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MAG

MAG
(MINES ADVISORY GROUP)
 

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) is one of the world's leading humanitarian organisations providing conflict-affected countries with a real chance for a better future. They clear the remnants of conflict from some of the world's poorest nations, they educate and employ local people and help provide solutions for those trapped by poverty and economic devastation through no fault of their own.

 

Operating since 1989 and having worked on a variety of conflict-related projects in around 35 countries, MAG is also co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, awarded for their work with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Their aims are:

 

  • To deliver on our promise to save lives and build futures globally by implementing our innovative solutions for conflict-affected communities.

  • To enable governments and institutions to address the needs of conflict-affected communities through funding our activities.

  • To work with partners and others who share our impact-driven approach and further enable people to escape from the poverty and suffering caused by conflict.

  • To create awareness and secure public contributions so we can provide an effective response to the wider problems caused by the presence of remnants of conflict.

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Further information regarding MAG’s vital work can be found at:

 

          www.magclearsmines.org

 

You can register to receive their e-newsletter at:

 

          www.magclearsmines.org/register.php

 

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MAG Team
Photo Courtesy of Sean Sutton, MAG

MAG IN CAMBODIA 

 

Having been operational in Cambodia since 1992, MAG employs approximately 480 local personnel in 21 teams working across six provinces.

 

Around 34 per cent of MAG’s employees in Cambodia are women, and a further nine per cent are landmine survivors or amputees.

 

Their main beneficiaries are the poorest communities who require agricultural land as well as land for resettlement, schools, health clinics, temple construction and road access.

 

MAG Cambodia has pioneered the locality demining approach, recruiting deminers from the poorest communities and is working on innovative strategies for more targeted clearance across the whole country.

 

 

Partnerships & Co-Ordination

 

MAG’s work in Cambodia is conducted in close association with the Cambodian Mine Action Authority, Provincial Mine Action Planning Units and other operators. MAG works closely with development agencies to ensure all clearance work is linked with programmes utilising community land to alleviate the worst forms of poverty.

 

Currently, MAG works in artnership with a number of international partners, including CARE, World Vision, Church World Service (CWS) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). These partnerships ensure a high level of coordination in developing cleared land in the best possible way for recipient communities.

 

MAG has also worked closely with the Development Technology Workshop in the design and manufacture of a locally-produced mini-flail vegetation cutting machine, known as the Tempest.

 

A more efficient and effective means of demining has been developed by MAG Cambodia in the locality model, which recruits and trains deminers from the very same communities that are mined. Working in partnership with development agencies, women and men are recruited from the most vulnerable households and trained in the core skills of demining.

 

These teams are then deployed under the supervision of experienced staff. This approach enables poorer families to gain meaningful employment and has seen a rise in productivity whilst maintaining MAG’s excellent safety record.

 

 

Beneficiaries

 

The beneficiaries of MAG in Cambodia are the most vulnerable households in mine-affected communities who require extension of agricultural land, schools, health clinics and temple construction, road access, clean water sources and improved resettlement opportunities.

 

 

Donor Partnership Opportunities

 

MAG Cambodia continues to develop innovative approaches to conflict recovery. Further to the development of a wider toolbox and of strategies to build on better community involvement, MAG hopes to further work in developing cost effective technologies, together with the US Government, through innovation in research and development programmes.

 

Additionally, MAG Cambodia will further strengthen the understanding of gender analysis in targeting the most vulnerable in mine affected communities, and will work towards supporting the government in their progressive approach to the long-term goals of eliminating the impact of the remnants of conflict from Cambodia.

 

 

 

Information reproduced with the kind permission of MAG