Why We Work

Too often landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), small arms and light weapons (SALW), and other remnants of war are left behind and remain harmful to innocent civilians even after peace is established.

Remnants of conflict kill and injure an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 people a year - the equivalent of one person every twenty minutes. (Landmine Monitor) Yet the devastation is much broader than physical. Remnants of conflict affect the way people live, work, and play, and prevent entire communities from escaping the poverty and suffering caused by conflict. 

Because of the contamination that plagues these countries and communities across the globe, the basic elements for growth, or even survival, elude people.  Land is simply unavailable to provide for the basic needs of a community.

Schools

  • Schools that would be built cannot be constructed on weapon-affected land so children must walk an hour or more to a safe school. 

Roads

  • Roads that could connect rural villages to markers are never created. Instead, farmers are isolated and unable to sell cash crops. This leaves them no outlet to potentially sell their crops in. 

Irrigation Systems

  • Irrigation systems that could bring water to rural households and deliver enormous health and economic benefits for families cannot be built.

Farmland

  • Farmland that should enable families to grow the food they need to feed themselves is far too scarce due to land contamination. Many people must simply go without enough food to eat in the non-growing season. 

Only when our work is done, will there finally be peace.
The following short videos highlight why MAG means SCHOOLS, WATER, and FARMS.  Without MAG, in so many communities, these basic necessities are just not possible.  MAG works to remove the dangerous weapons that keep people and communities living in a state of fear and retreat.  We work to finally enable hope for the future and an opportunity to prosper.