Mines Advisory Group

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Mines Advisory Group
Type Non-Governmental Organisation
Founded 1989
Headquarters Manchester, United Kingdom
Area served global
Industry Landmine relief
Website maginternational.org

The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), which assists people affected by landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO)and SALW (Small Arms Light Weapons).

MAG takes a humanitarian approach to landmine action. This means that they do not focus on metrics such as land area cleared or numbers of landmines removed. Instead, they focus on the impact of their work on local communities. This approach recognises that although the number of landmines in an area may be small, the effect on a community can be crippling. Targets are therefore determined locally, in response to liaison with affected communities, and local authorities.

MAG field operations are managed and implemented by nationals of the affected countries, with MAG expatriate staff taking a monitoring and training role. MAG provides work for many members of affected communities, with families of landmine victims taking an active role.

MAG is based in Manchester, UK and has a sister organisation, MAG America in Washington, D.C. As part of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, MAG was co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.

Contents

[edit] MAG's Humanitarian Mine Action Techniques

[edit] Mine Action Teams (MATs)

MAG’s delivery of Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) is centred on the use of multi-skilled, highly mobile and flexible teams called MATs. These were developed by MAG in the mid-nineties in response to the varied needs of mine affected communities. Drawing on multi-skilled staff, MATs are able to quickly adapt to the many challenges presented not only by mines and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), but also to changing environments, including weather, geographical and topographical conditions and the wider security and political climate. Drawing on many years of operational experience, MATs have proven highly successful in countries such as Iraq and Cambodia in delivering a comprehensive and flexible HMA response, with multi-skilling a central aspect of their success. Team members are trained in Community Liaiason (CL), information/data gathering, survey and assessment, mapping, logistics, minefield marking, landmine clearance and ordnance disposal (EOD).

[edit] Survey and Demarcation

MAG has successfully implemented national socio-economic Landmine Impact Surveys (LIS) which have consequently been published and widely distributed to mine action operators and other relevant stakeholders. MAG conducted its first emergency survey in Afghanistan in 1989 and conducted the first ever surveys in Cambodia and northern Iraq. Between 1992 and 1997, MAG Iraq conducted one of the largest minefield demarcation programmes in the world, while in Kosovo, MAG was tasked by the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre (MACC) in October 1999 to conduct a Level 2 survey along the border area with Albania. In 1993, MAG conducted an emergency impact assessment of the landmine problem in Moxico province, Angola, which led to the establishment of a MAG clearance programme later that year.

[edit] Mechanical

Mechanical capacities have formed an important element of MAG’s HMA toolbox for several years. Machines have been used successfully to support manual clearance operations in a number of countries, including Angola, Cambodia, Kosovo, Iraq, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. MAG uses a variety of flails, heavy plant and adapted agricultural and quarrying equipment in its programmes. Current mechanical assets include the Tempest flail, Bozena 4 flail, Armtrac 100 flail and Minecat 230 flail. These assets can be used for a variety of tasks, including clearance of land, area reduction, and quality assurance tasks in support of manual clearance operations.

[edit] Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)

The hazard posed by explosive ordnance is often highly significant in post-conflict situations. A large percentage of ordnance fails to detonate as designed and poses an immediate threat to people trying to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of conflict. MAG’s EOD response in countries such as Laos includes categorisation; safe handling/moving of ordnance; and destruction of items such as grenades, mortars, shells, cluster bomb sub-munitions, small arms and light weapons and large air dropped bombs. MAG’s flexible and multi-skilled approach to HMA means that it is well equipped to operate successfully in countries such as Lao and Vietnam where the explosive contamination is mainly UXO as opposed to landmines.

[edit] Mine Detection Dogs (MDDs)

MAG has used MDDs in support of its manual and mechanical clearance operations in a number of its programmes, including, northern Iraq, Cambodia and Lebanon. MAG technical staff have extensive experience of managing dog teams and/or integrating MDDs with manual and mechanical clearance operations. In particular, MDDs have proven a highly effective Quality Assurance tool for verification of manual/mechanical clearance sites. Rather than develop its own potentially expensive MDD capacity MAG works with local and international partners, such as CMAC in Cambodia and NPA in Lebanon who have existing dog capacities, to provide the required services.

