ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center Regional Workshop 2018

Session 6. Best Practices in Mine Risk Education

General Information

Background

Effective Mine Risk Education (MRE) involves communication among and between different individuals, communities and audiences. Not only must these groups be made aware of the dangers posed by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), but they must also be educated on mine safe behaviours and risk avoidance. Victim demographics indicate that a large proportion of mine/ERW casualties are male children and male adults who made up 84 per cent of all victims in 2016, children alone represented 42 per cent of all victims. Beyond sex and age, vocation also plays a large role in risk, with those working in agriculture facing an increased danger. As such, tailoring communication styles to fit these different groups is an essential element in delivering effective MRE.

In mine/ERW affected ASEAN Member States (AMS), MRE has been an ongoing process and has led to a significant reduction in mine/ERW casualties. Demining operators have integrated MRE in their operation by providing MRE sessions/messages to the affected communities before, during and after the clearance. In some countries, MRE has been mainstreamed in school curriculum targeting the students and their communities (messages is further disseminated by the students to their families and communities). MRE has also been provided by other NGOs and international organizations to people living in high risk areas. Other practices like delivering MRE message through mass media have been adopted in some countries.

Successes of these practices can be shared among the AMS to enhance the MRE in the region. This session will give a platform for the panellists to showcase these successes. The panellists will also be given opportunities to discuss the challenges faced in implementing MRE and the need to overcome these challenges.

Objectives

This session aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. Share best practices in implementing the MRE
2. Discuss the challenges faced in implementing the MRE
3. Explore what can be done individually (organisation or country of the panellist) and collectively (ASEAN) to address these challenges.

Format of the Session

The Co-Chairs are assigned to lead the panel discussion, and each speaker is given seven to ten minutes of presentation time. Each panellist can talk about the context of one country (respective country of panellist from AMS) or many countries in ASEAN. The presentation may be in PowerPoint, pdf, or other relevant formats.