Widespread distribution of mine risk prevention messages

Following an evaluation of the risks posed by mines and unexploded remnants of war in the area, Handicap International has been leading an emergency risk education mission dedicated to these weapons targeted at the populations under threat since early April. The association is now expanding its teams in the field and the area covered by its mission.

Handicap International raises the awareness of local people, and children in particular, to the risks posed by mines and unexploded remnants of war. In Benghazi, the association’s teams perform face-to-face sessions to teach them the correct actions to take when they come across unexploded ordnance or unidentified objects (avoiding approaching or touching them, marking the danger zone and alerting Handicap International’s teams in the field and the local authorities). The NGO has intervened in a total of 23 camps for displaced persons in Benghazi and provided more than 2,000 people (mostly children) with risk education.

These actions have been extended to include private companies, local authorities and other associations.

Since 23 June, Handicap International has also stepped up its risk education activities in Ajdabiya after noting that displaced persons (from Brega, Ras Lanuf and the camps in Benghazi) had returned to the city in very large numbers. A team of 25 people organised several risk education session for children and their parents, reaching out to some 3,000 beneficiaries.
Scouts trained by the association are also distributing risk education resources in Misrata, an area particularly badly affected by the conflict.

Over 30,000 leaflets and some 2,500 posters have been distributed in Benghazi, Ajdabiya, Misrata, Brega and on the Tunisian frontier by Handicap International and the teams of scouts working alongside the association.

Handicap International also uses mass distribution media to raise the awareness of the largest possible number of people, including prevention messages broadcasted daily on six Libyan radio stations. Mosques in Benghazi, Ajdabiya, and Misrata also pass on the association’s prevention messages during Friday prayers. These messages are displayed on some twenty roadside billboards, which are particularly visible in these three towns.

Handicap International is now working with Unicef on producing new tools and raising the awareness of children.