As a group what is most needed is exchange of information about weapons flow between the three countries of Indochina and beyond, recognition that weapons are not just a military issue—businesses, NGOs and Government need to see that this is their problem, too. Campaigns should both address access to weapons and work to improve justice, understanding of life, etc.
Bounpong Sayasenh, UXO - Lao
UXO and Mines are an international problem. Within Laos, 2 million tons of ordinances were dropped over half of the country during the war, of which 30% failed to detonate. A 1996 social economic survey found that there have been 11,000 accidents involving UXO since 1973, and there are on average 200 per year today. Just over half of these accidents are fatal.
The Lao government has responded to UXO in a number of ways. In August of 1995, they established a trust fund for UXO with the help of UNICEF and UNDP. UXO-LAO, the Lao National Unexploded Ordinance Program was established in February of 1996. Before 1995, the government did not have the resources to address the problem.
UXO-LAO works to reduce the number of civilian UXO casualties, both deaths and injuries, and to increase the amount of land available for food production and other development activities. Program components include community awareness, surveys of UXA concentration and cleared lands, training can capacity building, and UXO clearance.
Unexploded ordinance is a significant barrier to development in Laos. It impacts household food security when land is not available for food production. UXO impacts rural infrastructure that is ill equipped to deal with them and prevents improvements in social services because there simply is not land where needed hospitals and schools can be safely built. It impacts household income generation in the same ways, and people injured by UXO become a burden on their community if they are not able to support themselves or their families.
Within UXO LAO, achieving a fully operational program means that each provincial authority has a senior representative on the UXO LAO national steering committee. A capacity building structure has been established to train Lao nationals with outside support so that Lao trainers can, in turn, train their colleagues. For several years, UXO-LAO has worked in the provinces with other organizations, such as Handicap International, to de-mine rural regions.
Luc Delneuville, Handicap International (working with UXO LAO)
The majority of UXO in Lao are “bombies” or orange sized anti-personnel bombs dropped form canisters during the war. As Bounphone noted 20-30% of these did not explode. They were scattered widely and designed to kill, and they litter the countryside. Farmers have made huge piles of bombies to be diffused, and Lao de-miners are being trained to diffuse them or remove them to someplace where they can be safely exploded.
Handicap International’s role is not directly in de-mining. HI trains UXO-LAO de-miners to do their work safely. HI also works with the government and international agencies to develop skills for UXO LAO. When it is possible to destroy bombies and other UXO where they are found, that is the first priority, but often they are in houses or under houses and cannot be exploded safely. Developing a strategy to handle these circumstances is complicated. Also, in addition to the prolific bombies, there are larger UXO that must be diffused or detonated. HI has developed a system for buried UXO which
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