The coalition was formed in 1992 when six organisations with similar interests (France-based Handicap International, Germany-based Medico International, UK-based Mines Advisory Group, and US-based Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights and Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation) agreed to cooperate on their common goal.

In 2011, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) merged into one unified structure, now known as the ICBL-CMC, in order to realize operational efficiencies and reinforce complementary work.

The ICBL and the CMC campaigns remain separate and continue to remind governments of their commitments to implement and promote both treaties.

The activities of the ICBL-CMC are supported by a Governance Board representative of various elements of the ICBL that provides strategic, financial and human resources oversight.

The Mine Ban Treaty was adopted in Oslo, Norway, in September 1997 and signed by 122 States in Ottawa, Canada, on 3 December 1997.