Introduction

Introduction

Issues

Issues

Action

Action

Impact

Impact

 

Action

Mine Action Policy Development

Through technical advice, training and research, UNICEF helps the BIH Mine Action Center (BHMAC) develop a broad mine action policy framework that places mine risk education (MRE) and mine victim assistance (MVA) as integral elements of reducing the impact of mines. This policy emphasizes the UN Mine Action Service’s adage that mine action is “not so much about mines as it is about people.”

In the programming,  UNICEF emphasizes the importance of community participation in prioritizing minefields that have the most impact on them, either because of the danger of accidents or of their hindrance to socio-economic development.  UNICEF also helps the  Ministries of Education and Ministries of Social Welfare to mainstream MRE into school curricula and to develop national policy on disabilities, including MVA.

© UNICEF/Bosnia and Herzegovina

Community Mine-Risk Management

UNICEF has worked with BHMAC to develop a methodology of Community Integrated Mine Action that puts the community at the center of mine risk management. The roles of external agencies are those of facilitator and partner, working with the community to identify problems and vulnerable groups and to identify sustainable solutions.

The process includes an intensive assessment of needs in communities that are heavily contaminated with mines, involving a wide range of local people and institutions. It gathers local knowledge on the mine situation and identifies the sectors of the population most at risk.

Through implementing partners, such as NGOs, Civil Protection agencies and the local Red Cross, UNICEF works in most affected municipalities. Through education and mine victim assistance, residents of these communities are educated through field activities and local media campaigns focusing on identified risks and at risk population.

Mine Risk Education in Schools

Community Mine Risk Management