full participation in society.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions
was signed in Oslo on December 3, 2008 and entered into force on 1 August 2010. It bans the use, stockpiling, production and trade of cluster bombs due to the indiscriminate harm they cause to civilians. As a leader on the steering committee of the Cluster Munitions Coalition, Survivor Corps used its past experience with the Mine Ban Treaty to help ensure that the Convention on Cluster Munitions included the strongest possible requirements to provide assistance to victims of the weapon, their families and communities.
In 1997, Princess Diana visited Bosnia
with LSN co-founders Jerry White and Ken Rutherford to meet landmine survivors. Her high-profile tour of the war-torn country brought global media attention and public support to the issue of landmines. After the death of Princess Diana, the organization became the only American-based charity to receive support from the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund
. Also in 1997, Queen Noor of Jordan stepped in to take a prominent role in supporting the organization's work.
In 1999, along with Queen Noor and key members of the United States Congress
, including Senator Patrick Leahy
, the organization drew international attention to the refusal of the United States
to sign the Mine Ban Treaty, while appealing to the US to revisit landmine policy.
From 1997 to 2007, LSN provided health
support, economic opportunity and human rights advocacy for survivors of landmines around the world.
and Afghanistan
. Survivor Corps expanded its programs into Israel
, Rwanda
, Burundi
, Uganda
, and created additional projects in Colombia
.
resources to the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery located at James Madison University
.
On September 30, 2010 Survivor Corps closed its headquarters office in Washington DC.
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
Survivor Corps is a leading proponent of the peer support
Peer support
Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other. It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters, and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, listening, or counseling...
method, in which survivors are linked to one another to share information
Information
Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
as well as emotional and practical support, and work together on issues affecting their lives. The Survivor Corps peer support program connects survivors with survivor role model
Role model
The term role model generally means any "person who serves as an example, whose behaviour is emulated by others".The term first appeared in Robert K. Merton's socialization research of medical students...
s to offer encouragement and motivation
Motivation
Motivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation...
. Peer support is used to help new survivors find hope, get jobs, and get on with their lives.
Survivor Corps also brings conflict survivors together to promote reconciliation
Reconciliation
Reconciliation may variously refer to:* Bank reconciliation* Truth and reconciliation commission-Religion:* Sacrament of Penance , also known as Reconciliation...
and rebuilding through community service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
projects and local activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
.
By training and organizing survivor advocate
Advocate
An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
s to campaign for their rights, survivor corps has brought the voices of survivors into international negotiations, to ban weapons that cause unacceptable harm to civilians and to honor the rights of survivors of war and of persons with disabilities.
In May 2008, Survivor Corps emerged out of Landmine Survivors Network
Landmine Survivors Network
Survivor Corps is a global network of survivors helping survivors to recover from war, rebuild their communities, and break cycles of violence. The organization currently operates programs in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, Colombia, Croatia, El Salvador, Ethiopia,...
. The name change reflects the expansion of the organization's mission to include all types of survivors of global conflict and war, including United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
service members and veterans returning from the wars in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
Nobel Prize and International Leadership
Survivor Corps has long played a leading role the International Campaign to Ban LandminesInternational Campaign to Ban Landmines
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines is a coalition of non-governmental organizations working for a world free of anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions, where mine and cluster munitions survivors see their rights respected and can lead fulfilling lives.The coalition was formed in...
coalition (ICBL), which has over 1100 member organizations and whose goal is to abolish the production and use of anti-personnel landmines. Survivor Corps co-founders Jerry White
Jerry White (activist)
Jerry White is an American political activist and co-founder of Survivor Corps. He is a recognized leader of the historic International Campaign to Ban Landmines, co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and co-founder of Survivor Corps Jerry White is an American political activist and co-founder of...
and Ken Rutherford helped lead the coalition's efforts that secured the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which in turn earned the coalition the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
. Prominent Survivor Corps supporters include Queen Noor of Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
and the late Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
.
