As we move into the final months of 2026, I find myself reflecting on a year that has, in many ways, tested us all.

The world remains deeply unstable. Conflict and armed violence continue to drive humanitarian need at a scale we haven’t seen for many years. For MAG teams, that instability isn’t a distant headline, but a daily reality. It’s MAG Community Liaison Officers in Lebanon supporting communities while displaced themselves. It’s teams in Ukraine continuing their work amid relentless attacks on their own cities. It’s colleagues continuing to be there for communities, even when the rest of the world’s attention seems to have moved on.

And yet, alongside that hardship, this year has also given us something important: proof of progress.

In Sri Lanka, we are closer than ever to a landmine-free future. 25 years of determined painstaking work is nearing its end with just8 mi² left to clear. This means land that families can farm again, this means children walking safely to school, and it means communities able to return home.

We’re close to declaring Sri Lanka landmine free because our teams stayed, and because supporters like you stayed with them. It’s the clearest proof i can think of that demonstrates the transformation we can achieve when given the time and trust to finish the task at hand.

That proof matters more than ever, because the need has not abated. This year, we launched a new landmine clearance program in Sudan, where conflict has left millions at risk from landmines and explosive ordnance. Compounded by crises, our work in Sudan poses one of the most serious challenges MAG has faced in recent years. It’s exactly the kind of moment our work exists for; together we step forward when communities have nowhere else to turn.

Sri Lanka shows us where sustained support leads. Sudan shows us why that support cannot stop now.

As we head into the end of 2026, my hope is simple: that we hold both of these truths together. A celebration of our dedicated, hard-won progress, and a focused determination to our work that is far from finished. I know that together we will meet the challenges ahead with the same resolve our teams show every day in the field.

When I read stories like the ones enclosed in this newsletter, I remain optimistic about what we can achieve together.

Thank you for being part of this story so far. Because of you, Sri Lanka being landmine free is finally within reach, and because of you, we can respond to what comes next.

Darren Cormack
MAG Chief Executive

Twenty-five years ago, a MAG deminer knelt in a field in northern Sri Lanka and cleared the organization’s first landmine in the country. This marked the beginning of a national effort that has since cleared more than a million landmines across Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's civil war lasted nearly three decades. When it ended in 2009, it left behind a different kind of battlefield, one buried underground, in the fields, roadsides and villages of the north and east. Even while the conflict still raged, MAG's deminers were already at work, clearing a path to peace, before peace had fully arrived.

What has happened since is proof of what's possible when determination, collaboration and sustained funding come together, and are given the time to see the job through.

In the last 17 years, over a million landmines have been cleared. MAG teams alone have made 40 mi² of land safe. Annual casualties have fallen from around 250 a year to just three in 2024. A million people, displaced by war, have been able to go home.

Now, Sri Lanka is closer than it has ever been to a landmine-free future. Around 8 mi² of contaminated land is left. The final stretch of a journey that began 25 years ago. As we look toward the final push over the next five years, this doesn’t just mean safety, but an ending. A country that can say, finally, that this threat is gone for good.

A gift could help clear the land still standing between Sri Lanka and that future. After 25 years of work, the finish is finally within reach, and every gift now helps close that final distance.

SUDAN:RESPONDING WHEN NEEDED

In April 2023, conflict erupted across Sudan. Since then, it has grown into the world’s largest humanitarian emergency.

More than three million people have fled the country, and over twelve million have been forced from their homes, the largest internally displaced population anywhere in the world.

Even before the current conflict began, an estimated 13 mi² of land in Sudan were contaminated by landmines and explosive ordnance left from previous hostilities.

Sudanese authorities now believe at least a further 8 mi² have been newly contaminated by mortars, projectiles, grenades, and landmines. The true scale is likely far greater than current estimates suggest.

We’re not standing by. MAG launched a new humanitarian mine action program in Sudan to respond.

From Khartoum, Whitney Hostetter, MAG’s Country Director for Sudan said:

“Our new program reflects the urgency of the situation on the ground. Sudan is facing widespread explosive contamination on top of an already severe humanitarian crisis, making humanitarian mine action an essential priority for relief efforts. These initial operations will be a crucial first step for communities to be able to return and rebuild safely.”

Initial operations are focussed on Khartoum and the surrounding area, with plans to expand into other conflict-affected states, including Al Gezira, Blue Nile and North Kordofan, as the response grows.

Whitney added: “Many civilians have little choice but to risk entering hazardous areas as they return to their homes. The contamination also prevents the safe delivery of essential humanitarian aid and the re-establishment of infrastructure. Essential services, including schools and clinics, have been heavily damaged and are likely contaminated with deadly items, such as bombs.”

MAG’s CEO, Darren Cormack, said: “Throughout our history, MAG has stepped forward in the most difficult and complex environments to address urgent threatsto civilian safety. The scale of the crisis in Sudan is one of the most serious challenges we have faced in recent years. We are ready to respond with the same resolve, commitment and determination that has defined MAG over the past decades.”

This is what that resolve looks like in its earliest stages. The work in Sudan is only just beginning, but it starts, as it always has, with the decision to step forward.