Impact
As a result of UNICEF work with BHMAC, a new planning system has been developed, called the Community Integrated Mine Action Plan, which prioritizes High Impact communities, rather than minefields, for mine action intervention.
With UNICEF support, NGO partners developed 28 community based Mine Risk Education plans and trained 186 community representatives in how to conduct simple informational campaigns and educational activities for vulnerable groups.
In support of community based MRE planning system, a training manual Mine Risk Education Planning for Mine Affected Communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was developed.
UNICEF support enabled training of over 80 mine action professionals who are now equipped with the skills required to conduct community mine risk assessment and develop appropriate Community Integrated Mine Action Plans.
As researches and assessment demonstrated that marking of dangerous areas reduces the risk of accidents significantly, UNICEF provided the BHMAC and other mine action agencies with over 10,000 mine signs
Through Mine Risk Education in schools, almost 100,000 children have seen UNICEF funded puppet plays in their primary schools and 1,200 teachers have been trained and now conduct MRE as part of their regular activities
With the Ministries of Education, UNICEF has worked to mainstream MRE into the ordinary school curriculum.
UNICEF has encouraged other public institutions to get involved in MRE and advised them on how to mainstream it into their mandates.
With the US Centre for Diseases Control, UNICEF hosted a Field Epidemiology for Mine Action Course in Sarajevo, which taught Bosnia and Herzegovina mine action professionals how to apply lessons learned in field epidemiology (such as data collection, mapping, and database analysis) to mine action.
Since 1996 there has been a dramatic decline in mine accidents. For instance, there were 12 times fewer accidents in 2004 than in 1996. While UNICEF cannot claim to be fully responsible for this, the Landmine Impact Survey showed that mine risk education in BIH contributed effectively to the reduction of landmine risk. Another study conducted by the ICRC in 2002, confirmed that generally the population of the affected areas was aware of the danger and possessed basic knowledge on the issue.
Accidents caused by tampering are rare which tends to show that people are aware of the danger and are knowledgeable about procedures for disposal of explosive devices. As the main donor, coordinator, and technical expertise of mine risk education in BIH, UNICEF has been critical in this success.
However, ICRC and UNICEF studies have also stressed the ongoing need for mine risk education at community level, in order to ensure that a local capacity in MRE is developed and sustainable.
