Mary Wareham and Jody Williams, with Peter Asaro – Media Advocacy for Humanitarian Disarmament: From Landmines to Killer Robots
Abstract: Chaired by Dr. Peter Asaro, this panel discussion by Nobel Peace Laureate Ms. Jody Williams and Mary Wareham of Human Rights Watch will look at the evolving nature of media outreach and advocacy for humanitarian disarmament. Williams and Wareham have collaborated together over the past twenty years on initiatives to ban antipersonnel landmines and cluster munitions. They are co-founders of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots (www.stopkillerrobots.org), a global coalition of non-governmental organizations that is seeking a preemptive ban on weapons that would select and attack targets without meaningful human control. The panelists will consider how media has reacted to and covered the challenges posed by autonomous weapons and call for a ban as well as the similarities and differences to media outreach and advocacy for campaigning against landmines and cluster munitions. They will discuss how the Internet and social media have changed the landscape, and also how new media has changed the campaign’s approaches to mainstream media and journalists.
The Talk – Part One
The Talk – Part Two
The Class Responds (by Group Number)
The Panelists
Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Laureate
@JodyWilliams97 @NobelWomen @StopRapeCmpgn
The Nobel Women’s Initiative is a co-founder of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and Jody Williams serves as a spokesperson for the global coalition. In 1997, Jody Williams became the tenth woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her role as the founding coordinator (1991-1998) of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), co-recipient of the Peace Prize. Jody served as a chief strategist and spokesperson for the campaign in the crucial “Ottawa Process” period that saw an unprecedented diplomatic effort involving governments as well as NGOs, UN agencies, and the International Committee of the Red Cross work to adopt the Mine Ban Treaty in record time. Williams established the Nobel Women’s Initiative in 2006 together with five of her sister Nobel Peace laureates to work for a democratic world free of violence against women and all of humanity. In 2012, the Nobel Women’s Initiative and other NGOs formed the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict.
Mary Wareham, Human Rights Watch Arms Division Advocacy Director
@marywareham @hrw @bankillerrobots
Human Rights Watch is a co-founder of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and Mary Wareham serves as the coalition’s global coordinator. Mary Wareham is advocacy director of the Arms Division, where she leads Human Rights Watch’s advocacy against particularly problematic weapons that pose a significant threat to civilians. She was centrally involved in the efforts to secure the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions and 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. On behalf of Human Rights Watch, Wareham was responsible for helping to establish and coordinate the Landmine Monitor research initiative by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which verifies compliance and implementation of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Wareham directed and produced an award-winning feature-length documentary film on landmines entitled “Disarm” (2006). She worked as a researcher for the New Zealand parliament from 1995 to 1996 after receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from Victoria University of Wellington.
Chair: Dr. Peter Asaro
@PeterAsaro @ICRACnet
The International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) is a co-founder of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and Peter Asaro serves as a spokesperson for the global coalition. He is a Co-Founder and Vice-Chair of ICRAC, and Director of Graduate Programs for the School of Media Studies at The New School.
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