MAG's work helps create an environment in which peace can prosper, assisting and supporting a previously war-torn society's transition from conflict to normality and economic development.
Our expertise contributes to the sequence of activities: disarmament – demobilisation – reintegration, which in turn provide sustained economic and social development, constituting what is widely known as peacebuilding.
Disarmament
MAG's activities, including landmine removal and emergency ordnance disposal, are considered parts of the disarmament process where the remnants of conflict are prevented from falling into the wrong hands and becoming tools for illegal activity. Our field staff are skilled in removing a potential source of weaponry that could be used to destabilise and destroy a fragile peace.
Demobilisation and reintegretation
As part of building local workforces, MAG employs local technical and administrative staff wherever possible. In many of the countries where we work, including Angola, Cambodia and Iraq, we employ former combatants. Part of this work contributes to the demobilisation and reintegration of ex-soldiers into post-conflict society – a vital part of the peace process. Stable employment with MAG allows them and their families to adapt, economically and socially, to a productive civilian life.
Uniting opposing groups
MAG's role in the process provides a forum in which both sides of a conflict can work together towards a goal of lasting peace. In engaging with the government and former opponents in Sudan and Sri Lanka, for example, MAG emphasises working on an equal basis. The approach to partnership in disarmament is one where NGOs such as MAG, by the very nature of our humanitarian status, can play a useful and effective role.
To pick one example, MAG works with demining agency Operation Save Innocent Lives (OSIL) in the south of Sudan and with the Sudanese Society for Combating Landmines (JASMAR) in the north of the country. In October 2002, MAG brought together members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), OSIL and the Government of Sudan for two days of talks in Manchester, UK.
During this meeting between two former warring factions we built relationships and explored ways in which MAG could provide assistance to mine- and UXO-affected communities throughout Sudan. The outcome was an agreement between MAG, OSIL, SPLM and the Government of Sudan to work together to address the humanitarian issue of landmine and UXO contamination in both SPLM and Government of Sudan areas.
