MAG has been helping some of Vietnam's poorest communities for a decade, releasing land to people who need it to grow crops, build homes or schools, or get to work in safety.
MAG began its clearance operations in Vietnam in November 1999, close to what was the demilitarised zone during the Vietnam War.
Since then, the organisation has cleared more than seven million square metres of land, benefitting thousands of people still threatened by lethal remnants of a war that ended more than three decades ago.
Landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) continue to kill and injure people: a recent survey of six central provinces recorded 926 casualties between 2003 and 2008, almost half of whom were killed.
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A controlled explosion destroys unexploded ordnance collected by MAG in Vietnam. Top: Children play on MAG-cleared land at a former US base in Truc Lam, Quang Tri. |
“Our work here really does make a difference to people," said Jimmy Roodt, MAG’s Country Programme Manager in Vietnam since 2007.
"In just one year, between June 2008 and July 2009, we destroyed 10,900 items of UXO and visited more than 21,000 houses. We spoke to hundreds of families, learning how these abandoned weapons continue to pose a daily threat to their lives.”
Your donation to MAG helps us to move into current and former conflict zones so that communities who have suffered from remnants of conflict can continue to rebuild their lives and secure their livelihoods.
MAG Vietnam’s clearance operations concentrate on two of the country’s worst-affected provinces – Quang Binh and Quang Tri.
In Vietnam, as in its other programmes, MAG clears the land that will have the most positive impact on the communities using it, improving their chances to build better futures for themselves.
MAG is also the only international demining charity in Vietnam allowed to recruit and train staff locally. This is a key practice in all of MAG’s programmes, breathing new skill, employment and knowledge into the very people whose lives are affected by explosive remnants of conflict.
“There are about 350,000 and 700,000 tonnes of UXO still buried in the ground in Vietnam,” Jimmy said.
“We are committed to keeping our clearance operations going for the next 10 years and beyond, until people can finally escape the lethal legacy of this war.”
MAG’s Chief Executive Lou McGrath OBE said: “MAG’s teams in Vietnam do an absolutely vital job. Our work reaches out to some of the country’s poorest communities, releasing land to people who need it to grow crops, build homes or schools, or get to work in safety.
“There remains lots to do though, and we hope we’ll be able to continue working closely with the authorities to expand our operations to the other regions in Vietnam still badly affected, using our expertise to help as many people as possible escape the lethal legacy of war.”
25 November 09
MAG would like to express its thanks to the following current and recent donors to its Vietnam operations: Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Department for International Development (DFID), Talisman Energy, Irish Aid, Jersey Overseas Aid, Adopt-A-Minefield, and Imperial Tobacco.
