The State Steering Committee on the National Mine Action Plan (or Steering Committee 504) has been set up following the Prime Minister’s decision.
Under the decision, the committee is assigned to study and propose measures, plans and actions to mobilise domestic and international resources, and promptly overcome the consequences of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left by the war.
The committee will also draft proposals on participation in mine clearance abroad, in accordance with agreements signed with other countries. The committee, together with the Government, will build plans and carry out the National Mine Action Plan.
Vietnam is among 70 countries most contaminated by bombs and mines, and is the most seriously affected nation in the world, said a report of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People’s Army at an art exchange programme in response to World Day of Bomb and Mine Prevention in early April in Hanoi.
The volume of mines and UXO left by the war is estimated at 800,000 tonnes, contaminating over 20 percent of the countryside. Since 1975, mines and UXO have claimed more than 40,000 lives and left about 60,000 injured, mostly rural workers and children.
In the six central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Ngai, there have been over 22,800 bomb and mine victims, including 10,540 deaths and 12,260 injuries.
Vietnam spends thousands of billions of dong each year on mine clearance, emergency aid, treatment and assistance, re-integration and resettlement of the victims of the mines and UXO./.
Under the decision, the committee is assigned to study and propose measures, plans and actions to mobilise domestic and international resources, and promptly overcome the consequences of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left by the war.
The committee will also draft proposals on participation in mine clearance abroad, in accordance with agreements signed with other countries. The committee, together with the Government, will build plans and carry out the National Mine Action Plan.
Vietnam is among 70 countries most contaminated by bombs and mines, and is the most seriously affected nation in the world, said a report of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People’s Army at an art exchange programme in response to World Day of Bomb and Mine Prevention in early April in Hanoi.
The volume of mines and UXO left by the war is estimated at 800,000 tonnes, contaminating over 20 percent of the countryside. Since 1975, mines and UXO have claimed more than 40,000 lives and left about 60,000 injured, mostly rural workers and children.
In the six central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Ngai, there have been over 22,800 bomb and mine victims, including 10,540 deaths and 12,260 injuries.
Vietnam spends thousands of billions of dong each year on mine clearance, emergency aid, treatment and assistance, re-integration and resettlement of the victims of the mines and UXO./.
