A EUFOR Mine Risk Education (MRE) helped a 6-year old boy and his sister to recognize an item in their home’s backyard as a dangerous Remnance of War (ERW).
When shown an ERW demo panel to pupils in Donje Vodichevo, two siblings, aged 6 and 7, identified an item in the backyard of their family home.
Chilean LOT members with Mrs. Zgonjanin and her children. Photos: Chilean LOT Banja Luka
The members of the Chilean Liaison Observation Team (LOT) in Banja Luka contacted the police and the Civil Protection Agency (CPA) to pursue the information given by the children. In fact an unexploded rocket was found in a tree next to the family’s house in Velika Zuljevica, a small village in the Novi Grad municipality where previously no ERW had been reported.
Local police cordoned off the place and specialists safely removed the rocket, which had been there for years already, like Nikola (6) and Nikolina’s (7) grandfather told the police. The family had not been aware of the ERW. Hence the EUFOR Team conducted an individual MRE for this family.
The 17 EUFOR Liaison Observation Teams (LOTs) who are dislocated throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina conduct Mine Risk Education (MRE) training for pupils and at-risk groups such as forestry workers, hunting clubs, etc. In 2016 alone, more than 20,600 persons were trained under the framework of MRE in order to raise awareness and increase safety. MRE forms one of EUFOR’s key efforts in support of all BiH demining activities.
