Manifesto of the Mine Clearing Collaboration Campaign (M.C.C.C)

Introduction:

Over the last decade, numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOS) were formed in Iran for various reasons such as creating greater awareness among the public, community needs with respect to cooperate in certain pertinent issues, to fill the gap caused by government inefficiencies, examination of the government policies and so on.

In our society, there are numerous problems such as people with addictions, domestically abused women, women-headed families, patients with AIDS, people with psychological and physical disabilities, chronic patients, child workers, and street children, ... victims of landmine has forced people through cooperation and coordination and creation of non-governmental organizations to solve the problem.

The Mine Clearing Collaboration Campaign is a non-governmental organization that brings together experts and specialists from the fields of law, sociology, economics and welfare with the belief that we can minimize within the shortest time and social and economic damages that mines cause, reduce human and physical damages, and strive to de-mine contaminated areas and create safe zones for people living in them.

Why de-mining?

Many countries have placed landmines at their borders for security reasons. These areas were marked and were mapped. In Iran, during the 8 years of war (Iran-Iraq war – 1980-88), large parts of the border regions were mined mostly by the Iraqi government, and there are no maps of this regions. In addition, over time, due to various factors such as rain and natural phenomenon, the mines have moved from one place to another. Given that most of the border towns and villages were evacuated during the war and mined by both Iraq and Iran, the areas mined are no longer at the border but also include residential and agricultural lands. Today, fifteen years after the war, people have returned to their homes and are becoming victims of landmines that exist on their roads and agricultural fields. Many Iranians including women, men, children and youth live with the permanent danger of mine explosion. Sometimes there is news about victims in the local newspapers but rarely in the newspapers in Tehran (the capital city), which rarely pay attention to this problem.

De-mining is very expensive and needs technology, which Iran unfortunately lacks. Planning, appropriate organizations improve transparency and awareness of the people to cooperate are one of the first steps that need to be taken.

Our Mission:

The mine clearing Collaboration Campaign will concentrate on three objectives:

• Participation and cooperation in de-mining of contaminated areas;
• Support for non-military victims of landmines;
• Provide Mine Awareness programs in the contaminated areas.

Plan of Action:

• To solicit and collect national and international help for the purposes of education, transfer of experiences and technology for de-mining the contaminated areas and to redress damages caused by landmines.
• To plan and develop education materials and to seek volunteers to teach people about the dangers of landmines and to offer seminars and other programs to increase public awareness about mines and its dangers.
• To seek assistance for the purpose of supporting and rehabilitant the victims of landmines.
• To prepare statistics and necessary information about mine victims of landmines.
• To prepare statistics and necessary information about mine victims and their situation.

Membership Conditions:

All Iranians who agree with the mission of the campaign can join M.C.C.C.

Types of membership:

There are three types of membership:

• Honorary membership
• Full membership
• Conditioned membership

For more information, please contact:

Fax: 00 98 21 8066164

Email m.c.c.c@yahoo.com