Tunis, Tunisia: The United Nations Mine Actions Service (UNMAS) and Arms and Ammunition Advisory Section (AAAS) of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) have celebrated an Awards and Graduation Ceremony for the successful 19 Libyan participants, who completed the four-week Capacity Enhancement Training on Risk Education and Victim Assistance, and Operations and Quality Assurance. Ambassadors, representatives of embassies as well as UNSMIL divisions and the Humanitarian Mine Action partners in Libya attended the ceremony that was held on 11 June 2015. UNMAS expresses its gratitude to everyone who attended and supported this event.

The four-week training courses were designed and implemented to enhance the capacity of Libyans involved in humanitarian mine action and emergency response to the dangers posed by mines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) as a result of the ongoing armed conflict. The training was made possible by a generous contribution from the Government of Japan.

The programme encompasses a variety of topics such as technical terminology and concepts, accreditation processes, mapping, task prioritization, quality assurance and control of manual and mechanical mine and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) clearance in accordance with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), data collection, reporting and management and other related subject matters.

During the ceremony, Mr. Lance Malin, Programme Manager, UNMAS/AAAS, thanked the participants for undertaking this lengthy commitment, and applauded them for dedicating themselves fully to the study and successful completion of this course, underscoring their enthusiasm and commitment to their fellow Libyans.

A participant and graduate of the course, Mr. Khaled Salem, thanked the Government of Japan for the generous contribution towards this training and showed a short video on the impact of ERW since the resumption of hostilities in 2014.

In a brief speech, Col. Mohamed Turjman, Director of the Libyan Mine Action Centre, expressed his gratitude to the members of the international community and implementing partners that attended the ceremony, highlighting the need for further capacity enhancement projects to continue in this field.

Mr. Hidetoshi Kawahara, Second Secretary & Political Attaché at the Embassy of Japan, was present on behalf of Japanese Charge d’Affaires Mr. Tsuneki Matsuda. He wholeheartedly congratulated the graduates on the successful of completion of the training. The Japanese diplomat emphasized that implementing the principles learned during these courses would greatly assist the Libyan people and equip them with life-saving knowledge.

UNMAS intends to hold an additional Capacity Enhancement Course on Risk Education and Victim Assistance after Ramadan.