Some frequently asked questions about MAG...
» FAQs about remnants of conflict
» FAQs about giving to MAG
1. What is MAG?
2. What is MAG’s vision?
3. What is MAG’s mission?
4. What are MAG’s values?
5. What are MAG’s key aims?
6. What does MAG do in a nutshell?
7. Exactly how does MAG work on the gound?
8. What doesn’t MAG do?
9. Why does MAG rehabilitate conflict-affected communities?
10. How does MAG choose where to work?
11. How many people work in MAG worldwide?
12. How is MAG funded?
13. What is MAG's income?
14. How much goes on public fundraising?
15. How is MAG structured?
16. Who are MAG's trustees?
17. Who are MAG's patrons?
18. Did the late Princess Diana support MAG?
1. What is MAG?
MAG (pronounced Mag) stands for the Mines Advisory Group and is a humanitarian organisation that helps conflict-affected communities around the world. We are registered as a charity and also as a company limited by guarantee in the UK. We are governed by English charity and company law. Our charity number is: 1083008. Our company number is: 4016409.
2. What is MAG’s vision?
A world where people can build peaceful and prosperous futures free from the impact of the remnants of conflict.
3. What is MAG’s mission?
To build the futures of people affected by the remnants of conflict through responsive, quality-driven and progressive action. We remove the physical threat of injury and death and alleviate economic devastation. We provide clearance and education enabling an escape from the poverty and suffering caused by conflict.
4. What are MAG’s values?
We believe that everyone affected by conflict has the right to have a peaceful and prosperous future. In MAG we are progressive, enabling, responsive, impact driven – these are the values we adopt in order to save lives and build futures.
5. What are MAG’s key aims?
- To deliver on our promise to save lives and build futures globally by implementing our innovative solutions for conflict-affected communities
- To enable governments and institutions to address the needs of conflict-affected communities through funding our activities
- To work with partners and others who share our impact-driven approach and further enable people to escape from the poverty and suffering caused by conflict
- To create awareness and secure public support so we can provide an effective response to the wider problems caused by the presence of remnants of conflict
6. What does MAG do in a nutshell?
We help people in conflict-affected countries get their lives and communities back to normal and their futures back on track.
7. Exactly how does MAG work on the ground?
- We employ local people (including former soldiers and amputees) and retrain them to be medics, deminers, awareness trainers, supervisors etc
- We partner with other agencies to help refugees take a safe path to relief camps in Africa
- We undertake emergency action such as clearing the land of dangerous or explosive items in Lebanon or after the tsunami hit conflict-affected Sri Lanka
- We promote peace-building and mediation often undertaken by our senior directorate as shown in north and south Sudan
- We prioritise essential tasks, such as clearing paths of landmines so broken water-pumping stations or powerlines can be repaired
- We cordon off contaminated areas so safe agricultural land can be exposed and used by local people
- We clear schools and buildings used as ammunition stores so children can get an education in safety
- We prevent abandoned weapons and small arms getting into the wrong hands
- We frequently conduct large-area evacuation and perform controlled detonations
- We highlight the plight of conflict survivors in the hospitals of Cambodia or Iraq and how the knock-on effects of medical and rehabilitation costs can devastate families and livelhoods in poor areas.
- We do the things that promote human security, food and water security and community-based prosperity by removing the restrictions on innocent people caused by conflict.
8. What doesn’t MAG do?
We don’t just carry out plain landmine or bomb clearance – some of our projects aren’t even about landmines, so we don’t focus on how many landmines or items we have cleared. (We focus on the many millions of people who benefit from our work not how many items there are to clear.) We don’t have large marketing campaigns or spend vast amounts on fundraising or self-promotion, but we do try and build awareness of our work simply because we see daily how vital it really is on the ground.
9. Why does MAG rehabilitate conflict-affected communities?
We’re pleased to say through donor support our work has benefited millions of innocent people; together we have brought livelihoods back to the desperate and needy in Laos, allowed children to play in safety and learn how to read and write in Angola, we’ve given amputees a chance to rebuild their lives through employment in Vietnam, we’ve made women the breadwinners in their homes in Cambodia, we’ve provided life-saving mine risk education in Sri Lanka, we’ve created safe passages for thousands of refugees and helped aid agencies do their work in safety in Angola, we’ve taken away the constant fear from farmers ploughing wheat fields in Iraq, we’ve saved truck-drivers from driving down the wrong paths in Sudan. We feel we take real care, pay attention and provide results and, though we say it ourselves, we think we do it really well.
