» Why does MAG work in Lebanon?
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 16 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 (LIS), which was carried out in conjunction with the National Demining Office (NDO). 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’ (BAC), which concentrates on removing cluster submunitions and UXO.
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An excavator fitted with a specially developed sifting bucket is used to search through the remains of houses, allowing people to rebuild safely. |
From the end of the 2006 conflict, MAG Lebanon’s capacity grew to today’s 22 Mine Action Teams (MATs), five Mechanical Teams, two Mine Dog Detection teams (MDDs), three Community Liaison (CL) 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 6.6 million square metres of land, destroyed over 16,700 remnants of conflict, cleared 223 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 (EOD) tasks.
Integration of MAG Lebanon’s activities with those of the NDO and other organisations operating in the region remains a priority.
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 NDO, 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 South Lebanon (MACC SL) and The Lebanese Red Cross.
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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. |
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. 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.
The operational focus will be in areas tasked by the MACC SL, 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, mine clearance activities area began in mid-2007 in the Mount Lebanon region.
August 2008
