Highlighting the dangers
Story and photograph by Mark Naftalin
MAG Angola celebrated International Mine Action Day 2007 in its own special way. This was on the day that the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, declared his appreciation of the "concentrated efforts" of NGOs to "combat the scourge of landmines and explosive remnants of war".
In the Province of Moxico, the most impacted Province in Angola, MAG, together with one of its national partners, Kalofulofu, organised an afternoon of song and dance to raise awareness of the impact of landmines. The theatrical event also provided vital mine risk education to the inhabitants of ‘4 de Fevereiro’, a highly contaminated village in the Commune of Luena. Approximately 350 individuals (of which 75 per cent were children) took part in the occasion, which highlighted the dangers of landmines, how best to identify a suspected mined area and how to evacuate such a site.
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| A member of Kalofulofu during the 4 de Fevereiro International Mine Action Day |
Deven Gengan, MAG’s Country Programme Manager, stated that the day “is a reminder of the terrible effect of landmines around the world including Angola. By coordinating closely with Kalofulofu, we hope that such events and activities will provide durable solutions to reducing the impact of landmines in heavily contaminated areas. MAG remains committed to building local capacity and expertise in line with the Government’s National Strategic Plan for Mine Action”.
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