The cooperation of the NGO Ukrainian Deminers Association with the international NGO Mines Advisory Group (MAG) began in May 2022 with the signing of a memorandum of cooperation.
In June 2022, we started the implementation of the first joint project “EORE potential development in Ukraine”. Since then, a total of four projects have been launched. Two of which were successfully completed in August 2022 and September 2023, and two more new projects were launched in August and October 2023 aimed at Explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) and the development of humanitarian demining capacity in Ukraine.
Results of project implementation in partnership with MAG
A number of “Training for Trainers” (ToT) and other EORE trainings were held in joint activities. Training of this kind is important because Mine and Explosive Ordnance Risk Education is an integral part of Mine Action and requires certification.
ToT training participants completed the training program, successfully passed tests and received certificates.
EORE session
From mid-July 2022, certified instructors divided on 7 groups started conducting EORE sessions. The sessions were held in communities of Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Poltava, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Chernihiv regions of Ukraine.
The target audience of the population was very diverse: children, parents, employees and management staff of educational institutions and families who suffered from the full-scale aggression of the russian federation, forcibly displaced people from the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv regions.
Interesting quests were held with children for better assimilation of the material and interactive EORE sessions with adults. The ultimate goal of the classes is to change the behavior of children and adults for the safe and preserve the life and health of our fellow citizens.
Even the air alarms and lack of electricity could not prevent our instructors from raising the awareness of students, teachers and parents about the risks of mines and explosive ordnance and the rules of safe behavior. Sessions were conducted in specially equipped shelters.
As a result of 2 projects, 518 EORE sessions were held and 19,290 beneficiaries were reached. They received new information and knowledge about the risks of mines and explosive ordnance (offline and online), which eventually should lead to a change in their attitude and safe behavior.
Development of the national Mine Action operator potential
The partnership with MAG Ukraine is aimed not only at the implementation of Mine Action (MA) tasks, which is obviously the top priority, but also at developing the potential of the national MA operator. Thus, within the framework of joint projects with MAG, 10 sappers (deminers) were trained in accordance with the MA operator training program. Today these sappers are already helping to solve the tasks of the state in the mine action field.
The Ukrainian Deminers Association actively and comprehensively helps the Makariv community of the Kyiv region: it carries out humanitarian demining of territories, provides financial assistance to vulnerable categories of the population and conducts EORE sessions. It should be noted that on August 15, 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the UDA and the Makarivska community.
Murals
In addition, as a result of the cooperation of the UDA and the Mines Advisory Group, there were 4 murals that decorated buildings in different parts of Ukraine.
The first mural was created in September 2022 in Makariv, Kyiv region. The second – in Krasnograd, Kharkiv region, the third – in Narodychy, Zhytomyr region, and the fourth – in the Kyiv city at the address of st. Akademika Zabolotny, 20A.
An important component of the murals is the QR code placed on all the murals – which leads to the informative EORE page, after reading which, the public will gain knowledge about safe behavior in relation to mines and explosive ordnance.
Further cooperation
Our cooperation with MAG will continue until the end of March 2025. In new projects, we will continue to implement:
1. Non-technical survey of territories in Mykolaiv region;
2. EORE training of the population in the Mykolaiv, Kherson, Odesa, Kirovohrad and Cherkasy regions;
3. Creation of new EORE murals.
As of November 6, 2023, within the framework of new projects, four groups of trainers have already conducted 105 offline and 15 online EORE sessions. The total number of beneficiaries covered at the sessions is 2953, in Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.
We continue to work for the victory and safety of our citizens!
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