When it comes to disarmament, youth campaigners have been making change at the grassroots and at the international level for decades. However, MAC recognizes that a lot of the spaces where decisions are made were not designed to give youth, especially young women, a seat at the table.

We work with young people around the world to ensure that their expertise and their viewpoints are taken into account when disarmament decisions are made.

The cliché is that youth are the future but we see youth as active leaders now. They have a vision for the future they want to live in, lived experiences and the passion to make it happen. Mines Action Canada provides the skills, mentorship and opportunities needed to make that vision a reality.

• MAC’s Mine Action Fellows Program contributes to reducing the humanitarian and development impact of landmines and cluster bombs by providing resources and training to mine action and development organizations and youth from around the world. The Mine Action Fellows program focuses especially on young women due to the longstanding under representation of women in disarmament.
• MAC offers internships through university partners in Canada. Our largest partnership is with the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Social Sciences where students can receive course credit for completing a three-month internship virtual or overseas internship with local partner organizations. All local partner organizations are members of the same global campaigns as we are. We also have worked with Carleton University, Brock University, St. Paul’s University and the University of Toronto to provide experiential learning opportunities for their students.
• MAC also has online resources for youth campaigners looking to develop their leadership and campaigning skills.
• MAC has produced a manual on the best practices of working with youth for a mine-free world, which is available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian
• MAC also has online resources for youth campaigners looking to develop their leadership and campaigning skills and classroom resources for teachers.