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Vietnam needs a transition in post-war clean-up strategies
  • By Duc Hoang | dtinews.vn | July 22, 2019 04:48 PM
Vietnam should transition from a proactive to a reactive risk management strategy to ensure the efficient use of mine action resources, and to better respond to current threats posed by cluster and explosive remnants of war (ERW), experts have said.


Representative from Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, Rob White, speaks at the conference on long-term risk management on mine action on July 19.

Speaking at a conference on long-term risk management on mine action held recently in Hanoi, a representative from Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, Rob White, said most of the ammunition found today in Vietnam was manufactured in the 1950s-1960s.


Of those, many have been abandoned and unexploded, posing threats to the community and agencies in charge of bomb and mine clearance.


According to White, Vietnam had achieved significant results in mitigating the consequences of residual explosive remnants since the end of wars. However, it mostly focused on removing and destroying all mines and explosive ordnance from a specified area to a specified depth.

Although clearance work has finished, the threat from explosive remnants such as residual contamination has remained.

This has forced the country to adjust the priorities to better respond to current threats posed by ERW, he said.

A reactive risk management strategy would help address long-term planning requirements.

At the conference, representatives from international organisations shared their experiences on mitigating the consequences of residual explosive remnants.

Vietnam is highly contaminated by ERW. In 2014, it was reported that 19% of the country’s land surface area was affected by ERW, and cluster munitions remnants affecting 63 of Vietnam’s 63 provinces and cities.

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