Quang Tri recorded zero UXO accidents in 2018

Funded by the UK Department for International Cooperation (DFID) via NPA, the workshop was the first of its kind for the Quang Tri authorities and NGOs to review and evaluate the performance, so far, of the mine action plan laid out for the period 2016-2020.

Workshop attendees reached an agreement that mine action during 2016-2019 had achieved encouraging results. Mine action work has been better-coordinated thanks to the establishment of the Quang Tri Mine Action Center (QTMAC) providing advice to the Steering Committee in the field of humanitarian mine action.

A mine action database has been created according to IMSMA standards, tested, and is used in the field on a daily basis.

Nearly 1,000 local employees have been trained in accordance with International Mine Action Standards. This human resource is vital to fulfilling the goal of making Quang Tri safe by 2025, after which mine action shall be transitioned to UXO risk management.

Moreover, mine action in Quang Tri is linked with socio-economic development activities. Over 14,000 acres of land have been cleared of UXO and handed over for development and agricultural expansion. For an agricultural province like Quang Tri where 75% of its population lives on agriculture, release of such safe land is very important for the local people.

EOD teams from Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) - Project RENEW, Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and PeaceTrees Vietnam (PTVN) and the provincial military command have conducted 13,000 quick response tasks in response to UXO call-ins from local residents, resulting in over 100,000 items of UXO found and safely destroyed.

Deaths and injuries related to UXO have been drastically reduced during recent years. From three injuries in 2017, Quang Tri recorded zero accidents in 2018, a record since the war ended in 1975.

The local authorities appraised the cooperation among NPA-RENEW, MAG and PTVN as excellent, and noted that effective collaboration of NGOs with QTMAC and other stakeholders is critical to fruitfully realize the provincial mine action plan.