[edit] Mine Risk Education (MRE)

MAG has developed the concept of MRE as a form of public health education. MRE offers people knowledge and alternatives for living and working safely in mine/UXO contaminated areas. MRE comprises a number of components that can be adapted to the needs of the target audience. Considerations include: the degree of impact of mines and UXO; economic pressures on affected communities; age; gender; culture; previous exposure to MRE messages; and the resources available to disseminate messages, such as local media, radio, television broadcasts and national networks such as schools, ministries and other institutions.

[edit] Community Liaison (CL)

MAG pioneered the use of CL to ensure continual linkage with affected communities throughout the process of programme design, implementation and measurement of impact. This inclusive and community focused approach enables a relevant response whilst at the same time fostering high levels of community involvement. MAG’s CL Advisors also interact with relevant agencies, local authorities, HMA coordination bodies and other key stakeholders. CL consists of three main elements:

  • Information/data gathering – to prioritise action according to need and impact and to allow for effective task planning
  • Information sharing, networking, and ongoing contact with all stakeholders – to ensure that negotiation and planning occur regularly, to periodically review programme effectiveness, and to provide information about mine clearance activities
  • Evaluation and impact monitoring – to measure the success of activities, and determine how the programme has impacted on the lives of the local community and what changes have resulted. This learning process enables MAG to improve/refine its approaches and activities at community, national and international levels

[edit] SALW

A protracted series of armed conflicts have resulted in the presence of large numbers of SALW in unsafe conditions in many post-conflict countries; and this constitutes a constant risk not only to life and limb for the local population but also to the current peaceful transition process in the country. MAG removes and destroys unsecured and abandoned SALW caches and by doing so removes the threat posed by unsecured SALW. MAG conducts nationwide surveys of arms deposits and warehouses, puts in place specialist equipment and training of national staff to carry out the cache destruction activities, and provides advice for the safe storage and control of remaining items. MAG first became involved in the destruction of SALW by providing technical support to demobilisation programmes in Angola and Cambodia during the 1990s. More recently, the scale of the problem has become more apparent in the course of MAG's mine and UXO clearance activities in countries such as Iraq, Sudan and DRC and items have been removed or destroyed which are outside the limited scope of the Mine Ban Treaty but which qualify for SALW status and contribute to humanitarian impacts and the proliferation of conflict.

[edit] Local Capacity Development

As part of its mission to build local HMA capacities, MAG employs local technical and administrative staff wherever possible. In many of the countries it operates, including Angola, Cambodia and Iraq, MAG employs ex-combatants. A facet of this work contributes to the vital demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants into post-conflict society. Stable employment with MAG allows ex-combatants and their families to adapt, economically and socially, to a productive, civilian life.

[edit] Current operations

MAG operates in many countries around the world. Their field work can be divided into Programmes, Projects and Assessments.

[edit] Programmes

[edit] Angola

MAG has been operational in Angola for over 10 years. thee return to war at the end of 1998 resulted in the withdrawal of mine action funding by many donors until late 2002, and issues of local security effected the work of MAG on the ground. Since 2002, it has responded to the influx of returning refugees from neighbouring DR Congo and Zambia by opening bases in Kazombo, Luau and Lumbala Nguimbo, which were operational during the lifetime of the UNHCR repatriation process. It now runs 4 Mine Action Teams, 2 Rapid Response Team, 1 CL (Community Liaison) Team, 2 Mechanical Support Units to conduct vegetation clearance, excavation, area reduction and quality assurance, and has a dedicated Road Threat Risk Reduction Team. This range of operational units ensures that MAG is able to adopt a variety of HMA(Humanitarian Mine Action) techniques and is able to respond quickly and effectively to the threat of mines and UXO in Moxico province. In addition, MAG was one of five implementing partners in the LIS conducted in Angola.

