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Hidden Since the War

(KPL/UNDP) I n April 2008, Viengkeo Kavongsone�s wife Van and their three children were clearing a rainwater ditch around their house. As she shovelled a pile of earth, Ms Van struck a BLU-26 bombie, which detonated.

She and her nine-year-old daughter Phetsida were both peppered with deep shrapnel wounds to the upper torso, face and legs. Her eldest son, Soulideth, received shrapnel wounds to his body and face and he may yet lose his sight. Her youngest son, six year old Bounma, was closest to the bombie when it exploded. He was killed instantly, his body thrown six meters from the ditch.

Mr Viengkeo was not at home at the time of the explosion and the village head and other neighbours rushed to get him. According to Lao custom, Bounma�s funeral had to take place quickly. The village split into two groups, with one attending the little boy�s funeral and another group accompanying Mr Viengkeo to Xiengkhouang Provincial Hospital, 50 kilometres away, to look after his wife and surviving children.

�I was very shocked when I was told about what happened to my family. I never thought there were any bombs around the house because I have lived there for so long, since 1976, and I�ve never seen any there,� said Mr Viengkeo. �I remember when the bombs fell. I remember seeing them falling. I taught the children to be careful: �If you see something and you don�t know what it is, leave it and tell me�. But I had no idea there was a bombie there all the time, under my home.�

A National Approach

There are a number of operators working across a range of areas throughout the Lao PDR to reduce the impact of cluster munitions and UXO on communities and individuals, and to enable infrastructure and economic development to take place. They include government institutions, international non-government and local organisations, as well as commercial clearance companies.

National Regulatory Authority for the UXO/Mine Action sector

The National Regulatory Authority for the UXO/Mine Action sector in the Lao PDR (NRA) is a public institution of the Government of the Lao PDR. It is responsible for the coordination of all operators in the country working on the impact of UXO. Established in 2004 and operational since April 2006, the NRA now plays a pivotal role in the overall management and coordination of the UXO/mine action sector.

The NRA was established by the Government of the Lao PDR in partnership with the UNDP and is governed by a board made up of representatives from nine ministries of the Government of the Lao PDR.

UXO LAO

UXO LAO is the national clearance operator of the Lao PDR. Established by the Government in 1996 with the support of UNDP, UNICEF and other partners, UXO LAO works in the nine most affected provinces of the country.

UXO LAO responds to villagers� reports of UXO; it marks and destroys the items, clears sections of land for communities and development projects and conducts educational sessions on the dangers of UXO and cluster munitions. It has also established a network of village volunteers to whom it provides training and support. Village volunteers visit villagers in remote areas to discuss the UXO problems faced by their respective communities and to spread UXO awareness and safety messages. UXO LAO also supports the work of a number of development agencies by clearing land for their projects at no cost to them.

Land cleared for development agencies since 2007 has been utilised for new schools, roads, irrigation systems and agricultural land.

Since beginning operations, UXO LAO has reached more than 1.7 million people through over 7,000 visits to affected villages to educate about the dangers of UXO and how people can protect themselves; cleared more than 13,700 hectares of land; performed over 16,000 roving tasks, and cleared more than 840,000 items of UXO including some 395,000 bombies.

UNDP provides quality assurance and administrative, technical and financial support to UXO LAO and the NRA. Technical advisors are attached to both institutions, to build national capacities for critical functions.

Source: KPLnet.net