A signing ceremony was held in Vientiane for the grant assistance, which will support the operations of the Lao National UXO Programme (UXO Lao) from 2011-12 to continue managing and implementing UXO clearance and risk education campaigns.
“I am pleased to be here at this signing ceremony to pledge Australia's support for the clearance operations of UXO Lao,” Australian Ambassador to Laos Ms Lynda Worthaisong said.
She said that every day cluster munitions, landmines and other explosive remains from wars continue to harm and kill innocent people and also impact on development in many countries, including Laos.
The devastating effects of these devices are long lasting, not only for victims, but also their families, communities and country's long-term development.
The presence of UXO can deprive affected populations of basic needs such as water, food, education and access to markets.
Progress in Laos in recent years has been significant in terms of actual UXO clearance, sector planning and regulation, policy discussions and advocacy.
The country's successful hosting of the Meeting of States Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in November last year was evidence of the country's leadership on the issue, but much remains to be done, Ms Worthaisong pointed out.
In Laos, Australia already supports a wide range of efforts by government, international and local organisations to reduce the threat of UXO, enable safe community access to land, improve the services available to victims, sector planning and coordination, she added.
These additional funds will also support internal quality control teams to ensure work is conducted in accordance with the National UXO Mine Action Standards, she said.
“We expect that this grant assistance will improve the lives of affected families by giving them safe access to land for farming and other daily activities,” the Australian Ambassador said.
The latest assistance brings the total Australian contribution to UXO clearance in Laos to more than AU$23 million since 1996.
The contribution is part of the Australian government's mine action strategy, which has seen the country commit AU$100 million to mine action globally from 2010-14.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representa-tive Mr Minh Pham said the correlation between UXO and poverty is clear to see with 41 of the 47 poorest districts in Laos contaminated by UXO.
Australia's contribution is very important in helping Laos to achieve its obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions and targets set under the Millennium Development Goals for 2015, he pointed out.
UXO Lao has cleared more than 19,715 hectares of land since 1996. As more than 16,533 hectares of this area is agricultural land, the clearance has benefited more than 3.3 million people, according to UXO Lao.
UXO Lao staff have visited almost 8,629 villages, conducting community awareness activities on the dangers of UXO for more than 2.1 million people.
So far staff have destroyed more than 984,200 items of UXO, of which 46 percent were sub-munitions from cluster bombs.
UXO Lao works to clear bombs in the provinces of Luang Prabang, Huaphan, Xieng Khuang, Khammuan, Savannakhet, Saravan, Xekong, Champassak and Attapeu.
By Khonesavanh Latsaphao
(Latest Update May 11, 2011)
(Latest Update May 11, 2011)
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