The
UN Mine Action policy was submitted to the Secretary-General to the fifty-third
session of the General Assembly as part of his report on assistance in mine
clearance (A/53/496). This policy, which inter alia clarifies the roles and
responsibilities within the United Nations system states that:
UNICEF...is the UN focal point on mine awareness education. In this
capacity, it will provide appropriate guidance for all mine awareness
programmes, liaising closely with concerned partners such as OCHA, WFP, UNHCR,
WHO and UNDP.
UNICEF, in collaboration with WHO, ICRC, and other partners where
appropriate, will ensure comprehensive rehabilitation of landmine victims, which
includes psychosocial counseling, physical rehabilitation (including the
provision of prosthetics and orthotics, and education for those with
disabilities).
UNICEF will continue to be an active advocate for the promotion of a
total ban on antipersonnel Landmines and the ratification of the Ottawa
Convention”.
In its policy and strategy development in
the area of mine action, UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, its mission statement, its Core Corporate Commitments in emergencies, and
its responsibilities as stated in the UN policy Mine Action and Effective
Coordination.
In 2001, UNICEF embarked on a consultative process with
other mine action stakeholders in order to further define its role and to
develop a mine action strategy. This will be completed by the of 2001, and will
complement the UN Inter-agency mine action strategy, emergency preparedness and
response plan, as well as UNICEF’s own work in health, education and child
protection, particularly in emergencies.
UNICEF is currently to varying
degrees undertaking, supporting or planning mine action programmes, mostly mine
awareness education and advocacy, in 28 countries; Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan,
Bosnia- Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Chad, Colombia, Croatia, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Kosovo), Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau,
Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Russian Federation (North
Caucasus), Panama, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Syria (Golan Heights), Sudan, Tajikistan,
Thailand and Uzbekistan. In 2001, UNICEF has for the first time deployed staff
directly to a UN and national mine action programmes, in Eritrea and Ethiopia
respectively.
ADVOCACY
As the premier advocate on behalf of children and
women, the UN Children’s Fund continues to play an active role in
supporting a total ban on anti-personnel mines, including promotion of the
universal ratification and implementation of the Anti-Personnel (AP) Mine Ban
Convention through the extended outreach of its headquarter, regional and field
office staff, and in close collaboration with UN agencies and partners such as
the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
UNICEF has participated in all major
international meetings including the Second Meeting of States Parties to the AP
Mine Ban Convention and its Standing Committees of Experts, the Bamako seminar
on the universalisation and implementation of the AP Mine Ban Convention in
Africa, and has contributed to the UNOPS sponsored Aid & Trade Conference.
Furthermore, UNICEF participated in ICBL Landmine Monitor meetings in Washington
and Kathmandu, contributing to its final report. UNICEF also advocates for the
needs and welfare of those affected/potentially affected by landmines and other
explosive remnants of war in a wide range of humanitarian and development
forums, publications and media releases.
UNICEF has also initiated the
development of an illustrated book on the history and impact of landmines for
educational and advocacy purposes.
MINE AWARENESS
Role and Approach
UNICEF seeks to ensure, but
not necessarily itself implement, mine awareness wherever needs have been
identified. UNICEF is particularly active in the school-based and other child
focused components of community mine-awareness programmes, working in close
collaboration with other UN agencies, government partners, ICRC and
international and local NGOs. Using the advantages of its widespread, long-term
country presence, strong regional and country structures and national
partnerships, UNICEF is focussing on responding quickly and flexibly to the
urgent needs of communities in high-risk areas. This natural progression for
programmatic responses emanated from the fact that thousands of children each
year, were being injured and killed by landmines and is also part of
UNICEF’s efforts to mainstreaming emergency response into its regular
programming.
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In its role as UN Focal Point for Mine Awareness
Education, UNICEF, in collaboration with its partners, developed the
International Guidelines on Landmine and Unexploded Ordnance Awareness
Education, which were launched at the First Meeting of States Parties to the
AP Mine Ban Convention in Maputo, in May 1999. Following the development of the
Guidelines the international community requested UNICEF to operationalise the
Guidelines into a working document for field staff that culminated in the
development of the UNInternational Training Modules for Mine
Awareness Programme Managers and Community Facilitators. Field testing of
the modules was undertaken in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia in April 2000.
