Remarkable People

MAG (pronounced "Mag") – Mines Advisory Group – is a neutral and impartial humanitarian organisation that clears the remnants of conflict for the benefit of communities worldwide.

Saving lives and limbs...

We work in current and former conflict zones, to reduce the threat of death and injury from remnants of conflict. These include anti-personnel and anti-vehicle landmines, as well as rockets, missiles, mortars, grenades, ammunition, small arms and light weapons, and many more types of deadly items. So we don’t just carry out plain landmine or bomb clearance – some of our projects aren’t even about landmines.

We educate people living, working and travelling through contaminated areas, to minimise the risks of them, their friends and families being killed or maimed.

...and building futures...

We focus on the many millions of people who benefit from our work. We release reclaimed safe land back to the local population, enabling recovery and assisting the development of affected populations.

More than this, we tackle poverty by training and employing staff from the local populations, in order to build a robust and sustainable national workforce. More than 90 per cent of our 2,300-plus staff around the world are natives of the countries in which they work.

...worldwide

MAG has worked in 35 countries since 1989 and currently has operations in Afghanistan, Angola, Burundi, Cambodia, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Iraq, Lao P.D.R., Lebanon, Libya,Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Vietnam.

See this page for a timeline: MAG's history: year-by-year

MAG is co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, awarded for its work with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines [www.icbl.org], which culminated in the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty – the international agreement that bans anti-personnel landmines, sometimes referred to as the Ottawa Convention.

We don’t have large marketing campaigns or spend vast amounts on fundraising or self-promotion, but we do try and build awareness of our work simply because we see daily how vital it really is on the ground.

What We Do

Working with more than 3,000 local partner organizations, we work with people living in poverty striving to exercise their human rights, assert their dignity as full citizens and take control of their lives.

We focus our efforts in these areas:

Development

We work with and through partners and communities on long-term programs to eradicate poverty and combat injustice.

Emergencies

We deliver immediate life-saving assistance to people affected by natural disasters or conflict, and help to build their resilience to future disasters.

Campaigning

We are part of a global movement for change. We raise public awareness of the causes of poverty and encourage ordinary people to take action for a fairer world.

Advocacy

We press decision-makers to change policies and practices that reinforce poverty and injustice.

Policy research

We can speak with authority as a result of thorough research and analysis, and the real experience of our partners in developing countries.

Oxfam’s commitment to human rights

We believe that respect for human rights will help lift people out of poverty and injustice, allow them to assert their dignity and guarantee sustainable development.

When we speak about having a rights-based approach, this is what we mean.

We believe that everyone should have the right to:

A livelihood

Oxfam works at many levels with partners and communities in support of their right to a decent living.

We argue for better working conditions and better protection of the natural resources on which poor communities depend. We campaign for fairer trade rules at the global level, and for better policies at the national level. We work with partners and communities to implement programs that lead to self-sustaining livelihoods, with a strong focus on women.

Basic services

Being healthy and educated is an essential step along the route out of poverty.

Yet millions of people have no access to health services, schooling or safe water. They are constantly at risk from illnesses that are easily prevented or treated, or are unable to read and write, which means exclusion from their society. We campaign for more and better aid, with a focus on basic services. At the program level, Oxfam provides health training and clean water supplies, as well as funding schools and teacher training.

Be safe from harm

War and natural disasters cause untold suffering for millions of people around the world and keep them locked in poverty.

In disasters, people are at greater risk of violence, disease and abuse. We save lives in emergencies by providing shelter, clean water and sanitation. And by working with local partners, we help communities to rebuild and to better prepare themselves for future disasters.

Be heard

People living in poverty often have little influence over decisions that affect their lives.

Oxfam supports partners and communities to understand their rights and to speak out about their needs and concerns. And, with others, we get people in power to listen and act.

Be treated as equal

People who are marginalized – because they are women, disabled or members of a religious or ethnic minority – are more likely to be poor.

We combat such discrimination, and work with these groups to ensure they have the means to enjoy equal access to jobs, essential services and influence.

About Us

The International Red Cross is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering, without any discrimination based on nationality, race, sex, religious beliefs, class or political opinions.

The movement consists of several distinct organizations that are legally independent from each other, but are united within the movement through common basic principles, objectives, symbols, statutes and governing organs. The movement's parts are:

• The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a private humanitarian institution founded in 1863 in Geneva, Switzerland, by Henry Dunant. Its 25-member committee has a unique authority under international humanitarian law to protect the life and dignity of the victims of international and internal armed conflicts. The ICRC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on three occasions (in 1917, 1944 and 1963).
• The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) was founded in 1919 and today it coordinates activities between the 186 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies within the Movement. On an international level, the Federation leads and organizes, in close cooperation with the National Societies, relief assistance missions responding to large-scale emergencies. The International Federation Secretariat is based in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1963, the Federation (then known as the League of Red Cross Societies) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the ICRC.
• National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies exist in nearly every country in the world. Currently 186 National Societies are recognized by the ICRC and admitted as full members of the Federation. Each entity works in its home country according to the principles of international humanitarian law and the statutes of the international Movement. Depending on their specific circumstances and capacities, National Societies can take on additional humanitarian tasks that are not directly defined by international humanitarian law or the mandates of the international Movement. In many countries, they are tightly linked to the respective national health care system by providing emergency medical services.