Summary of MAG Achievements in Iraq in 2003 under DFID Funding
MAG has worked in northern Iraq since 1993, and has a large and well developed mine action programme conducting landmine clearance, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), survey, area demarcation, and Mine Risk Education (MRE) activities.
This programme employed 700 Kurdish staff who were supported by two expatriate advisors, fielding 17 Mine Action Teams and 14 Mine Risk Education Teams in the three northern governorates of Suleimaniyah/New Kirkuk, Dohuk and Erbil.
Prior to the beginning of conflict donors supported MAG’s emergency preparedness activities in the region. This was primarily aimed at reducing the risk of injury or death to the hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees who began moving to remoter areas of northern Iraq in fear of the impending conflict. MAG focused it’s efforts on demarcating known dangerous areas where the thousands of displaced Kurds were expected to head. MAG also erected large billboards, distributed flyers and conducted mine risk education with travellers to pass on the key message “stay on the road”. Radio and TV messages were also broadcast, reaching an estimated 500,000 people.
MAG posted additional expatriate advisors to support the programme as it moved into an emergency configuration. MAG was operational before, during and after the recent conflict, with staff working 7 days a week at the busiest time. MAG continued to conduct MRE and emergency demining and EOD activities throughout the conflict, and expanded it’s operations into former GOI areas as Kurdish and Coalition forces pushed south. As the conflict was ongoing MAG started re-planning it’s work with the aim now of reducing injury and death to Kurdish IDPs who would soon start returning to areas around Kirkuk and Mosul. Due to the vast amount of abandoned ammunition and UXO, and the presence of many unmarked minefields in these areas, MAG has now focused the majority of its capacity in former GOI areas around the cities of Kirkuk and Mosul, and along the former “green line”, as security allowed access. With recently approved DFID funding MAG is currently establishing a new mine action capacity in Mosul.
MAG also positioned staff in Kuwait prior to hostilities, enabling them to move quickly into southern Iraq to begin assessment activities as soon as the security situation allowed. MAG was able to immediately commence a UNICEF funded MRE project in southern Iraq, and is will soon have an EOD and landmine clearance capacity in the south.
Security has not adversely affected operations in both the north and south of the country, while coordination with military and civil bodies has been strong and beneficial. MAG is still the only mine action agency fully operational in former GOI held areas of Iraq, and will continue to increase it’s area of work into central Iraq as security allows.
From the beginning of March up to the end of May MAG achieved the following results:
| Area cleared of mines and UXO: | 1,981,650 square metres |
| Mines destroyed/relocated for destruction: | 15,068 mines |
| UXO destroyed/relocated for destruction: | 314,803 items |
| UXO removal tasks conducted: | 479 tasks |
| Minefields/mined areas cleared: | 8 minefields |
| Direct beneficiaries of above: | 473,223 people |
| Billboards erected: | 60 boards |
| Pamphlets printed/distributed: | 200, 000 printed/40,000 distributed |
| Communities visited: | 138 local population visits |
| Schools, mosques etc visited: | 452 schools etc |
| IDP locations visited: | 268 new IDP locations |
| Mine Awareness Workshops/Training sessions held: | 28 sessions |
| Direct beneficiaries of above: | 122,979 people |
2003
