OSCE Project Co-ordinator, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service produce videos to raise awareness about dangers of explosive items

KYIV, 15 August 2014 – The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the country’s State Emergency Service (SES) today released two public service audiovisual announcements aimed at informing people and especially children of safety rules in case they encounter potentially dangerous explosive items.

These audiovisual materials can be used by broadcasters and other media outlets free of charge. The National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting, the country’s regulatory authority for audiovisual media, has recognized their status as social advertisements.

The first video targets the general audience. It provides step-by-step instructions in situations when unexploded ordnance – a bomb, mine, shell, or other potentially deadly item is found.

The second product is an animated cartoon for children. It also provides a more detailed explanation in an easy-to-learn form of how dangerous explosive objects can be.

The audiovisual materials are based on those developed by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine in 2012 to help experts of the State Emergency Service conduct safety lessons in schools to enhance children’s awareness of the dangers associated with explosive remnants of past wars and military exercises. The current hostilities in the eastern regions of the country have made awareness-raising efforts more urgent than ever.

“Explosive ordnance presents a threat to people in eastern Ukraine, and complicate the social and economic recovery of these regions,” said Serhiy Bochkovsky, the Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. “The emergency personnel have a lot of work ahead to clear the areas from these dangerous items.”

Rene Bebeau, Senior Project Officer of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine said: “We hope the media will make good use of these materials, which can really save lives - not only in the areas, where hostilities took place - but all over Ukraine. This information can be particularly important for anyone who is going to be in the conflict-affected regions - either internally displaced persons returning home, or those travelling to the regions for other reasons. Also, the remnants of past wars are still a problem for the country, and people can encounter them in many other regions of Ukraine too.”

The broadcast version of the first video can be downloaded at www.dropbox.com/s/6tqoszr2xmiz5lj/Mines.mp4 , and the web version can be downloaded at www.dropbox.com/s/z8fz2ktrd2f0nm7/mns%20720x405%2003.08.14.mp4

The broadcast version of the second video can be downloaded at www.dropbox.com/s/gh83ua5gf8l99ch/mns%20hd%2003.08.14.mov, and the web version can be downloaded at www.dropbox.com/s/wra85b4hfpdmagn/mns%20720x576%20low%2003.08.14.avi