SPRING 2015

IMPACT
Preventing Death and Injury
How risk education is helping
vulnerable communities www.maginternational.org
in Myanmar

Autumn 2015
Forgotten Conflicts
Turning the spotlight on
their deadly legacy

Cover story
Children during morning parade at their
school in Puthukkudiyiruppu commonly
known as PTK in Sri Lanka. MAG cleared
the school, along with six others in the
region, in 2012. Since then this school has
reopened and has steadily been transformed.
The main building has been renovated
and new classrooms have been built.
Gone are the ammunition crates and marks
from bomb fragments hitting the walls.
Instead 450 children learn here each day.
Now in 2015, life is returning to normal.
Where there had been fighting there are
now busy shops and restaurants; full with the
bustle of people going about their daily lives
free from fear. New roads have been built and
are busy with tuk tuks, buses and bicycles.
Read more on pages 4-7

WELCOME TO IMPACT!
As this edition goes to print, Mozambique has just become the most
recent African nation to declare itself landmine-free. This is a huge
achievement and we should take a brief moment to celebrate. But the
tragic truth is that much more still needs to be done to make life safe
for the thousands of communities still living with these hidden killers.
This issue of Impact looks at Angola and Sri Lanka, where we need to do
more so that people can live their lives free from fear.

In 1992, just as the Peace Accords brought

the bloody civil war in Mozambique to an end,
I was starting a new job there as Country
Director for a humanitarian organisation.
On my second day in the office, I received a
radio call from a remote project area saying
that two of my colleagues had just been
killed by landmines on the side of the road.
Theirs were yet two more in the thousands
of Mozambican lives claimed by mines.
But now, as Mozambique celebrates its
achievement, people have a future free from
fear. The job here is done.

CONTACT US

CONNECT WITH US

MAG, Suite 3a, 11 Peter Street,

Manchester, M2 5QR, United Kingdom

f acebook.com/
minesadvisorygroup

+44 161 236 4311

@MAGsaveslives

info@maginternational.org

In Sri Lanka, huge progress has been

made and the country could be free from
the impact of mines by 2020. Read about
MAGs work here on pages 4 to 7. With
easier minefields amongst the first to have
been made safe, some of the most difficult
ones still remain. Landmines continue
to restrict access to paddy fields, water
sources and routes to market, and threaten
the very development projects that promise
a better future for Sri Lankans.

www.maginternational.org

Over the years, landmines have not only

claimed tens of thousands of lives, but also
trapped generations in poverty and fear.

Registered Charity: 1083008

All photos Sean Sutton/MAG unless otherwise stated

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www.maginternational.org

www.maginternational.org

On pages 10 and 11, we turn the spotlight on

Moxico, one of the poorest regions in Angola,
where mines and unexploded bombs still stop
people from using their land to grow enough
food to eat, or to sell in order to make a living.
Such is the desperate need for land that
many of the refugees continuing to return
home after the long since ended civil war are
building houses and farming on unsafe soil.
If we dont do more, and soon, then future
generations who have only known peace
in their lifetimes will be forced to live
surrounded by the deadly remnants of war.
Angola and Sri Lanka are not the full story.
In Cambodia, South Sudan, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and beyond, people
still live with the daily risk and fear of death
or injury from landmines and unexploded
bombs. We must not let these minefields
be forgotten. Whenever and wherever wars
happen, innocent people shouldnt be the
ones who pay the price.

Nick Roseveare
Chief Executive

03

Sri Lanka
Population:
20.48 million

Children attend
morning parade in
Puthukkudiyiruppu
(PTK), Sri Lanka,
on land made safe
by MAG.

A FUTURE FREE
FROM FEAR
The Sri Lankan civil war ended in 2009, but landmines and
unexploded bombs continue to litter the countrys northern
and eastern districts. People in Sri Lanka have a right to
hope for a better future, and now an end is in sight. With
international support, Sri Lanka can be free from the impact
of mines by 2020.
Puthukkudiyiruppu Roman Catholic School (pictured) is
one of seven schools MAG has made safe in the region.
Today, 450 children, from ages 5 to 16, are taught here.
The facilities have improved steadily since MAG completed
work at the school in late 2012. The sports fields have
been cleared of rubble and are now luscious and green.
There are no longer ammunition crates scattered about or
fragmentation marks on the walls. And, instead of silence,
there is the buzz of excited youngsters voices.
With your support, MAG is making land safe, helping people
in Sri Lanka to rebuild their lives, livelihoods and futures.
Mr Balashanker, who teaches at the school, told us:
We are free now. The school has been open for two
years and it is getting better all the time. The students
come from a poor background. Most of the children have
lost one or both parents, so a good school and education
means everything to them.
Although huge progress has been made in Sri Lanka,
injuries and deaths still frequently occur and international
support has waned in recent years. MAG has been helping
Sri Lankas people since 2002 and this commitment, through
some extremely challenging times, motivates us even more
to finish the task in hand.

