Progress Made on Darfur’s Remnants of War

Through Darfur-wide education efforts to highlight the dangers of unexploded ordnance, UNAMID has reached millions of people. But much more work remains to be done.

By Max Dyck

As a result of the ongoing conflict in Darfur, explosive remnants of war (ERW) continue to affect the people here, with 14 accidents recorded so far this year and 142 since the start of the Mission in early 2008. These incidents have resulted in 81 people being killed and 214 injured.

To address this issue, UNAMID’s Ordnance Disposal Office (ODO) works closely with other Mission components, the United Nations Children’s Fund, national nongovernmental organisations and relevant national stakeholders, such as the National Mine Action Centre and the Ministries of Education, Social affairs, Health, Religion, Youth and Sports. The purpose of this cooperation is to implement ERW risk-education activities. Through the efforts of ODO and our partners, we have managed to reach nearly 800,000 people directly with important messages about ERW, with an estimated 2.25 million others receiving indirect messaging.

This work has not been undertaken without strategic thinking. In 2011, ODO conducted a landmark survey to identify the attitudes that lead to risk-taking behaviour and the practices and beliefs in Darfur about ERW, including what level of knowledge there is about the dangers and risks posed by ERW. The findings of the recently completed survey, officially called the “Knowledge, Attitude, Belief and Practice (KABP) Survey,” have allowed ODO and our partners in Darfur to fine-tune our methods and activities in the interest of achieving the kind of lasting behavioural change that will result in a decrease in the number of ERW accidents.

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