[edit] Cambodia

MAG has been operational in Cambodia for more than 12 years and now employs approximately 500 local personnel, working across six provinces with 22 MATs (Mine Action Teams), 8 EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Teams, 10 CL (Community Liaison) Teams and 7 scrub-cutting teams. Around 30 per cent of MAG Cambodia’s employees are women. MAG also employs about 50 mine victims and amputees, who are provided with metal-free prostheses by the International Committee of the Red Cross. MAG Cambodia has a well-developed Quality Management system, with the programme being accredited and quality assured by the Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA). In 2003, MAG achieved a 50 per cent increase in output by introducing improved working methods and more mechanical scrub-cutting assets. In 2004 the introduction of small EOD teams in some areas reduced ordnance-related casualties by 50%. More recently MAG Cambodia has also introduced 2 Mine Detection Dog Teams.

[edit] Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

MAG has been operational in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since July 2004, marking dangerous areas, reducing the threat posed by landmines and UXO (Unexploded Ordance) through MRE (Mine Risk Education), and creating safe access to water sources, agricultural land and medical services. In Katanga province, initially a EuropeAid-financed project financed the training of a national CL (Community Liaison) capacity as well as two 13-person demining teams, which have destroyed thousands of items of UXO and small arms ammunition (SAA). This was followed by projects funded by ECHO, DFID, the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and US DoS; these projects are ongoing in the province. In November 2005 MAG commenced CL and clearance operations in Mbandaka, Equateur Province, with funding from SIDA, to which UNICEF and Pooled Fund funded projects complemented the work. Most recently, a large scale Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) destruction project has been implemented, addressing the threat presented by so many arms remnant from then conflicts. Additionally MAG has entered into a partnership agreement through an MOU with a national NGO Humanitas Ubangi to develop its organisational and technical capacity to undertake Humanitarian Mine Action activities.

[edit] Iraq

MAG has been conducting Humanitarian Mine Action in the heavily mine-affected north of the country since 1992. During the more recent conflict, MAG concentrated its efforts on the delivery of emergency mine action in Government of Iraq (GoI) territory, particularly in the areas surrounding Mosul and Kirkuk. This action significantly reduced the threat to both static and transiting populations, and supported wider rehabilitation and development initiatives. In the past two years alone, MAG has cleared more than 1 million items of mines and UXO, freeing several million square metres of land for use by the local population. Currently, MAG Iraq has some 700 national and international staff working in the seven northern governorates. This capacity consists of 18 Mine Action Teams, which provide a highly responsive and mobile multi-skilled clearance capacity, trained to International Mine Action Standards (IMAS); 10 Community Liaison teams; 2 midi-flail machines and operating teams; and 4 MDD teams.

[edit] Lao PDR

MAG’s Lao programme began in 1994 with the establishment of the first internationally supported UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) clearance operation in Xieng Khouang Province. MAG continued to pursue an integrated UXO action approach, which was subsequently developed and adopted nationally in 1996 with the creation of the Lao government’s national UXO organisation, UXO Lao. MAG has the distinction of having handed over to UXO Lao, two effective and efficient operations in the provinces of Xieng Khouang and Saravan. Since 2000, MAG has continued to support the activities of UXO Lao, providing operational and technical advice to these provincial operations and MAG is also now providing technical assistance to UXO Lao in a third province; Khammoune. Recent sector reform has enabled international NGOs and Government of Lao (GoL) provincial authorities to ask MAG to assist with clearance linked to specific development projects in Xieng Khouang and Khammoune, especially in areas where UXO Lao is unable to respond. In addition, MAG has piloted the use of UXO detection dogs and Village Assisted Clearance (VAC) to improve productivity and impact.

