Representatives of the Vietnam National Mine Action Centre and the Catholic Relief Services Vietnam sign the MoU on March 23 (Photo: mod.gov.vn) At the signing ceremony inHanoi, Major General Tran Trung Hoa, Commander of the Engineering Arms of theVietnam People’s Army and VNMAC General Director, said apart from unexplodedordnance (UXO) detection and clearance, communications and education are alsoone of the importance pillars of the UXO settlement.
These activities havereceived attention from the Government and involved ministries, sectors,central agencies, localities, as well as many international organisations, henoted.
Under the MoU, CRS Vietnampledged to provide technical and financial aid for VNMAC to build a nationalstrategy for UXO risk education and set up the national standards on theeducation and those on support for UXO victims.
This project, which will lastthrough July 2024, will help improve VNMAC staff’s capacity and support relatedcommunications and education activities carried out by the centre.
CRS Vietnam will also assistVNMAC to access common information and further take part in events likeworkshops and training conferences of the international UXO settlementcommunity.
According to VNMAC, there areabout 800,000 tonnes of UXO left from wartime nationwide, with nearly 6.1million ha of land contaminated or suspected to be contaminated, accounting for18.71 percent of Vietnam’s total area.
Since1975, UXO has killed more than 40,000 people and injured 60,000 others, most ofwhom are breadwinners of their families, ethnic minority people, andchildren./.
VNA
