Dong Ha, Quang Tri (August 18, 2023) – The management team of Project RENEW on Thursday afternoon awarded completion certificates to eleven staff members from NPA Vietnam Programs in Kon Tum, Quang Binh, Thua Thien Hue, and Ha Noi following the completion of an Explosive Ordnance Risk Education Train-the-Trainer course.
Requested by NPA Vietnam and funded by Friends of Project RENEW, from 14 to 17 August 2023, Project RENEW’s Explosive Ordnance Risk Education management team conducted a four-day Train-the-Trainer course for NPA Program officers. Friends of Project RENEW is a Virginia-based 501(c)(3) charitable organization that works closely with Project RENEW to advance its work in Vietnam.
The aim of the Explosive Ordnance Risk Education Train-The-Trainer course was to enable the course participants to provide training and share knowledge on risk education for associated partners and stakeholders in their operational provinces.
Consisting of in-class presentations, group work, rehearsals, fields visits, and in-depth discussion, the Train-the-Trainer course provided NPA Vietnam participants the basic understanding of explosive ordnance risk education, including knowledge, skills, steps, procedures, challenges, and best practices on how to conduct risk education in order to prevent explosive ordnance -related accidents in the community.
Representatives from PeaceTrees Vietnam, Mines Advisory Group, and Quang Tri Mine Action Center also shared their experiences and best practices in the implementation of risk education with the NPA Vietnam participants.
RENEW Coordination Manager Nguyen Hieu Trung opens the EORE course. 
RENEW Coordination Manager Nguyen Hieu Trung opens the EORE course. 
EORE Program Assistant Hoang Thi Hue and EORE team member Ho Van Lai facilitate a warm-up exercise for the course participants. 
RENEW EORE Instructor Nguyen Thanh Phu facilitates the course. 
Course participants rehearse an EORE incorporated game inside the Mine Action Visitor Center. 
PTVN EORE coordinator Le Phuong Uyen shares its risk education best practices. 
Rehearsing the Getting through the mine field of obstacles game. 
Rehearsing the use of EORE visual aids. 
QTMAC Ops Manager Tran Van Hai shares its mine action coordination roles, focusing on EORE standardization. 
MAG EORE coordinator Mai Chi shares its risk education best practices. 
Field trip to an EORE mural artwork supported by Project RENEW. 
Field trip to a community-based football game with incorporated EO safety messages. Course participants receive their completion certificates awarded by Project RENEW.
On behalf of the training participants, NPA Vietnam Kon Tum Provincial Program Manager Hoang Thi Hoa expressed her appreciation to Project RENEW for organizing this explosive ordnance risk education course. “As NPA Vietnam just started working in Kon Tum with initial interventions to improve local people’s awareness of unexploded ordnance risks, this course was organized at an absolutely right time,” said Hoa. “Practical lessons from risk education practitioners including Project RENEW, PeaceTrees Vietnam, and Mines Advisory Group are valuable for our work in the central highlands province where unexploded ordnance still endangers people’s safety.”
To conclude the course, Project RENEW Coordination Manager Nguyen Hieu Trung reiterated the importance of initial intervention to prevent accidents and injuries caused by unexploded ordnance by reinforcing the community’s awareness. “From Project RENEW’s experience, introduction of risk education will open the door to explosive ordnance disposal, survey, and clearance activities,” said Trung. “Those who have been victimized by explosive ordnance will also be identified during the process for necessary assistance to improve their living conditions.”
Project RENEW thanks the Friends of Project RENEW for funding this important Train-the-Trainer course on explosive ordnance risk education.