[edit] Lebanon

MAG began its HMA activities in southern Lebanon in 2000. Now employing over 60 national staff on new and existing projects, MAG has trained and deployed two Mine Action Teams and one Mechanical Support Unit (MSU). Moreover, in 2003 MAG successfully completed a country-wide Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) in coordination with the National Demining Office (NDO), and deployed one Technical Survey Team to the Mine Action Coordination Centre, South Lebanon (MACC SL). In July 2006 Lebanon was subjected to intense Israeli aerial, artillery and naval bombardment. The fighting and artillery bombardments were heaviest in southern Lebanon, and as a result, an estimated 915,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have fled this area and are now scattered throughout communities further north. Over 200,000 people have also left the country entirely as refugees. Roads and communities in southern Lebanon are littered with UXO thus making movement throughout South Lebanon both difficult and dangerous. Immediately prior to the conflict situation MAG deployed 4 MATs and 1 Mechanical team who went operational in June 2006. The flexibility of this MAT team meant that immediately after the cessation of violence MAG had a team on the ground responding to the most immediate threats. Since then MAG has continued to respond to the Emergency situation.

[edit] Sri Lanka

MAG began emergency MRE, survey and demarcation activities in the Vanni region of northern Sri Lanka in 2002. In August 2003, MAG expanded into the eastern district of Batticaloa, where it remains the only mine action operator providing vital assistance. In May 2005, as a result of the December tsunami, MAG established a landmine and UXO response in Ampara district. MAG’s capacity in Sri Lanka in its three project locations has grown to include five CL/MRE teams, three emergency EOD teams, nine technical survey/demining teams, one minefield marking/fencing team, two general survey teams specifically tasked to support NGOs and local authorities undertaking development projects, one Battle Area Clearance (BAC) team and two MATs. In addition, MAG runs two Mechanical Support Units utilising Bozena mini flails. In 2006 the security situation worsened between the Government and the TRO, forcing MAG to scale down its operations within Sri Lanka. Recently MAG has begun to re establish itself and has approached donors who have supported MAG’s work in the area in the past.

[edit] Sudan

MAG has been operational in southern Sudan since 1998, providing technical support and advice to a local mine action organisation, Operation Save Innocent Lives (OSIL). Since April 2004, MAG has been registered with the Government of Sudan and currently has operations in Blue Nile Special Administrative Area in partnership with The Sudanese Association for Combating Landmines (JASMAR). MAG Sudan’s programme focus is on support to the return and rehabilitation of conflict-affected communities. Operations focus in 4 key areas of return for 2006– 8: Western and Eastern Equatoria, Bahr El Jabal region in the south, and Blue Nile in the north with pre-departure work in the IDP settlement areas of Khartoum. MAG has developed a programme of Emergency Mine Action Response to address the immediate threat of Explosive Remnants of War to aid agencies IDPs, refugees and conflict-affected communities throughout the country.

[edit] Vietnam

As the largest non-military clearance organisation operating in Vietnam, MAG plays a key role in reducing the risk and impact of mines/UXO on the local population, and also in facilitating community level development. MAG first began operating in Quang Tri Province, central Vietnam, in 1999. Operations were expanded in early 2003 to the adjacent province of Quang Binh. MAG’s work is closely linked to the development plans of the provinces, districts and communities in which it operates. The teams have cleared areas for a wide range of development activities and also respond to emergency EOD requests. MAG’s current operational capacity in Vietnam consists of 5 MATs in Quang Tri Province and 4 MATs in Quang Binh Province. In addition, MAG provides technical assistance and quality assurance to mine action projects in Thua Thien Hue and [[Quang Ngai Provinces]].

[edit] Projects

[edit] Afghanistan

Ongoing since 2002: MAG trained the Organisation for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation to address new types of UXO found after the coalition activity in the area. Mechanical assistance is also being provided.

[edit] Cyprus

[edit] Somaliland

October 2001 to July 2002: MAG worked with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Established and trained an EOD team comprising of Somaliland police personnel and a member of the Somaliland Mine Action Centre (SMAC).

[edit] Assessments

Assessments are underway in the following countries:

[edit] External links