By Houda Mzioudet.
Tripoli, 5 December 2013:
A nationwide mine risk awareness campaign has been launched to ensure children and young people do . . .[restrict]not forget the dangers posed by explosive remnants of war.
Since the United Nations children’s fund UNICEF started a campaign in 2012, they have delivered awareness messages about risks of mines to 650,000 people, most of them children. Initially focussing on high risk areas including Misrata and the east of the country, the campaign is now set to go nationwide.
Libyan children and young people now have a better knowledge of the risks of mines and unexploded devices as a result of Mine Risk Education (MRE), UNICEF Libya director, Carel De Rooy, told the Libya Herald. Messages have been disseminated via primary education textbooks, extensive training of educators and a public MRE campaign.
In a project led by the Ministry of Education, the EU and UNICEF have now delivered training to over 240 teachers and members of local NGOs. These programmes included distributing materials to help raise awareness and keep Libyan children safe.
UNICEF’s Mine Risk Education (MRE) programme has now been fully taken over by the Ministry of Education and has become a nationwide campaign. This project, De Rooy said, was being generously funded by the EU, which had pledged € 2.4 million to improve education in Libya’s schools. [/restrict]
