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A community mapping exercise with local villagers. |
The European Union has recently funded an innovative 24-month MAG project, in Khammouane Province to train four Government staff in Community Liaison techniques and methodologies.
MAG collaborated with the provincial and district Departments of Labour and Social Welfare to build their capacity to carry out participatory unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance prioritisation and post-clearance impact assessments based on MAG’s extensive Community Liaison (CL) experience in Laos.
The project worked with one representative from the provincial office, and one from each of the districts of Boulapha, Gnommalat and Mahaxay.
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After completing activities in the village, two of the local authority staff return to the MAG office to complete sketch maps of all contaminated sites. All surveys are completed by hand. |
“I have never worked with a non-governmental organisation before,” said Mr Kikham Phommaseng, the Officer of Labour and Social Welfare in Boualapha.
“Since being part of MAG’s team, I have learned a lot about prioritisation and can easily brief people in my district about UXO.”
By transferring CL skills to Government authorities there will be better communication with communities affected by UXO. And local authorities will be able to produce a district-wide UXO clearance work plan for 2011, that will prioritise clearance in line with district provincial and national plans of poverty reduction.
Mr Xaya, MAG Project Officer, was responsible for the training. To prepare for the role, he completed a six-month refresher training course, helping MAG to complete two post-clearance project studies. The course also included training other CL officers in data collection and information gathering.
In order to complete the survey activity, Mr Xaya provided training on MAG’s CL process, which places the needs and priorities of UXO-affected communities at the centre of the planning, implementation and monitoring of UXO clearance and development actions. It also involves communities in the decision-making process before, during and after UXO clearance.
Training was also provided on MAG’s needs assessment, which maps UXO contamination as well as socio-economic indicators in affected communities.
Post-clearance assessments are an essential part of the process, to identify changes in land usage and livelihoods amongst beneficiaries, in order to gauge the impact of clearance and provide data to help better targeting of clearance in the future.
MAG’s CL processes allow key socio-economic and livelihood measures at the beneficiary level to be examined in relation to broader livelihood indicators, directly informing MAG’s programme planning.
These core components of MAG Lao PDR’s operations allow clearance and development indicators to be clearly defined, tracked, monitored and managed against project and national socio-economic targets.
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MAG Project Officer, Mr. Xaya (right) takes Government staff through a series of drills on using GPS and compasses to mark boundaries of UXO clearance sites. [Photos: MAG Lao PDR] |
This project builds the capacity of national authorities to be able to replicate these techniques, and ultimately their outcomes, across their own clearance operations.
By the end of the project, local authorities had surveyed a total of 276 UXO clearance tasks in 21 villages: these sites cover a total area of 359 hectares.
Additionally, the authorities will return to implement their new skills in the districts of Mahaxay, Gnommalat and Boulapha.
The resident populations in nearly 200 villages, comprising 15,772 households and a total population of more than 85,000 people, have benefited from the improved CL methodologies and techniques.
The survey will not only benefit local government authorities but also the National Regulatory Authority, the national coordinating body for the UXO sector in Laos, which will gain a successful model for integrating UXO clearance and development planning that can be rolled out to other districts.
Development organisations will also profit from better coordination of provincial UXO clearance and development plans, by being able to better direct community activities to high priority areas.
Said Mr Xaya: “From my point of view this is good for the long-term development of the local authority, because they now have the opportunity to develop themselves.
“MAG is providing training, which wouldn’t have been possible without funding from the European Union, and local authorities can use these skills in their work with MAG and other development organisations.”
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Funded by the European Union | |
15 April 2011
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