Participants included UNICEF, UN Red Cross and NGO staff working in CEE/CIS
countries on mine awareness education. These Modules were introduced at the
Second Meeting of States Parties to the AP Mine Ban Convention in Geneva, in May
2000. The first “training of trainers” workshop utilising these
modules was undertaken by UNICEF in North Caucasus in September 2000 in order to
deal with the urgent mine crisis in that region. The training modules are now
being reviewed as part of the development of the International Standards for
Landmine and UXO Awareness/Risk Reduction Education.
During the
Inter-sessional Meeting of the Standing Committee of Experts (SCE) on Victim
Assistance, Socio-Economic Reintegration and Mine Awareness member States called
upon UNICEF to take the lead in developing Guidelines for the Monitoring and
Evaluation (M&E) of Mine Awareness Programmes and International Standards
for Landmine and UXO Awareness/Risk Reduction Education Programmes. The
Development of the Standards and Guidelines was initiated in 2001. The Standards
will replace the existing UN Guidelines on Landmine Awareness Education and the
Monitoring and Evaluation Guidelines will become Technical Notes to the
Standards.
UNICEF will coordinate the development of a series of simple
step-by-step manuals on different aspects of mine awareness/risk reduction
education, drawing on actual examples from mine awareness agencies and
practitioners. This was a key recommendation from a well-attended international
workshop on mine awareness media and materials, organised and hosted by Radda
Barnen in Yemen, in 2001. As with the Monitoring and Evaluation Guidelines,
these manuals will take the form of supplementary Technical Notes to the
International Standards for Landmine and UXO Awareness/Risk Reduction Education
Programmes.
Coordination
In May 2001, UNICEF organised the first meeting of
the Steering Committee of Mine Action - Mine Awareness Working Group (MAWG).
This group is convened by UNICEF under the umbrella of the UN Mine Action
Service and the Steering Committee of Mine Action. The MAWG is intended to
support the development of mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) awareness
education programmes by identifying mine awareness resource, training and
support needs and developing strategies to meet them. It is comprised of UN mine
action agencies, World Bank, ICRC, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian
Demining (GICHD), ICBL Mine Awareness Working Group and a broad range of NGOs.
The MAWG will also serve as a vehicle for sharing, capturing and disseminating
lessons learnt in this and other relevant sectors, and for enhanced coordination
and cooperation between mine awareness agencies. The Working Group will steer,
and its members will participate in, significant global projects such as the
integration of mine awareness/risk reduction into the International Mine Action
Standards and IMSMA.
In the area of partnerships UNICEF has been involved in
preliminary discussions with the ICRC to develop a cooperation framework to
promote coordinated mine awareness policy.
UNICEF continues to participate
in all the UNMAS-lead Inter-Agency Assessment Missions to mine-affected
countries. Additionally, the agency has also undertaken mine awareness needs
assessments in inter alia Eritrea, Bosnia and Chad, where the needs for
mine awareness are critical, and provided emergency responses in Burundi and
Macedonia. UNICEF has provided technical expertise and assistance towards the
preparation and development of additional mine awareness programmes based on the
above assessments and seeks to integrate all mine-related issues within its
regular programming work.
VICTIM ASSISTANCE
Landmine victim assistance is part of UNICEF’s
work in the broader areas of disability and child protection. The work in victim
assistance is focussed on strengthening partnerships with the aim of providing
effective support to children and others injured by landmines and ensuring
access to services. UNICEF has been involved in the preliminary discussions for
the development of a UN Victim Assistance Policy and is involved in the study,
commissioned by UNMAS and undertaken by GICHD, on the nature and scope of victim
assistance as part of mine action. UNICEF has also taken part in discussions on
the care and protection of children who became landmine victims in a range of
forums, including the Inter-agency Working Group consisting of WHO, ILO, UNESCO
and UNICEF, and has also participated in disseminating to UNICEF regional and
country offices the WHO technical guidelines on responding to child victims. A
database of consultants with experience in community based rehabilitation and
other relevant skills has been developed.