10. How does MAG choose where to work?
MAG would go into any country, during or after conflict, if it safe enough for us to do so and if we have the funds. To date MAG has been to around 35 conflict-affected countries (of an estimated total of 82 mined countries). We believe where there are conflicts there are innocent lives suffering so any country in conflict can be a target for our aid. Once there our community liaison staff are key in helping us locate areas of need and priority, we get the whole town/village/community involved in mapping dangerous areas with us. Military records are helpful to show where bombs strikes were or where landmines were laid but they won’t tell us where communities can't grow food, can't tend flock, can't collect water or where children forage dangerously close to suspect land for firewood so our community level work is essential. We also work with relief agencies, partners and other NGOs because before they can do their life-saving work we're called in to make sure they are working in safe areas. We mark off vast unused suspect areas to warn passers-by and our priorities are people's gardens, agricultural land, essential resources, schools, hospitals, communal areas, cities, access routes ... in fact any areas that are needed by innocent people.
11. How many people work in MAG worldwide?
We have around 3,000 - mostly local - people who are currently employed by us in Angola, Burundi, Cambodia, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Vietnam. Developing local economies through training and employment means we can put salaries back into conflict-affected communities. We also have over 100 expatriate staff made up of bomb disposal experts, managers and trainers and in the UK our headquarters are based in a modest backstreet in Manchester, UK, with around 40 staff. We're pleased to have a structure that keeps our admin costs low.
12. How is MAG funded?
We are mostly funded by institutional donors, international governments, foundations and other charities. We also benefit from public donations, an events programme and partnerships with professional fundraising organisations. Most of our income is project-specific, whereby the funds can only be spent on predetermined projects and activities. However, to enable MAG to react quickly in emergency situations, or to fund projects where other funding isn’t available, we need ‘unrestricted’ income which gives MAG the flexibility to spend funds where the need is greatest. We ask the public to support us in this way, as this flexible income can help us to act much quicker than the slower grant process will allow.
13. What is MAG's income?
Our income has grown from £5m in 1995 and £23m in 2006 to £31.7m in 2007. This is mostly from institutions, governments, foundations and grants. Around £900,000 of this comes from public donations.
14. How much goes on public fundraising?
We spend less than one per cent of our income on fundraising – a statistic we are very proud of, as this allows us to ensure that almost all our income is spend in the field. Despite this we still manage to be creative, win awards for our campaigns and have extraordinarily talented people helping us in our work – at times for no cost at all. Go to ‘FAQ - All About Giving to MAG’ for more details
15. How is MAG structured?
Programme structures vary as some are long-established and others are 'project-only' based. Iraq, Cambodia and Angola have between 300-600 local staff members per programme and many of them hold senior posts so the structures are well-formed. In start-up programmes such as Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo we will have a handful of local staff, a bomb disposal expert and trainer, a programme officer and a programme manager. Often the development of a programme is based on how fast the grant processes are so more unrestricted funds would allow us to build programmes quicker.
16. Who are MAG's trustees?
John Fairhurst, Treasurer, Trustee
Michael Taylor, professor of social theology, Chair
Bill Cooke, university lecturer, Trustee
John Greaves, communications executive, Trustee
Sarah Manning, Trustee
Elizabeth Marsh, programme director, Trustee
Colin Rowe, Trustee and Partner Aaron & Partners LLP, Solicitors
Steve Wright, professor, Trustee
17. Who are MAG's patrons?
Our current patrons include former BBC War Correspondent and UK Member of Parliament Martin Bell, BBC World Affairs Producer and landmine survivor Stuart Hughes, actress Vanessa Redgrave, singers Nanci Griffith, Steve Harley and Julie Felix, and artist John Buckley.
18. Did the late Princess Diana support MAG?
Diana was our highest-profile supporter; she spoke at our events and followed the issues with huge enthusiam and commitment – we were devastated by her loss. Her next step with us was to get the city and businesses involved in supporting our cause and thankfully there are those who are equally as enthusiastic and do extremely good work for MAG and others.
