The problems / The solutions / How you can help
By 1992, MAG’s clearance programmes were being increasingly complimented with efforts to lobby and influence those in a position to end the production and use of anti-personnel mines. MAG joined forces with Human Rights Watch, Medico International, Handicap International, Physicians for Human Rights and Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, to form the lobbying coalition International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL).
The many years devoted to campaigns, research and lobbying against the arms trade were to pay off in 1997 when the Ottawa Treaty – which banned the production and use of anti-personnel mines – was signed by 122 countries.
“This was a huge achievement,” says Lou McGrath. “For the first time, grass-roots, civil society organisations had had a real influence on policy-makers, and human suffering had been put before military and defence considerations.”
 |
|
A Team Leader prepares to destroy one of the many unexploded cluster bomblets littering Southern Lebanon as a consequence of the 34-day war in 2006. Children had been playing metres away from this scene. |
Later that year, the ICBL jointly received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of its efforts in eradicating the threat of anti-personnel landmines. The Nobel medal, inscribed with the famous words For peace and the brotherhood of men, now occupies prime position in today’s MAG office, serving as a reminder that despair and seemingingly insurmountable challenges can be overcome with determination and hard work.
Against the backdrop of the intensive campaigning was the growing involvement of Diana, Princess of Wales, in the global landmine issue. Before her untimely death in August 1997, the Princess had been actively speaking out against the production and use of landmines and made several visits to affected countries such as Angola. The Princess developed close ties with MAG and was the keynote speaker at a MAG photographic exhibition in London two months before her death.
“She was very committed to the campaign and the issue”, remember MAG’s photographer Sean Sutton. “Meeting her was a crowning moment for me, it was such a tragedy when she was killed. She had a great rapport with the MAG staff behind the scenes and would have done great work with us.”
By 1999, the number of full-time MAG staff had reached almost 2,000 worldwide – the great majority, as now, from the local population – and the head office was moved from Cockermouth to more spacious premises in the heart of Manchester.
 |
|
Truck drivers (left) and MAG Community Liaison staff exchange information on the Sudan-Uganda border. |
The following years were to see further expansion of operations into Vietnam in 1999, Lebanon in 2000, Sri Lanka in 2001, and the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2004.
Alongside valuable clearance efforts, MAG strove to involve and empower local communities as much as possible, through training and employment and by challenging many of the perceptions and stigmas attached to disability and gender. In both Cambodia and Lao PDR, women and those with handicaps were generally regarded as second-class citizens and relegated to the lowest strata of society.
With the help of MAG, all-female demining teams were created to work alongside clearance teams consisting of amputees and those suffering from other disabilities. “It was a pioneering way to bring those in the so-called lower classes into the ranks of the middle class,” says Sean.
Pioneering is indeed one way of summing up 20 years of MAG. Setting new international standards for humanitarian mine clearance and introducing innovative concepts – such as Mine Risk Education, Community Liaison, flexible multi-skilled Mine Action Teams and ‘locality demining’, which involves employing and deploying people locally, enabling them to work close to their homes and earn a daily wage – MAG has evolved from a two-man team into a major international operation.
With the work of many other aid and reconstruction agencies dependent on safeand cleared areas, MAG is often one of the first agencies into conflict zones, providing emergency response teams into Lebanon in 2006 and, most recently, Gaza in January 2009. Since 2005, MAG has expanded into Conventional Weapons Management and Disposal in countries such as Rwanda and Chad.
 |
|
Gaza, January 2009: MAG Technical Director Mark Buswell briefs UN drivers on routes to be assessed and general safety. |
“We are constantly looking to improve our emergency response capabilities,” explains Lou. “A weapons-free world is sadly not realistic, but we can try and minimise the number of deaths and injuries to civilians. Man will always have wars and it’s our job to help people get back on their feet.”
Neutrality and practicality remain the key words for the organisation, with MAG teams on the ground often working with both sides of the conflict. “Sometimes you do get angry and want to be outspoken about things, but by doing that you’re often doing a disservice to those who still really need our help,” says Lou, who in November 2007 was awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) from Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II for his services to international mine clearance.
“As MAG enters its twentieth year, I can only look back and feel immensely proud of our staff who continue to carry out life-saving work in dangerous environments. Despite great progress in the international campaign to rid the world of landmines, communities across the world still face a deadly threat from unexploded Remnants of Conflict.
“MAG provides crucial services in both technical clearance and in community development, enabling people to rebuild schools, clinics and roads on safe land. As we move forward in 2009, MAG continues to work tirelessly in conflict-affected areas and provides communities with a crucial economic opportunity for further development.”
