The Marshall Legacy Institute wishes you and your family

Season's Greetings and a very Happy New Year.

From all of us here at MLI, we thank you for your enduring support. Despite the many challenges of 2020, we continued our efforts to help communities suffering from conflict and explosive remnants of war. This work was possible only because of people like you, who provide hope for a peaceful future free of the horrific scourge of landmines.

Here are just a few of our accomplishments this year:

• 51 million m² of contaminated land has been searched by more than 250 lifesaving mine detection dogs and returned to local communities for safe and productive use in a dozen post-conflict countries.
• The capital city of Sarajevo was declared mine-free for the first time in 25 years through the historic Mine Free Sarajevo project, which ultimately will release over six million square meters of cleared land by early 2021.
• More than 4,000 Bosnians living in mine-threatened communities received mine risk education and hundreds of American youth engaged with peers in Bosnia Herzegovina and Yemen in meaningful service-learning projects through our Children Against Mines Program (CHAMPS).
• 195 landmine survivors in Bosnia Herzegovina and Yemen received prosthetic limbs, psychological counseling, medical care, and/or vocational training so they could regain their independence.
• Nearly 100 high school students in Colombia, U.S., and Yemen participated in an expanded Peacemakers and Problem Solvers program through a virtual exchange and gained leadership development skills while designing and implementing community involvement projects.
• You helped us raise over $150,000 in revenue during our first, and hopefully last, virtual Clearing the Path Gala, allowing us to expand our humanitarian programs in countries in need. 

Here is how your contribution can help a lifesaving

mine detection dog-in training:

CLEARING THE PATH GALA: MINE DETECTION DOG CAMPAIGN UPDATE

We are thrilled to announce that we completed the sponsorship of a second mine detection dog in a campaign that started during our virtual Clearing the Path Gala and ended on Giving Tuesday. The first mine detection dog was sponsored during the gala evening by Leonardo DRS. Thank you so much for your generous contributions for these lifesaving canine heroes!

The newest mine detection dog to join the ranks of the Marshall Legacy Institute was named Horizon by the Witkowsky-Barker family. 

Once Horizon completes training, he or she will work with the Sri Lankan Army's Humanitarian Demining Unit (HDU), helping Sri Lanka complete its remaining mine clearance tasks before the country is declared mine-safe. The sponsorship of Horizon would not have been possible without your support, and we look forward to updating you on the lifesaving work of this hero canine in the months to come. 

City of Sarajevo is Declared Mine Impact Free

In November, the Mine Free Sarajevo project hit a crucial milestone, as the City of Sarajevo and the entire municipality of East Stari Grad, which include the famous Olympic mountain of Trebević (see photo below), was finally declared mine impact free. This important project is generously funded by the U.S. Department of State, and implemented in partnership with ITF Enhancing Human Security (ITF) and the Mine Detection Dog Center in Bosnia-Herzegovina (MDDC). Mr. Abdulah Skaka, the Mayor of Sarajevo, stated the importance of this project, sharing that “It is vital to provide a safe life for all residents and visitors to Sarajevo and the wider region.”

The MDDC’s brave and dedicated teams worked diligently through the challenges posed by COVID-19 as well as difficult terrain to reach this critical project milestone, which comes 25 years after the end of the war. Efforts to release contaminated land in the remaining municipality of Vogošća are underway. MLI is grateful to our project partners: ITF Enhancing Human Security and the MDDC, and to the U.S. Department of State for funding this vital project.

Read more about Mine Free Sarajevo in the current issue of the Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction here.

Visit: www.marshall-legacy.org Call: (703) 243-9200 
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