Puthukkudiyiruppu Roman Catholic School is

one of seven schools MAG has made safe in
this region of Sri Lanka. In place of ammunition
crates and marks from bomb fragments hitting
the walls, 450 children learn here each day.

www.maginternational.org

STAFF PROFILE
Alistair Moir
Country
Director
Sri Lanka
Why did you want
to work for MAG?
Because MAGs work is
cross cutting, allowing
infrastructure to be built,
people and goods to
move more freely, as
well as removing the
threats that can bring
about traumatic injury
and death. As Country
Director I work at a local
level to ensure MAGs
clearance is benefitting
those most in need.
What difference
is MAG making?
MAGs work is extremely
tangible. Every day I
know how many metres
of land we have made
safe in Sri Lanka and how
many landmines we have
removed. Once people
have settled onto land that
was previously regarded as
a threat, the change is rapid
and satisfying as homes are
built or crops planted.
What do you find the
most rewarding?
A family even being
able to farm an additional
200m2 of land can have
such a sustained and
positive impact on their
household. MAGs work
is truly transformational,
both for the land and the
people who use it.

05

Now, thanks to
MAG, we have
five acres of land
we can farm in
safety.We grow
chillies, bananas,
and vegetables.
Ravindran, pictured with his family
in Mannar District, Sri Lanka.

SHOP
JEWELS,
CLEAR
BOMBS

Our designs are inspired by

our British-Laos heritage.
Our mother is from this
beautiful country but had
to leave because of the
war. Laos is still littered
with millions of bombs,
which were dropped during
the Vietnam War, and we
wanted to do something to

help. When we launched

Finchittida we decided to use
it to support bomb clearance
in Laos and try and raise
more awareness of the issue.

helping them to live free

from fear and enabling
them to grow crops, build
schools and access water
supplies in safety.

We started our label

about three years ago
after graduating from the
University of Arts London.
Since then our brand has
been featured in magazines
like Vogue and Elle, and worn
by style icons such as FKA
Twigs and Rita Ora.

We recently visited MAG

Laos in Xiang Khouang
province and spent time
with one of their all-female
teams. The women were
inspirational, working with
sheer determination to
make the land safe for the
next generation.

We chose to work with MAG

because they remove and
destroy the bombs and make
land safe for the long-term
benefit of Laos communities,

To see the Finchittida

jewellery and help MAG clear
more bombs in Laos visit
www.finchittida.com

We are proud that

every purchase of
Finchittida jewellery
helps to support MAG
in their mission of
clearing land in Laos.
08

www.maginternational.org

Ingrid Turner/MAG

Cycling 2,797km
has raised

...funding a landmine
clearance team for

over
10,000

one
month

Between them, Guy and Ian

have taken on Ride London,
Stage 1 of the 2014 Tour de
France, London-Paris and
Lands End to John O Groats
clocking up the miles for MAG
and making a difference.
All images Finchittida

Twins, Lisa and Tida

Finch, are founders of the
trailblazing jewellery label
Finchittida. For every piece
of jewellery sold they make a
contribution towards MAGs
bomb clearance operations
in Laos, the country which
inspires their designs.

RACING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

told us that the Syrian refugee

crisis was the key driver behind
his decision to tackle Ride
London this year:

MAGs work in the region,

including spreading the word
about the dangers, is what
Guy Goodwin-Gill, retired
counts. Its what makes return
professor of International
and a new life achievable for
Refugee Law at University
refugees and the displaced;
of Oxford, and Barrister at
it empowers those who would,
Blackstone Chambers, London, or will, or must stay.

www.maginternational.org

GET INVOLVED AND

MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Find out more here:
www.maginternational.
org/getinvolved
Wed love to hear about
your fundraising plans:
fundraising@
maginternational.org
0161 236 4311

09

THE LEGACY
OF CONFLICT

Over the past five years, thanks to supporters

and donors, MAG has cleared land for
three schools to be built, providing education
for over 3,000 children. Over 800 houses
and three safe water sources are also being
constructed. Its a remarkable achievement,
as seen recently by Dennis Hadrick, of the US
Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement,
on his visit to Angola.

Even in rural Angola, were making

progress. I visited a new school built on
land that was once a minefield. With U.S.
support, our NGO partners at MAG cleared
the area, allowing Angolan officials to build
new schools for local kids. Students now
have safe access to an education. This is
how conventional weapons destruction not
only saves lives it can change them.*

We train and employ local people as

deminers, enabling them to contribute to
the rehabilitation of their own country.

This school in Muhini, in Moxico province, was able to be built after the area was cleared of
landmines and unexploded bombs by a MAG team.

10

People here are unable to use their

land to its full potential because of the
threat of mines and unexploded bombs.

We know how valuable safe land is to a

community. We need to do more, faster, to
free people from fear and let them rebuild
their lives. Our supporters can help make
this long-lasting difference.

www.maginternational.org

Since 1994, MAG has removed

and destroyed over 30,000
landmines and unexploded
bombs in Moxico to make land
and lives safe.

All images J.B. Russell/MAG

Two-thirds of Angolas population live in

poverty. Moxico is the poorest province and the
most landmine-affected. People here struggle
to find safe land to build houses and schools,
or to grow food and provide for their families.
Much needed valuable land is contaminated
with mines from a forgotten conflict.

Angola
Population: 25million

* Extract from U.S. Department of State Official Blog

People in Angola have no choice but to live

with the daily risk of death and injury from
landmines left over from the countrys civil
war. More than a decade after the conflict
ended, the threat of mines and other deadly
weapons means that entire communities are
living in constant fear. This is unacceptable.

130,000 people are

estimated to be affected
by the presence of landmines
and unexploded bombs.

www.maginternational.org

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