We are delighted to announce Rosamund Pike has joined MAG in our fight to rid the world of the deadly legacy of landmines.
The Golden Globe and Emmy-winning star becomes MAG's first-ever official Ambassador today — as the world marks the United Nations official International Mine Awareness Day.
Some 60 million people live with the risk of landmines and unexploded bombs, which kill and injure 15 people every day.
MAG works to find and destroy landmines and unexploded bombs in 26 countries — and we were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for our role in securing an international ban on landmines in 1997.
Rosamund said: “It’s important to me as a human being to try to put an end to something that’s killing people indiscriminately every day. But also as a mother of two small boys, when I see children living next to these landmines it really strikes a chord. Many of the victims of landmines are children and that’s heartbreaking."
Rosamund Pike in her own words
Read Rosamund's full statement
“Landmines stifle development and prevent people living in often very poor places from pursuing their livelihoods and gaining independence."
“I have seen first-hand the amazing and courageous work of MAG’s staff and the transformative impact that work has on ordinary men, women and children so it is a privilege to be able to play my small part by raising awareness of the issue and the solutions at hand.”
Rosamund, who won this year’s Best Performance by an Actress (Comedy) award at the Golden Globes for her role in I Care A Lot, has supported MAG since travelling to Lebanon to see their work first-hand in 2017.
Whilst there, she visited the so-called Blue Line — an area close to the border with Israel contaminated with hundreds of thousands of landmines and cluster bombs. The visit helped Rosamund prepare for the role of war correspondent Marie Colvin in the film A Private War.
In Lebanon, Rosamund met the MAG demining teams working to clear their towns and villages of the deadly legacy of conflict as well as members of the community. She also walked through a minefield and detonated a controlled demolition of 14 mines.
“More than anything, you feel the violence in the land,” Rosamund said at the time. “You feel that this land is contaminated, especially when you see many of these ugly little boxes sitting close to the surface. And you feel a sense of tragedy that the land has been destroyed.”
Rosamund Pike with MAG Technical Field Manager Ahmad Doughman in Lebanon
In December, Rosamund voiced a BBC Radio 4 appeal to raise funds for MAG’s work in Nigeria, the fifth most landmine-contaminated country in the world.
“Landmines are not a problem confined to the past,” she said. “In many places, the Covid pandemic has actually driven families into mined areas. Lockdowns and fear of catching the virus in crowded camps have left families with little choice but to return home, unaware the villages they fled are heavily mined.”
Rosamund’s new role will help ensure MAG continues to get the support and funding we need to continue our lifesaving work removing landmines and unexploded bombs all over the world.
MAG’s Chief Executive Darren Cormack said: “We are thrilled to welcome Rosamund Pike as our first ever MAG ambassador. Rosamund’s support will make a huge difference at a time when 15 people every day are still being killed or injured by landmines and unexploded bombs, many of them children. Her passion for the cause will help us to help more of the 60 million people around the world living in fear of these deadly devices.”
