Japan enhances Lao capacity in UXO destruction

(KPL) The Government of Japan has committed to providing technological assistance to the Lao PDR to enhance its capacity in destroying unexploded ordnance- UXOs, legacy of the Indochina War, said an official.

Between 14 and 18 February 2011, Head of the National Regulatory Authority for UXO/Mine Action Sector in the Lao PDR, Mr. Phoukhiao Chanthasomboune led mediamen and Japanese experts to visit Saravane and Champassak to learn about the UXO destruction and clearance in the two southern provinces.

The visiting delegation was informed by local UXO official that UXO clearance was difficult, relevant officials lacked cutting-edge technology for detecting and removing UXOs.

Over the past 13 years, Saravane province has removed UXOs from 2,231 ha, equivalent to three per cent of the UXO contaminated areas, and over 136,000 bombies (bomblet contained in cluster bomb) have been destroyed.

Meanwhile, on an annual basis, Champassak province has removed UXO off 200 ha, equivalent to 0.12 per cent of the contaminated area, leaving large area of land remaining dangerous for human life while the need of development by local people is increasing.

Annually, local people in the province propose the UXO Clearance Programme to remove at least 300 ha of land.

136,000 bombies destroyed in Saravane

(KPL) Over 136,000 bombies (small bombs contained in cluster bomb) have been destroyed over the past decade in the province.

The bombs have been removed and destroyed on 2,231 ha of land in the province, according to Head of the UXO Clearance Organisation of Saravane province, Mr. Liemmisay Keokangmeuang.

During the Indochina war, seven districts of this southern province were the scene of aerial bombardment, five of which were the heavy scenes among them. They are Saravane, Lao-ngam, Ta-oi, Samouai and Toumlane, according to Mr. Liemmisay.

Mr. Liemmisay said that two weeks ago the UXO Clearance Organisation of Saravane destroyed 15 bombies in Thongbiou village, Saravane district. The programme expected to complete the clearance on 23,895 sqm within 25 days.

The Organisation also destroyed a 750-pound bomb at Tape village, Ta-oi district, according to Mr. Liemmisay. There are seven UXO victims in Tape village including one dead. Most of the UXO accidents are reportedly caused by farming activities by villagers.

Tape village has a population of 568 people in 70 families. It is reported that over 30 ha of land is put under slash-and-burn cultivation.

Source: KPL Lao News Agency

Over US$40 million pledged for UXO clearance

Ten nations have announced US$40 million in assistance to Laos for the removal of unexploded ordnance (UXO).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ International Organisations Director General Saleumxay Kommasith said on Friday that the funding resulted from the First Meeting of States Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, held in Vientiane in November last year.

“Some donor nations announced support for one-year projects while others will support us for two or three years,” he said.

Despite slow recovery from the global economic crisis, donor nations expressed commitment to help Laos remove UXO to expand arable farmland.

Laos is the world’s most UXO contaminated country per capita, with 25 percent of villages affected. The government wants between US$40 and US$50 million per year to speed clearance.

The Oslo Convention on Cluster Munitions obligates nations to ban the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions.

States party to the con-vention also agree to clear their territory of cluster bombs within a 10-year period, giving hope to Lao people that they will one day live without fear of bombs.

But experts commented that Laos may not achieve the goal of clearing UXO within that timeframe as bombs are scattered over an area of 87,000 sq km in 14 provinces. Some believe it may take more than 100 years to clear all UXO from Laos.

In 2008, the value of international aid to UXO removal in Laos was US$19 million. In 2010, the figure reached about US$20 million. These figures are not adequate to meet targets.

The international assistance for UXO removal in 2011 is still being finalised by the National Regulatory Authority for UXO/Mine Action Sector in Laos. However, Mr Saleumxay believes that the assistance will be higher than previous years.

During November’s clu ster munitions meeting, delegates from more than 100 nations visited Xieng Khuang, the most affected province in Laos, to see how progress is hindered by the presence of UXO.

As a result, some nations decided to increase their assistance.

Removal of UXO from high priority land by 2020 is the ninth Millennium Development Goal (MDG 9) in Laos. Other developing nations typically subscribe to eight goals.

MDG 9 is a new priority of the Lao government and development partners, which was adopted at a high level roundtable meeting held in Vientiane last year.

The 10 donor nations have now signed a compact in support of MDG 9. The Lao government will continue to draw attention to the compact and encourage nations to join.

Source: Vientiane Times
By Somsack Pongkhao
February 12, 2011

Lao Delegation Draws CMAC’s Experiences

(KPL) A mine and unexploded ordnance (UXOs) clearance delegation of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic has been paying a three-day working visit to Cambodia since February 2 to learn and draw experiences from the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC).

The Lao delegation was received yesterday by CMAC Director General Mr. Heng Ratana at CMAC’s headquarters in Phnom Penh. According to a CMAC press release, the visit is aimed to strengthen the cooperation between Cambodia and Laos, to share experiences and skills and to seek cooperation opportunity in mine and UXOs clearance.

In the meeting, Mr. Heng Ratana briefed his guests on the CMAC’s ten-year experiences and the effective strategies in mine and UXOs clearance.

Many countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Columbia as well as many African countries have come to Cambodia to learn and share experiences with CMAC.

Source: KPL Lao News Agency

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.