Williams, Jody (1950-…), is an American peace activist. She was awarded the 1997 Nobel Prize for peace for her work as coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). She shared the prize with the ICBL itself. Thousands of people are killed or maimed by land mines each year. The vast majority are civilians, both adults and children, who come into contact with mines planted years earlier and left behind after the fighting has stopped (see Mine warfare ). Many millions of land mines remain throughout the world. Countries particularly affected include Angola, Cambodia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Williams was born on Oct. 9, 1950, in Putney, Vermont. She studied international relations and Spanish and received master’s degrees from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Baltimore, Maryland, and the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont. Williams became a political activist while working in Washington, D.C., in 1981. Over the next 11 years, she became an outspoken critic of the foreign policy of the United States in Central America. She was coordinator of the Nicaragua-Honduras Education Project, organizing fact-finding trips to Central America for U.S. leaders. She later worked in Los Angeles as associate director of the relief organization Medical Aid for El Salvador. Her work in Central America brought her into direct contact with land mine victims.
The ICBL was formed through the efforts of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., and the German organization Medico International. In 1991, these two organizations appointed Williams to run the campaign. Four more organizations joined the campaign, and the ICBL was launched in 1992. Williams’s efforts eventually brought together nongovernmental organizations from more than 85 countries in firm opposition to the use of land mines in warfare. She and her fellow campaigners succeeded in focusing the attention of ordinary people on the issue of land mines and in mobilizing public opinion against them.
Nevertheless, few governments were willing to give up the use of land mines because of their low cost and effectiveness against an enemy. The ICBL became involved in the Ottawa Process, a diplomatic initiative by the Canadian government to achieve a comprehensive land mine ban. In September 1997, this initiative helped bring about an international agreement to prohibit the use, production, development, sale, or stockpiling of mines. More than 160 countries have signed the agreement. The United States, China, and some other countries have refused to sign. The treaty entered into force (became law) on March 1, 1999, after 40 countries ratified (approved) it.
Williams led the campaign as coordinator of the ICBL from November 1991 to February 1998. She stepped down from the post four months after winning the Nobel Prize. Since 2006, Williams has chaired the Nobel Women’s Initiative, started by Williams and five other women Nobel Peace laureates representing North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The initiative was created to strengthen work being done in support of women’s rights and peace efforts around the world.
See also International Campaign to Ban Landmines .
