Irish soccer team manager Mick McCarthy returns to Dublin today after a visit to Bosnia which highlighted the dangers of landmines for children.
It is estimated that there are about one million unexploded landmines in Sarajevo alone.
Mr McCarthy travelled to Bosnia on Monday and met children who were injured when mines exploded.
Many of the mines are brightly coloured and designed to attract children, Ms Maura Quinn, UNICEF Ireland director, said. "The idea was to cause maximum devastation to the next generation."
Boys accounted for 90 per cent of mine victims, as most of the mines were in fields and areas where they played football.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio yesterday, Mr McCarthy said it was "desperately sad" that schoolchildren should have to be taught about the dangers of landmines.
"I was in a school yesterday, and they were doing role-play about finding a mine, not touching it and going and fetching police," he said.
"They're littered all over the place still, out in the countryside, and, of course, kids go and play football, or they go out walking, go out on bikes and they can encounter these things and they just do huge damage."
The children he met were "lovely, lovely children just trying to lead ordinary lives in very difficult circumstances," Mr McCarthy said.
Ms Quinn said if the de-mining process continued for 20 years, it would not remove all the landmines.
The Bosnian war ended seven years ago, but the country has one of the highest number of landmines and unexploded ordnance in Europe. UNICEF has been implementing mine-awareness projects since 1996.
"The country is now virtually forgotten about, but the legacy of the war is going to last at least 20 years," Ms Quinn said.
Mr McCarthy's visit was part of a new partnership between the world soccer body, FIFA, and UNICEF. This year's World Cup has been dedicated to the cause of children worldwide.
Issues such as HIV and AIDS will also be highlighted.