The Mine Ban Treaty bans the use, stockpiling, production and trade of antipersonnel mines. It was also the first arms control agreement in history to require governments to provide assistance to victims of the weapon. This was achieved by an unprecedented level of participation by survivors in the treaty process.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights instrument of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities...
entered into force on May 3, 2008, affecting 650 million people with disabilities around the world, including survivors of violent conflict. Survivor Corps helped ensure that this progressive human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
treaty addressed persons with disabilities not as charity cases, but as equal and autonomous citizens entitled to their human rights and full participation in society.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions
Convention on Cluster Munitions
The Convention on Cluster Munitions is an international treaty that prohibits the use, transfer and stockpile of cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters submunitions over an area. The convention was adopted on 2008 in Dublin, and was opened for signature on 2008 in Oslo...
was signed in Oslo on December 3, 2008 and entered into force on 1 August 2010. It bans the use, stockpiling, production and trade of cluster bombs due to the indiscriminate harm they cause to civilians. As a leader on the steering committee of the Cluster Munitions Coalition, Survivor Corps used its past experience with the Mine Ban Treaty to help ensure that the Convention on Cluster Munitions included the strongest possible requirements to provide assistance to victims of the weapon, their families and communities.
A Sterling Legacy
Over the course of several years, Survivor Corps established the first database designed to track the rehabilitation needs of mine victims and the resources available to help survivors, their families, and the communities affected by anti-personnel mines.In 1997, Princess Diana visited Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
with LSN co-founders Jerry White and Ken Rutherford to meet landmine survivors. Her high-profile tour of the war-torn country brought global media attention and public support to the issue of landmines. After the death of Princess Diana, the organization became the only American-based charity to receive support from the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund is an independent grant-giving foundation established in September 1997 after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, to continue her humanitarian work in the United Kingdom and overseas...
. Also in 1997, Queen Noor of Jordan stepped in to take a prominent role in supporting the organization's work.
In 1999, along with Queen Noor and key members of the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, including Senator Patrick Leahy
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy is the senior United States Senator from Vermont and member of the Democratic Party. He is the first and only elected Democratic United States Senator in Vermont's history. He is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy is the second most senior U.S. Senator,...
, the organization drew international attention to the refusal of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to sign the Mine Ban Treaty, while appealing to the US to revisit landmine policy.
From 1997 to 2007, LSN provided health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
support, economic opportunity and human rights advocacy for survivors of landmines around the world.
Landmine Survivors Network becomes Survivor Corps
In May 2008, Landmine Survivors Network changed its name to Survivor Corps. The name change reflects the expansion of their mission to include all types of survivors of global conflict and war, including United States service members and veterans returning from the wars in IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. Survivor Corps expanded its programs into Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, and created additional projects in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
.
Transition in 2010
In early 2010 Survivor Corps elected to make its country programs in Vietnam, El Salvador and Bosnia into independent NGOs and to transfer its peer supportPeer support
Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other. It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters, and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, listening, or counseling...
resources to the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery located at James Madison University
James Madison University
James Madison University is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes before settling with James Madison University...
.
On September 30, 2010 Survivor Corps closed its headquarters office in Washington DC.
See also
- Jerry WhiteJerry White (activist)Jerry White is an American political activist and co-founder of Survivor Corps. He is a recognized leader of the historic International Campaign to Ban Landmines, co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and co-founder of Survivor Corps Jerry White is an American political activist and co-founder of...
- Cluster Munitions Coalition
- Convention on Cluster MunitionsConvention on Cluster MunitionsThe Convention on Cluster Munitions is an international treaty that prohibits the use, transfer and stockpile of cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters submunitions over an area. The convention was adopted on 2008 in Dublin, and was opened for signature on 2008 in Oslo...
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesConvention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesThe Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights instrument of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities...
- International Campaign to Ban LandminesInternational Campaign to Ban LandminesThe International Campaign to Ban Landmines is a coalition of non-governmental organizations working for a world free of anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions, where mine and cluster munitions survivors see their rights respected and can lead fulfilling lives.The coalition was formed in...
- Ken Rutherford
- Ottawa TreatyOttawa TreatyThe Ottawa Treaty or the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, officially known as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, aims at eliminating anti-personnel landmines around the world. , there were 158...
External links
- The Official Survivor Corps Website
- Additional Survivor Corps resources, including the first two chapters of Jerry White's book I Will Not Be Broken, and a video interview with Jerry White.
- BanMinesUSA.org - 'United States Campaign to Ban Landmines'
- GuideStar Report on Survivor Corps 2007
- ICBL.org - 'International Campaign to Ban Landmines' (official website)
- I Will Not Be Broken: Five Steps to Overcoming a Life Crisis, by Survivor Corps founder Jerry White
- The Advocacy Project
- Landmine Survivors Initiative in Bosnia-i-Herzegovina
- Red de Sobrevivientes y Personas con Discapacidad in El Salvador
- Association for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (AEPD) in Vietnam
- The Center for International Stabilization and Recovery at James Madison University