T he government held a final meeting on Thursday to agree upon preparations for the First Meeting of States Party to the Oslo Convention on Cluster Munitions, to be held in Vientiane from November 9-12.
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Dr Thongloun Sisoulith. |
At the meeting, various sub-committees reported their progress before Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Thongloun Sisoulith gave advice on what the sub-committees need to focus on next.
Preparations are now 90 percent complete, with officials currently working on the programme for the opening ceremony and deciding which locations should be visited.
Officials agreed to add one more location to the itinerary to demonstrate to the hundreds of delegates the suffering of the Lao people as a consequence of unexploded ordnance (UXO) left by American warplanes during the Indochina war more than three decades ago.
More than 500 delegates have so far registered to attend the event, according to Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' International Organisations Department, Mr Saleumxay Kommasith.
Mr Saleumxay, who is Head Secretary of the National Committee on the Preparation for the First Meeting of States Party to the Convention, said he expects the number of delegates to be between 700 and 800 people from more than 100 countries.
Laos is the most UXO-affected nation in the world per capita, so the government is working diligently to host the event and further enhance international awareness of its predicament.
The government hopes to increase international support towards freeing the country of UXO so that Lao people can live without fear for their lives.
For more than 30 years, Lao people have lived with undetonated bombs in their backyards, rice fields, and forests. The bombs continue to kill people almost every day.
From 1964 to 2007, more than 50,000 people were killed or injured by UXO in Laos. Bombs often explode while farmers clear their land for farming activities. Farmers have been killed trying to collect bomb scraps for sale.
The first meeting is an event of historic significance for Laos, and is expected to result in the adoption of four important documents, namely the Vientiane declaration, the Vientiane plan of action, a work plan for 2011, and an agreement on reporting formats, under the convention.
The four documents are currently receiving comments from various countries to make them more comprehensive.
The Vientiane declaration will determine directions and guidelines for member countries in implementing the Oslo convention, while the Vientiane action plan will stipulate detailed measures on how to unearth and detonate UXO, enhance international cooperation, save victims and create awareness for people to understand the danger of the bombs.
Laos will develop a national plan from the documents and continue to mobilise funds from international donors to remove bombs so that farming activities can be expanded and poverty alleviated.
To date, the Oslo convention has been signed by 108 nations and ratified by 40 states.
By Somsack Pongkhao
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