Minimising the risk of accidents
What is MRE?
MRE a set of activities designed to minimise the risk of mine accidents; it aims to change people's risk behaviours in contaminated environments.
Handicap International delivers education and awareness programme targeted at communities in post-conflict situations, such as in Afghanistan. Handicap International generates support from local communities , encouraging their active participation to ensure the approach is sustainable, localised and effective.
Handicap International also delivers emergency risk education activities, as in Pakistan, where we use media such as radio stations to help us get safety messages across to as many people as possible in the affected region. Handicap International generally intervenes just after a conflict or natural disaster, at which time populations are mobile to a much greater degree. The risks linked to the presence of unexploded ordnances/mines are therefore greater at that moment and highly visible and accessible prevention actions are essential.
Do you work with local partners?
Yes, one of Handicap International's strongest niches is building the capacity of local partners in the field of education and community-based awareness, such as in Algeria. This collaboration involves utilising the cultural approaches, experiences, and local networks of partners, while providing them with training, and ongoing technical support an advice to deliver risk education
Handicap International links its mines action activities with wider development activities. In Bosnia-Herzogovina, ethnic communities who were particularly disadvantaged by displacement at the time of conflict and currently face socio economic exclusion through contamination of their land resources, now collaborate in a project that links demining activities with the socio economic support
Handicap International provides community liaison support to demining activities, and currently forms part of our clearance operations in Senegal and Mozambique. Community liaison activities provide the link between affected communities and demining operations; (e.g. preliminary enquiries, prioritisation of tasks, development planning,) and returning their land to them after it has been cleared of mines.
Lastly, Handicap International established a school based MRE programme, as in Bosnia Herzegovina, which aims to incorporate MRE into the school curriculum and to raise the awareness of children through their teachers, to ensure they adopt a responsible attitude to certain risk situations from an early age. The system is managed and monitored directly by the school authorities themselves.
What are the key MRE challenges?
MRE aims to protect people by bringing about a change in risk behaviours in dangerous situations, leading to a reduction in mine-related accidents. Information is relatively easy to convey as opposed to changing harmful behaviours. More generally, it is essential the MRE messages are adapted to the context of the country in question, to its culture, to the populations concerned and the results that Handicap International expects. The approach and methodology for each country (and sometimes the different regions within one country) and each issue therefore needs to be tailored in a specific way.
What are the main media you use to communication with people?
The chosen media depends on the social groups concerned and the type of approach Handicap International want to take. Handicap International often use leaflets, brochures, posters and calendars to help us get the mine risk messages across in a straightforward and lasting way. Teaching aids can include printed flip chart materials, large plastic boards containing depiction of unexploded ordnances and mines, and photographic materials. For children (and for teachers), Handicap International offer books, games, notebooks, image boxes, films, cartoons and comic strips, to make the awareness message more fun. We also have T-shirts, bags, caps, badges and stickers. When it comes to reaching out quickly to people on a large scale, Handicap International will utilise mass media such as radio or television to broadcast protection messages.
What's the outlook for MRE activities in the future?
At an international level, the International Mine Action Standards for MRE are going to be updated in 2009; Handicap International is involved in the review of the MRE International Mine Action Standards. After ten years of experience in the field, Handicap International would like to see an increase in the number of MRE impact assessments in the field, which will enable us to measure the effectiveness of our actions. Handicap International also want to establish more community links in order to involve people in a variety of mine action activities within their communities, and to link up with broader provisional or national development goals.
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