Although peace was declared in Vietnam three decades ago, the Vietnamese government estimates that there are still up to 1,200 deaths or injuries each year from accidents related to unexploded ordnance (UXO).
The introduction of Community Liaison (CL) teams has made an immediate impact on the efficiency of MAG’s work to rid rural villages of items that pose an immediate danger to local communities.
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Unexploded ordnance (UXO) This includes unexploded bombs, rockets, missiles, mortars, grenades and other munitions. They may have been fired, dropped, launched or projected but remain unexploded either through malfunction or design, or for some other reason. |
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The predominantly female CL team in Quang Binh Province, formed less than 12 months ago, is proving itself an integral part in the process of collecting information on UXO and helping prioritise tasks for MAG’s technical teams.
In just one day last month (July 24), the team visited 79 households in
Bao Ninh Commune, north of the former Demilitarised Zone, and
identified 35 dangerous areas.
These areas were prioritised and
three – where items were on the surface, located in a highly populated
area and posed a direct physical threat to the surrounding community –
immediately dealt with by a Mine Action Team (MAT).
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(Left-right) MAG Vietnam Community Liaison Assistant Phan Thi Hoa, MAG Operations Manager Rob McGillivary, Vietnam Technical Operations Manager Mark Russell (front), Community Liaison Officer Hoang Thi Mai Chi, and MAG Chief Executive Lou McGrath. Twenty-four-year-old Hoang Thi Mai Chi heads the Quang Binh Province’s Community Liason team and has been working with MAG since October 2007. |
The MAT destroyed three ‘BLU-26’ cluster munitions, or 'bombies' as they are locally known, as well as two BLU fuses. According to the Landmine Monitor Report 2007, bombies – particularly BLU 26/36, along with M79 rifle grenades – have been responsible for 65 percent of casualties in Vietnam since the end of the war in 1975.
So, by prioritising tasks, CL teams are helping to quickly remove items such as cluster munitions that can have a devastating effect on communities. CL has made an immediate impact on the efficiency of the Vietnam programme, aided by the decision to cross-train experienced technicians as CL assistants and pair them up with degree-holding CL staff.
Said CL assistant and technician Mr. Hoan: “CL has made the relations between the community and MAG better because the CL teams work closely with the community and the information exchange is better. Hence, MAG’s work has been carried out more easily.”
MAG Vietnam is keen to make the best use possible of CL, with plans to double the size of the teams. “CL is important in terms of pre-clearance information gathering and post-clearance impact assessments,” said Country Programme Manager Jimmy Roodt.
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Quang Binh CL technician Dang Mai Chi (left) and CL assistant Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga collecting information from a local resident about a cluster munition he discovered in his backyard. |
“CL staff have also been sent on short-term fact-finding missions in other parts of Vietnam to feed into MAG Vietnam’s expansion plans,” he added. “In this respect, their input has been invaluable.”
Staff have quickly picked up on the value of CL, especially by embedding technicians within the CL team on a quarterly rotation.
“We are collecting information of UXO for the MATs to deal with the remnants of war, and thanks to which, the residents have more and more land to cultivate, thus their lives will be better and better,” said Mr. Hoan.
“Moreover, we tell people, especially the children, to keep away from UXO and show the scrap metal collectors some popular types of UXO so that the number of accidents would be reduced.”
Links:
MAG's work in Vietnam is currently funded by: Adopt-A-Minefield; Imperial Tobacco; IrishAid; Office of Weapons
Removal and Abatement, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, US Department of State.
11 August 08
