The 1999 earthquakes that occurred in the Marmara region have stimulated social awareness and thus interest in disaster management which has increased with unprecedented intensity, especially in the area of disaster preparedness. All would readily admit, however, that what has been done so far remains inadequate against the immensity of disaster risks in Turkey.

The Neighborhood Disaster Volunteer System which is an initiative launched in the year 2000, as a project (NDSP- Neighborhood Disaster Support Project) has continued successfully to this day by benefiting from a stable supply of resources provided by the Swiss Government. Given sufficient support and appropriate arrangements, the Project was able to broaden and extend its functions and prove to be the most useful application to date in the area of disaster preparedness.

Neighborhood Disaster Foundation is established by a group of initiators from universities, business world, NGOs, media, and official institutions with the need for the existence of a national level organization to provide support for sustaining the NDV system, while improving its quality and for strengthening the volunteer base, directly or through other NGOs.

MAG Foundation aims to lead and support voluntary groups and organizations in matters of setting, implementing, and developing standards in the areas of training, equipment, and organization, in order to allow the Neighborhood Disaster Volunteers, to carry out effectively their assumed functions in disaster prevention and preparedness; to raise any and all support from all possible sources and transferring the same to volunteer groups, as they need them, especially in financial and technical matters, in order to permit the Neighborhood Disaster Volunteers, to fulfill the important responsibilities that they have undertaken in the disaster management system.

To assure the participation of broad segments of society as a strong support and driving force, alongside the public organizations, in the struggle for preventing disasters from causing social and economic devastation; and, for this purpose, working toward arrangements and improvements needed in the disaster management system.
To develop a platform of broad-based participation, in order to develop cooperation at national and international levels in matters of disaster preparedness and disaster damage reduction, to assure exchange of information between relevant persons, institutions, and organizations, and to create a medium of joint work.