DONOR: Office of International Cooperation of the Principality of Monaco
DURATION: January 2011 – December 2011
LOCATION: Bosnia and Herzegovina: Doboj, Foča, Prijedor, Travnik, Novi Travnik
OVERALL GOAL: To raise awareness among children in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the danger of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO).
SPECIFIC GOALS WERE TO:
1. Equip children with peer-education skills and MRE knowledge that will allow them to facilitate transfer of MRE awareness and knowledge to their peers.
2. Equip schoolteachers with the knowledge and skills that will allow them to conduct good quality, full impact, independent and self-sustainable Mine Risk Education in primary schools. 3. Equip children with the knowledge and skills that will allow them to adopt safer behavior towards mines and UXO’s.
Genesis Project worked simultaneously at several levels and targeted various groups: peer-educators, pupils and schoolteachers. The project activities aimed to support long-term “school based” fight against mines and UXO’s. The project facilitated dialogue between schoolteachers and pupils and showed that pupils can also be teachers. Through schools and schoolteachers, the project aimed to target whole communities by creating MRE Teachers Groups that will initiate activities between affected communities and schools.
Genesis Project general approach/strategy was:
to equip children with the knowledge and skills that will allow them to adopt safer behaviour towards mines and UXO’s;
to equip children with peer-education skills that will allow them to facilitate transfer of MRE awareness and knowledge to their peers;
to initiate and create MRE Teachers Groups in each targeted primary schools, that will in the long-term ensure MRE capacities at school level and work on community level;
to equip schoolteachers with the knowledge and skills that will allow them to conduct good quality, full impact, independent and self-sustainable MRE education in primary schools;
to develop consciousness and raise awareness (among school authorities, teachers, principals, pedagogues, among parents) about the importance of constant mine risk education and to encourage them to get involved in MRE activities;
to move Genesis Project from its role of “external” and only Mine Risk Educator towards a role of initiator, mediator and creator of activities that will be further implemented by members of local communities.
Project was implemented in full accordance with the project plan and all planned project outcomes have been successfully reached.