UXO clearance must speed up: Deputy PM

The government has underlined the need to accelerate unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance to facilitate national development and poverty reduction, and free Laos from its least developed country status by 2020.
Speaking at a meeting in Vientiane yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Lieutenant General Duangchay Phichit said UXO clearance is an important aspect of poverty reduction.

“UXO clearance in Laos still does not respond to the needs of our country. We plan to alleviate poverty by 2020 but if UXO clearance does not speed up, it will hinder our efforts to reach our development goals,” he said.

“We have to speed up clearance activities so people can earn a living and live without the risk posed by unexploded bombs.”

Lt Gen Duangchay spoke about the danger UXO presented, particularly cluster munitions, or bombies, which kill and maim numerous people every year while they work the land in their farms and villages.
“We still don’t know when we will be able to clear the bombs from our country. We may take 100 years or more to clear all the bombs so our people can alleviate their poverty.”

Between 1964 and 1973, more than 2 million tonnes of ordnance was dropped on Laos by American warplanes, making the country the most heavily bombed per capita in history.

Around 25 percent of Laos’s villages were bombed, but the capacity of Laos to clear these munitions remains limited due to lack of funding and effective clearance methods, according to government officials.

According to a survey conducted from 1996-96, UXO was reported on over 87,000 sq km of the country’s terrain, or almost 900,000 hectares. Of the total UXO contaminated area, 200,000ha is agricultural land, disrupting farmers’ productivity in 14 provinces.

Over the past 10 years, 25,000ha of UXO contaminated areas have been cleared, of which 17,000ha is agricultural land.

Lt Gen Duangchay urged officials at yesterday’s meeting to discuss detailed plans to boost human resources, funding and equipment for UXO clearance activities.

The meeting also reviewed past achievements and discussed plans for 2011.
Lt Gen Duangchay called for further discussion on ways to address shortcomings related to UXO clearance over the past year.

“UXO is usually found in remote areas where poor people live and struggle to earn a livelihood,” he observed.

Laos hosted the First Meeting of States Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions last year to request international cooperation to clear the catastrophic level of UXO still buried in its soil, and seek an end to the use of the barbaric weapons.

Source: Vientiane Times
By Somsack Pongkhao
January 27, 2011

EU mulls aid for UXO clearance, ex-opium farmers

UXO clearance and the livelihood improvement of ex-opium farmers in northern Laos were flagged as important issues at a public consultation between the European Union and its stakeholders in Vientiane on Friday.

The EU says it will consider the two sectors in its future development policy for Laos to enable the landlocked country to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 and graduate from the UN’s least developed country status by 2020.

Charge d’Affaires of the EU Delegation to Laos Mr Henry Prankerd said “UXO clearance and opium growing villages are the two sectors we need to consider in our future cooperation.”

This included how to manage UXO clearance in any future cooperation and how to help those villagers that depended on opium production to change to an alternative livelihood.

The consultation aimed to collect views and comments from stakeholders including the government, development partners and civil society for the future EU development policy.

Mr Prankerd said feedback included “how our partners will cooperate with the EU and where they see we should focus our priority in the future and how we should work with them.”

“This consultation is taking place worldwide, not only today, but on different dates both this month and the next. And what we hope to achieve here is to ensure that what the government thinks in Laos and what civil society thinks in Laos will be heard and have an influence on the future cooperation policy of the EU.”

Only last year the EU announced that it would have new funding available to support the Lao UXO clearance sector, amounting to 3 to 4 million euros.

On January 14, the EU signed a project document with the Lao National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to help farmers in Huaphan province develop alternative livelihoods.

The EU has agreed to provide a grant of 1.9 million euros towards the 2.2 million euro cost of the project, which will run from 2011 to 2013.

Mr Prankerd said another area of interest for Laos is that the government wants to develop ‘green’ energy so the country has a high level of hydropower resources “but the question is how donors can help get the best results because we all agree that green energy is something needed for the future.”

He added that food security is a basic need and that people should never have to worry about not having enough food.
“And not only food security in terms of quantity but also the quality of food which gives us proper nutrition, and is particularly important for young children when they are still growing.”

On January 14, the EU agreed to provide 1.2 million euros through Unicef to support a nutrition project for young children and mothers across Laos. The project will run from 2011 to 2014.

A t the consultation meeting, participants highlighted nutrition and food security as important issues, not only for next year but a lso for the longer term, in order to meet the MDGs.

Source: Vientiane Times
By Somsack Pongkhao
January 24, 2011

US funds UXO education

(KPL) The US Department of State has agreed to provide a grant of US$213,000 to World Educations Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Education and Awareness Programme to spread knowledge of the dangers created by UXO.

A signing ceremony took place yesterday between World Educations Country Director Mr Mark Gorman and the Ministry of Educations Primary and Pre-School Education Department Deputy Director General Mr Somboun Masouvanh.

The signing ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Education Ms Sengdeuane Lachanthaboun and other guests.

The major goal of the programme is to educate children about the dangers of UXO and to reduce the number of accidents caused by unexploded munitions.

The 18-month primary school education programme is being implemented in the nine most heavily impacted provinces - Huaphan, Xieng Khuang, Luang Prabang, Khammuan, Savannakhet, Champassak, Saravan, Xekong and Attapeu.

This programme is making a difference - saving lives and educating thousands of school children on how to avoid accidents from UXO, said Mr Gorman.

Further, it is important to note that the programme addresses Millennium Deve-lopment Goals by providing enhanced assistance to UXO clearance, survivor assistance and risk education. The programme improves teachers knowledge and capacity so they are equipped to inform children about the dangers posed by UXO.

He offered thanks to the US Department of States Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement which provided the funding for the programme.

Mr Gorman said students and their parents would benefit by learning more about UXO and that children have a right to be protected.

So far, children have learned what they should do if they find any potentially dangerous objects under or on the ground, and who they should tell.

Since the start of the programme in 1996, over 200,000 primary school children have received UXO education and awareness instruction in 1,800 schools.

Additionally, more than 6,000 teachers have received instructions and teaching material on how to use the UXO curriculum.

This year the programme is being extended to the districts of Mok and Thathom in Xieng Khuang province, and Sanamxay district in Attapeu province.

It's hoped the efforts will make the country safer for children and their families in UXO impacted communities.