MAG began its activities in Lebanon in 2000, developing a
team of 80 national staff members. Following the 2006 ceasefire and the
inclusion of emergency programme activities, this figure rose to a peak
of around 360 nationally recruited employees.
Current
activities are focused on clearing the huge amount of unexploded
munitions found in towns and villages in the south of the country, with
some 14 Mine Action Teams and one Mechanical Team dedicated towards
these tasks. In addition, one Mine Action Team and two Mine Detection
Dog teams are deployed to undertake mine clearance work in central
Lebanon.
In 2003, MAG Lebanon completed a countrywide Landmine Impact Survey, which was carried out in conjunction with the National Demining Office. A team was also deployed to conduct a technical survey of suspected contaminated areas along the “Blue Line”.
There was a dramatic change in the mine/unexploded ordnance (UXO) situation in Lebanon due to the conflict between Hezbollah and Israeli forces from mid-July to mid-August 2006. Since the immediate post-conflict phase, MAG has steadily worked on gaining capacity for ‘battle area clearance’, which concentrates on removing cluster submunitions and UXO.
From the end of the 2006 conflict, MAG Lebanon’s capacity grew to 22 Mine Action Teams, five Mechanical Teams, two Mine Dog Detection teams, three Community Liaison Teams (responsible for facilitating MAG’s activities in target
communities, as well as gathering information from the community on
remnants of confict), one Technical Survey Team (responsible for
surveying mined areas), one Reconnaissance Team (responsible for
surveying battle areas) and one Quality Control/Quality Assurance Team
(responsible for training and monitoring operations quality).
Since the end of the 2006 conflict, MAG has cleared more than 9.8 million square metres of land, destroyed almost 21,000 remnants of conflict, cleared 294 dangerous areas, and assisted 450,000 people at risk from death or injury from remnants of conflict.
The range of activities carried out by MAG Lebanon’s programme
includes rapid survey and demarcation of landmine and UXO contaminated
areas, clearance of priority routes and land, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal tasks.
The
NDO was replaced by the Lebanon Mine Action Center in 2007, and MAG
Lebanon has made a priority of integrating its activities with those of
the LMAC and other clearance organisations operating in the region.
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Technicians methodically check the land for submunitions. Houses and roads were cleared in a short time during the aftermath of the 2006 conflict. Clearing the agricultural land takes much longer. Top: An excavator fitted with a specially developed sifting bucket is used to search through the remains of houses, allowing people to rebuild safely. |
Partnerships and Coordination
Throughout the history of the programme, MAG Lebanon has worked
with the appropriate coordinating bodies to ensure efficient planning
and implementation of all its activities.
In particular, MAG has worked closely with the Lebanon Mine Action Center, whose mission is to coordinate and prioritise mine action activities; to clear the country of landmines and UXO, and to substantially increase awareness of the landmine problem in Lebanon.
MAG also enjoys positive working relationships with other key organisations including the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre and the Lebanese Red Cross.
Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries of MAG’s programme are the affected people of south Lebanon, whose lives and livelihoods continue to be threatened by landmines, remnants of conflict (predominately cluster submunitions) and UXO.
Lack of access to agricultural land is, in particular, a major restriction on people’s ability to rebuild their lives after decades of conflict.
Donor Partnership Opportunities
Since the middle of August 2006, the programme has grown at a rapid pace, although donor interest peaked in 2007 and 2008. We plan to continue to develop and strengthen relationships with existing donors to ensure the longer-term clearance needs are not forgotten, as well as to complete current emergency operations, in accordance with national priorities.
The operational focus will be in areas tasked by the Lebanon Mine Action Center, including battle area clearance and emergency response team tasks, in order to address the contamination levels from the most recent conflict. In tandem with this, MAG will work on removing Remants of Conflict from before the 2006 war, and continues to deploy one Mine Action Team in the Chouf Region of Central Lebanon.
MAG would like to express its gratitude and sincere thanks to the following donors currently contributing to the Lebanon programme: German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State; DFID (UK Government Department for International Development); Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
May 2009
