Jordan Times
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Youth volunteers begin training on landmine-related issues
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — While leaving the technical dangers of clearing landmines to army specialists, Jordanian Red Crescent Society (JRCS) youth volunteers are taking their own steps to help reduce the potential threat of mines by learning more about them.Teaming up at a 3-day workshop, 35 JRCS youth branch volunteers from eight governorates on Tuesday began their training on landmine-related issues they plan to disseminate to communities across Tafileh, Ajloun, Aqaba, Karak, Madaba, Mafraq, Balqa and Irbid.
With limited knowledge about landmines, JRCS volunteer Subhi Ajjeh said enhancing citizens' knowledge about mines and how to deal with their threat was a crucial national effort.
“This is a valuable programme informing us about various aspects of landmines, how to avoid them and deal with a situation if we came across one,” said Ajjeh.
“The training and graphics help us acquire a comprehensive knowledge base about landmine-related issues that we could relay accurately to others in our community,” said Ajjeh.
The workshop, an extensive effort to reach school and university students across the Kingdom, falls under the 2003-2007 programme of cooperation between the JRCS and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
As signatory to the Ottowa Landmine Ban Treaty since 1998, Jordan has since been committed to rid its soil from an estimated 309,927 landmines planted along its borders since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
The Royal Corps of Engineers, responsible for clearing landmines, has — between 1993 and the end of April 2003 — cleared and destroyed a total of 97,798 mines in the Jordan Valley and Aqaba regions through extensive demining operations,
Although all minefields have been fenced and marked with warning signs, the threat of thousands others left behind means their threat remains a reality.
According to the 2003 Landmine Monitor Report, the government reported 525 mine casualties in Jordan since 1967 — 225 of them were fatal.
A 2002 US State Department publication, however, cites the Jordan Armed Forces Medical Services as reporting 636 mine casualties since 1967, 92 of which died.
JRCS youth branch volunteer Basma Hasan told The Jordan Times the wealth of information being disseminated at the workshop was an essential tool to guide communities towards safer dealings with mines and rendering fatal accidents less possible.
“This is the second landmine awareness workshop that I've attended and there's always something new to learn and reinforce our knowledge of the issue,” said Hasan.
“I believe that there is a reasonable level of awareness about landmines in Jordan, however awareness on dealing with a potential situation requires greater effort. Our part in this will be to take the knowledge and disseminate it to various target groups,” she said.
Outreach to communities about landmines has taken other forms in Jordan with a joint partnership between the JRCS and the Ministry of Education to enhance student knowledge about landmines. A drawing competition year on landmines is currently under way among 7th, 8th and 9th grade students for the 2003/2004 scholastic.
According to the UN, “Portfolio of Mine Action Projects 2004,” around $288 million will be needed to remove mines, raise awareness among communities about their threat and assist mine victims around the globe.