Children are always one of the most vulnerable to landmine / UXO incidents. In order to lessen the effect of the war while raising awareness to prevent landmine / UXO accidents for children, recently, on May 25, 2020, within the framework of the Korea-Vietnam Mine Action Project (KV-MAP), at Van Trach Primary School, Bo Trach, Quang Binh, Korea International Cooperation Agency in Vietnam (KOICA), United Nations Development Program in Vietnam (UNDP) The Vietnam National Mine Action Center (VNMAC), representatives of the Department of Social Protection, MOLISA, officers from Quang Binh province and the site command board organized a propaganda program to prevent bombs and mines accidents for the pupils.
Sharing about the program, Mr. Nguyen Minh Chau, principal of Van Trach Primary School, Bo Trach, Quang Binh, said that the program has been implemented at the school since last year. Before that, the school did basic propaganda, but did not coordinate with current organizations. Through the program, the students and teachers in the school have more understanding about the importance of preventing bombs and mines, avoiding accidents and tragic incidents.

Previously, at the end of 2018, within the framework of the Korea-Vietnam Mine Action Project (KVMAP). And UNDP collaborated with the Red Cross to pilot a number of Inclusive GDP dynamism at schools, specifically 5 primary schools in Phu Cat and Tuy Phuoc districts of Binh Dinh province.

Before implementing propaganda and education activities, the project organized a day training class, from December 1-13, 2018 in Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh for 23 experts in charge of education departments. Pilot district, principal, vice principal and teacher in charge of fine arts or teams of 5 primary schools were selected for the pilot.

The training course provided general knowledge and skills needed to carry out mine / UXO risk education communication, including introduction to mines, explosive materials, and the causes of accidents, group communication skills and communication planning. After the training, the trainees developed and shared the media plan for the school by themselves and received feedback from other students and instructors.

Representative of the district education department of Tuy Phoc district, Mr. Mai Thanh Tuyen shared, this is the first time he has participated in a training activity on MRE and he finds that this activity is very useful, as it helped him to easily convey the message. He hopes that after the pilot phase, the activities will be replicated, and more students will benefit from these activities, from which they can act safely when seeing explosives and UXO.

With the knowledge and skills after the training, the teachers quickly deployed to prepare the mine / UXO risk propaganda activities at their schools in the week of the establishment of the Vietnam People's Army.

1700 students from 5 primary schools in Phu Cat and Tuy Phuoc district, Binh Dinh province enthusiastically participated in these activities. These activities become more meaningful when students become the main actors of this propaganda activity with the support of teachers. Under different roles either as spectators or as behavior change advocates, students are placed in a central position. As the community is safer, this activity should be replicated to other schools in the project area. The main message that the students' plays sent to the audience was "Landmines, dangerous explosives, should be kept away and reported to adults". The lesson will then be brought back by students at the schools to share with their families.

Source: KVMAP

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