COUNTRY PROGRAMMES
UNICEF is involved in mine action in all continents
affected by landmines. The agency has inter alia undertaken capacity
building of its local counterparts, trained trainers and produced materials
which have been utilised for various mine awareness programmes and continues to
be involved in victim assistance and advocacy. Below are a few examples of
UNICEF’s involvement in mine action at country level.
In 2001, UNICEF
deployed a mine awareness advisor to the UN Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea
(UNMEE) Mine Action Coordination Centre). This was the first time UNICEF
provided a mine awareness advisor to a UN Mine Action Centre. The issue of
landmines and UXO became a major threat when the border regions Gash-Barka and
Debub (these regions consists of areas both within and outside the Temporary
Security Zone) were mined during the conflict with Ethiopia. UNICEF in
collaboration with the Eritrea Demining Agency, the Ministry of Education and
various NGOs, mobilized human and financial resources and within the context of
UN peacekeeping (UNMEE-MACC) initiated landmine awareness education and training
in Gash-Barka and Debub. The campaign developed and tested materials, trained
local administrators in their use and targeted returning refugees from Sudan as
well as communities and schools. By the end of 2000, a total of 35,000 people
including 25,000 school children and 6,000 IDPs had been reached. In 2001, mine
awareness activities have been intensified in the Temporary Security Zone owing
to the increased number of returnees to the region.
Following a mine
awareness feasibility study (is mine/UXO awareness required and can it be
conducted?) in Ethiopia, UNICEF began working in partnership with the local
NGO RaDO to implement a landmine awareness programme in the border region Tigray
region. The fully community-based programme is now in its second year and
operates throughout Tigray using a variety of methods such as children’s
mines clubs, drama, radio and community mine-field mapping. In addition, through
its zonal and district based task forces, RaDO collects data on civilian mine
accidents which is forwarded to the local authorities and the national Ethiopian
Mine Action Office. Given the suspected level of mine contamination in another
border region, Afar, a joint RaDO UNIICEF mission visited the region in May 2001
to discuss with the regional authorities the expansion of the mine awareness
programme.
UNICEF has supported mine awareness education in Angola since
1994 and it remains one of UNICEF’s major mine awareness programmes. A
variety of techniques are used to communicate mine awareness messages through
NGO and provincial theatre/dance groups who shared mine awareness messages via
culturally appropriate techniques, including plays, puppet shows, posters,
traditional songs and dance. In 2000, over 2,600 sessions were carried out in
the most affected provinces and reached 300,000 Angolans. Mine
awareness-training seminars were held for 853 teachers who then incorporated
mine awareness messages into daily lessons helping to raise awareness of the
danger of mines for over 38,385 schoolchildren. Mine awareness messages were
also communicated through the UNICEF Teacher Emergency Package program which
distributes educational materials to teachers working in non-formal (e.g. IDP
centers) education settings.
In Cambodia, UNICEF continued its comprehensive
approach to Cambodia’s landmine and UXO problem consisting of mine action
and assistance to mine victims and other people with disabilities. The mine Risk
Education Project equipped teachers to provide risk education within the
classroom. Out-of-school children were targeted through a child-to-child
approach. A total of 2,520 teachers were trained in mine risk education,
reaching over 55,000 children in heavily affected areas. Community mine marking
teams have marked high priority areas cleared in support of community needs
(paths between villages, construction of schools and health posts). These teams
have also marked areas still suspected. In victim assistance, UNICEF continued
to support activities for both physical rehabilitation and socio-economic
reintegration. Over 3,000 assistive devices were produced and fitted, mostly on
women and children. Over 2,500 persons with disabilities received counselling
and/or were supported for socio-economic reintegration.
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