The South Sudan progamme of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) launched an outreach and advocacy campaign in London on July 28. Focusing on one young boy named Gatwech, who was seven-years-old when the bus he was travelling in hit a landmine, the campaign aims to raise awareness about the impact of landmines and the important support given by the European Union Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) to clear the roads in South Sudan and allow civilians to travel safely.
“The presence of a single landmine freezes development activities, stunts the deployment of peacekeepers and prevents or delays delivery of essential humanitarian relief. The results of UNMAS interventions are immediate and long lasting...." Under-Secretary-General UN Peacekeeping Hervé Ladsous says in his Foreword to the UNMAS Annual Report 2013. For a digital copy please see: http://bit.ly/1tHmUcZ
ECHO has partnered with the United Nations in South Sudan to clear the roadways of hazardous items to ensure humanitarian access. The European Union and United Nations project addresses risk education and support for the coordination of mine action operations throughout the country. Due to renewed conflict in December last year, the project was suspended, but started again on March 1 and re-focused on operations to respond to the ongoing crisis. ECHO has been a leading donor for mine action work in South Sudan which has included the clearance of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and mines in different parts of the country. For the road clearance project ECHO provided UNMAS with €1.5 million that was used between July 2013 – June 2014.
Some facts and figures of the work ECHO funded:
Km of routes opened in South Sudan: 760
At risk persons trained to recognize suspected dangerous areas and items as a result of receiving mine and ERW risk education: 20,000
The London campaign, which includes ten billboard posters will reach a broad audience. Due to the nature of the campaign, public bus stops will be the venue where billboards will be installed.
The European Union was the largest donor to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action in 2012 and remains an important partner. The vision of the United Nations is a world free from the threat of mines and explosive remnants of war.
UNMAS is the lead United Nations entity on explosive hazards. It currently supports programmes in the Abyei area (Sudan/South Sudan), Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, State of Palestine, Somalia, South Sudan, Darfur Sudan, Syria and Terriroty of Western Sahara (MINURSO).