History
MAG was formed in 1989 in response to landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left by the Soviet war in Afghanistan. The organisation initially served as an advisory group, publishing reports about the problems in Afghanistan and Cambodia based on their assessments between 1989 and 1991. Subsequent reports included Iraq, Somaliland and Angola. In 1992, MAG, along with other NGOs, formed the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL).
By 1992, MAG had raised sufficient funds to begin its first landmine clearance program in Iraq. Clearance programs extended to Cambodia the same year, followed by Lao PDR and Angola in 1994. MAG also introduced mine risk education (MRE) alongside their clearance programs to help minimise the risk to the local populations. MRE operations were extended to Rwanda and to refugee camps in Zaire and the former Zambia. In 1996, Lou McGrath became executive director and MAG established its international headquarters in Manchester, UK.
Read more about this topic: Mines Advisory Group
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness. And they are all talking at once!”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
“Let us not underrate the value of a fact; it will one day flower in a truth. It is astonishing how few facts of importance are added in a century to the natural history of any animal. The natural history of man himself is still being gradually written.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We don’t know when our name came into being or how some distant ancestor acquired it. We don’t understand our name at all, we don’t know its history and yet we bear it with exalted fidelity, we merge with it, we like it, we are ridiculously proud of it as if we had thought it up ourselves in a moment of brilliant inspiration.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)