Iraq
Act for Peace in Iraq
Act for Peace's partner, the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), has operated in Iraq since 1992. Its work significantly reduces the threat to both resident and displaced populations, and has supported rehabilitation and socio-economic development initiatives.
To date, MAG has cleared more than 1.5 million landmines, weapons and items of ammunition and freed up several million square metres of land. This work acts in support
of peace building initiatives which aim for long-term stability in Iraq and the region.
Act for Peace has also worked with project partner the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) to improve the lives of Iraqis across the country. In order to do this, we have helped to provide vocational skills training courses for the youth, ages 18-25, of both sexes and different faiths. These courses allow the participants to can gain skills that will help them become self-reliant, provide for their families, and create stronger communities.
We have helped to provide health education to women and children that are currently living in extreme, high-risk situations, in order to increase sanitation and prevent disease.
Act for Peace and MECC have also been working to combat the psychological effects of warfare through art and drama therapy for children, portable craft making workshops, and community building initiatives.
Clearing mines in Iraq: a farmer's story
Eleven-year-old Iraqi Abdul-Ghafar was killed, and his two friends lost their legs, in an explosion five years after their village of Bawa Mahmod, northeast of Baghdad, was bombarded by cluster bombs. This explosion also started a large fire which subsequently detonated several other cluster bombs.
The presence of cluster bombs means a lack of access to safe land, limiting agricultural development, the reconstruction of vital infrastructure, and the work of relief and development agencies.
With support from Act for Peace and other agencies around the world, mine action teams are able to clear contaminated land in villages like Bawa Mahmod, safely removing and destroying deadly cluster bombs. They also deliver mine risk education to local people.
These action groups are helping villages recover their freedom and earn a living from the land again. In 2010, MAG released more than 3,000,000 square metres of land in Iraq.
Farmer Haji Barzan, whose land in Bawa Mahmod was cleared of mines, is now able to plough the farmland and plan for future crops. "The money that the land will generate will improve my life and the lives of the two families working in my land, and all that is because of this life-saving work.”
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can clear 100m2 of landmines and bombs |
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can provide a family with an essential hygiene and health kit
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can provide vocational skills training for Iraqi refugees |
