SAFE STEPS: An Alliance to Save Lives in Colombia

To date, there are more than 12,000 victims of antipersonnel mines (APM), unexploded ordnance (UXO) and booby traps in Colombia. Many explosive devices continue to be installed in more than 600 municipalities in the country, contaminating the territory; threatening the lives and integrity of thousands of men, women, boys and girls; limiting free mobility and development, given the impossibility of carrying out humanitarian demining work in all the municipalities that have this problem.

Thanks to CLA's approach, especially to external collaboration and continuous improvement and learning, but not only limited to these subcomponents, and thanks to the guidance and technical advice of USAID, the innovation of Discovery Communications, the scope of Computadores para Educar, and the experience of the Barco Foundation, it was possible to generate a powerful Alliance with the creation of several massive, educational, efficient and innovative products, allowing to give greater reach to Mine Risk Education (MRE) so that thousands of people in Colombia can take Safe Steps.

The Safe Steps Alliance is today a reference in Colombia on how to make Mine Risk Education a pedagogical process with national scope and vocation, based on information and communication technologies. We hope that both the process and the result will serve as an inspiration for the more than 50 countries that today continue to be threatened by antipersonnel mines.