Laura Lodenius has served as the executive director of Fredsförbundet, the Peace Union of Finland, since 2008. She conducts research, writing and advocacy on a range of arms concerns, including arms transfers, landmines and nuclear weapons.
The Peace Union of Finland is a member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Lodenius is also a member of the Steering Committee of the International Peace Bureau. Previously, Laura worked for Finnish member of parliament, Outi Ojala.
This week, Finland looks set to vote a final time on withdrawing from the international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines, and Poland may soon follow. Mary Wareham and Laura Lodenius write that this is a catastrophic step backwards for the protection of civilians, and these states should reconsider. Withdrawing from long-standing legal and humanitarian norms threatens to erode fundamental tenets of international humanitarian and human rights law and will only increase the likelihood of harming civilians.