In 2000, the Cambodian armed forces destroyed a reported
80 per cent of the anti-personnel landmine stockpile
with the help of other organizations and have been continuing
with that work since then.
In continued recognition of these activities, National
Land Mine Awareness Day is celebrated around the country
on the 24th February each year, and is an opportunity
to create awareness both locally and internationally
of the Campaign to Ban Landmines and promote the importance
of Mine Risk Education (MRE) activities in reducing
the number of incidents in mine-contaminated areas.
CRC recently celebrated Land Mine Awareness day with
a Round Table Talk Show and a number of celebrations
in various high risk provincial locations.
| Round
Table - Zero Victims |
|
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Organised by Cambodian Mine Action Authority
(CMAA), a televised discussion on the topic
of ‘Zero Victims’ was broadcast
on a local television chanel, TVK, two days
prior to the event.
|
Representatives from a number of stakeholders working
in the field including CMAC (Cambodian Mine Action Center),
Ministry of Youth and Sport (MOYS), Halo Trust, Mine
Advisory Group (MAG) and CRC’s Land Mine Awareness
Program (LMA) came together to discuss their various
different program activities and preventative measures
that people can take against Land Mines.
| Local
Branch Celebrations |
|
On the 24th of February, Red Cross Youth and Red Cross
Volunteers from the CRC Land Mine Awareness Program,
came together with the local authorities and other stakeholder
organizations including: CMAC, MAG, Halo Trust, the
Sport and Youth Education Department and local people
to celebrate Land Mine Awareness Day in the Provinces
of: Veal Veng District of Pursat Province, Samlot District
of Battambang Province, Pailin City, Malay District
of Bantamenchy Province, Samrong District of Odor Meanchy
Province and Choam Ksan District of Preah Vihear Province.
Facilitated by CRC’s National Headquaters and
supported by the Finish Red Cross, Red Cross Provincial
Branches organized meetings with all the stakeholders
to discuss with the general public about Land Mine Awareness
activities and preventative precautions to take. The
Red Cross branches also held visual dissemination LMA
campaigns, involving Red Cross Volunteers (RCV) and
Red Cross Youth (RCY) walking through the community
distributing LMA posters and leaflets. In addition,
banners were put up around the community and along the
road with Land Mine Awareness messages such as: ‘Together
we can free Cambodia from Land mines’, ‘Our
children desire a Land Mine free future’ and ‘LMA
projects assist and educate people so that they can
enjoy the land free of landmines and UXO’s’.
| 2004
Gold Medal for Humanitarian Activities in Mine
Action |
|
The Cambodian Red Cross has been assisting in the mitigation
of the Land Mine problem working together with the Government
and other Organizations to provide Land Mine Awareness
to the community and Mine casualty data to the local
and international community.
 |
On 18th February 2004, the Cambodian Red Cross
had the opportunity to attended National Conference
on Mine Action Achievements at the Council of
Ministers in Phnom Penh.
Presided over by Samdach Hunsen, Prime Minister
of the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Cambodian
Red Cross was the first to present their activities
at the Conference and received a gold medal
from the Government for their humanitarian activities
in Mine Action.
|
Since 2000, the Cambodian Red Cross has carried out
the Land Mine Community Based Landmine Awareness Project
with financial support from the Finnish Red Cross/Finnish
Government until the end of 2004. Working in 6 high
risk provinces along the Thai/ Cambodia boarder, the
fundamental purpose of programme is to assist high-risk
community groups in learning how to deal with daily
life in mine-affected areas and developing safe behaviors
towards the threat of anti-personnel landmines and UXOs.
Since 1994, Cambodia Mine/UXO Victim Information System
(CMVIS) has contributed to the protection of mine affected
communities and provided support to mine victims through
maintaining a system for the collection, storage and
dissemination of information relating to mine/UXO casualties
in Cambodia. Through the partnership of Handicap International-Belgium
and Cambodian Red Cross, the CMVIS maintains a national
data gathering network and proven system for the storage
and dissemination of the information collected.
CHALLENGES
Despite successful implementation, the Community Based
Landmine Awareness Projects funding from the Ministry
of Finland through the Finnish Red Cross (2000-2004)
is due to end in May 2004. The Cambodian Red Cross is
seeking further funding to continue landmine awareness
training for thousands of vulnerable people and emergency
assistance for victims.
