Development partners of Vietnam have pledged to continue assisting thecountry overcome the consequences caused by bombs and mines left overfrom wars by supporting defusing efforts and strengthening support forvictims.
During a meeting with the VietnameseGovernment on March 14 in Hanoi, a number of partners gathered todiscuss the severe challenges posed by bombs and mines dropped duringthe country’s wars.
Representatives of thepartners, including US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Samuel Perezand Ambassador and Director of the Geneva International Centre forHumanitarian Demining (GICHD) Stefano Toscano, said they hope for closercoordination from Vietnam in supplying data and information so thatthey can share their experience in the field.
Theyalso expressed their belief that the Vietnam National Mine ActionCentre, which was established earlier this month, will help the partnersbetter understand Vietnam’s efforts in clearing unexploded ordnance(UXOs).
The National Steering Committee for Recoveryover the Impacts of Postwar Bomb and Landmines (also known as theSteering Committee 504) reported that about 800,000 tonnes of UXOsacross 6.6 million hectares (20.12 percent of the country’s land) areputting people in danger every day.
Incomplete statistics show that UXOs have killed more than 42,000 peopleand injured 60,000 others nationwide, equivalent to 1,500 deaths andnearly 2,300 injuries, with many children, every year.
Addressing the event, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who is also headof the Steering Committee 504, highly praised the support of thepartners and expressed his hope to receive further effective cooperationand support from other governments and international organisationsworldwide to speed up the progress of UXO clearance.
Particularly, he called on the US side to raise theirresponsibility and make more effective and practical contributions tothe search and clearance of UXOs and surmounting the bomb and mineaftermath.
Over the 2010-2025 period, Programme 504has aimed to mobilise domestic and international resources for thesettlement of UXO impacts, ensuring safety for the people, PM Dungnoted.
Vietnam has also signed memoranda ofunderstanding in the field with the US Government, the GICHD and theInternational Centre, while agreeing on a cooperation framework with theUNDP, within the Asian Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus
(ADMM+), as well as Norwegian People’s Aid, he cited.
Vietnam has worked with partners to conduct a number ofprojects, including a bomb and mine mapping programme and some deminingprojects in serious UXO polluted areas. Between 2012 and 2013 alone,more than 100,000 hectares of land were demined, he added.
In order to ensure the assistance is used in a most effective manner,PM Dung asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to actively coordinatewith the Steering Committee 504 to make negotiation plans and step upthe signing of agreements with other foreign governments in the field.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment should workharder to expand talks with partners and speed up the establishment andoperation of a partnership group involving donors, he said.
He also asked other ministries to review related policies and completea legal system to create further favourable conditions for the receipt,management and use of the assistance.
PM Dung alsocalled for deeper engagement of partners, donors and internationalfriends in the setting up of the group to back Vietnam and thecommittee in the work.
“We need to work together toresolutely put an end to all wars and armed conflicts so that nationsand people across the world will no longer suffer from the damagingaftermath of leftover bombs and mines,” PM Dung said.-VNA
During a meeting with the VietnameseGovernment on March 14 in Hanoi, a number of partners gathered todiscuss the severe challenges posed by bombs and mines dropped duringthe country’s wars.
Representatives of thepartners, including US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Samuel Perezand Ambassador and Director of the Geneva International Centre forHumanitarian Demining (GICHD) Stefano Toscano, said they hope for closercoordination from Vietnam in supplying data and information so thatthey can share their experience in the field.
Theyalso expressed their belief that the Vietnam National Mine ActionCentre, which was established earlier this month, will help the partnersbetter understand Vietnam’s efforts in clearing unexploded ordnance(UXOs).
The National Steering Committee for Recoveryover the Impacts of Postwar Bomb and Landmines (also known as theSteering Committee 504) reported that about 800,000 tonnes of UXOsacross 6.6 million hectares (20.12 percent of the country’s land) areputting people in danger every day.
Incomplete statistics show that UXOs have killed more than 42,000 peopleand injured 60,000 others nationwide, equivalent to 1,500 deaths andnearly 2,300 injuries, with many children, every year.
Addressing the event, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who is also headof the Steering Committee 504, highly praised the support of thepartners and expressed his hope to receive further effective cooperationand support from other governments and international organisationsworldwide to speed up the progress of UXO clearance.
Particularly, he called on the US side to raise theirresponsibility and make more effective and practical contributions tothe search and clearance of UXOs and surmounting the bomb and mineaftermath.
Over the 2010-2025 period, Programme 504has aimed to mobilise domestic and international resources for thesettlement of UXO impacts, ensuring safety for the people, PM Dungnoted.
Vietnam has also signed memoranda ofunderstanding in the field with the US Government, the GICHD and theInternational Centre, while agreeing on a cooperation framework with theUNDP, within the Asian Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus
(ADMM+), as well as Norwegian People’s Aid, he cited.
Vietnam has worked with partners to conduct a number ofprojects, including a bomb and mine mapping programme and some deminingprojects in serious UXO polluted areas. Between 2012 and 2013 alone,more than 100,000 hectares of land were demined, he added.
In order to ensure the assistance is used in a most effective manner,PM Dung asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to actively coordinatewith the Steering Committee 504 to make negotiation plans and step upthe signing of agreements with other foreign governments in the field.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment should workharder to expand talks with partners and speed up the establishment andoperation of a partnership group involving donors, he said.
He also asked other ministries to review related policies and completea legal system to create further favourable conditions for the receipt,management and use of the assistance.
PM Dung alsocalled for deeper engagement of partners, donors and internationalfriends in the setting up of the group to back Vietnam and thecommittee in the work.
“We need to work together toresolutely put an end to all wars and armed conflicts so that nationsand people across the world will no longer suffer from the damagingaftermath of leftover bombs and mines,” PM Dung said.-VNA
