Summary
Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) was the second country to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions when it was opened on 3 December 2008. Accession was completed swiftly, with the instrument of ratification deposited with the United Nations in New York on 18 March 2009.
The Lao Government offered to host the first meeting of states parties to the convention in Vientiane in late 2010; a UN resolution to formalize this is expected in late 2009. Detailed planning will build on partnerships formed at Lao Support Group Meetings. The Deputy Prime Minister has designated a Supervisory Committee at the ministerial level and will take charge of the preparations.
Although not yet a party to the anti-personnel mine-ban treaty, Lao PDR agrees in principle with it and votes in support of universalization at the UN General Assembly. A Lao delegation also attended the 9th Member States Parties Meeting in Geneva.
Laos signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in 2008, although has not yet ratified it.
Work on unexploded ordnance (UXO) is led by the National Regulatory Authority (NRA), a government body responsible for overall regulation, coordination and management. UXO Lao is the national clearance agency and largest operator conducting both clearance and risk education. Despite both institutions having funding gaps, they were fully operational through 2009. In addition, three non-governmental organizations and three commercial clearance groups are accredited and operational: Mines Advisory Group (MAG), Handicap International (HI), the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD), BACTEC, Millsearch and Phoenix Clearance Ltd (PCL). Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and Solidarity Services International (SODI) have started the accreditation process.
Other organizations, including the Cooperative Orthotic and
Prosthetic Enterprise (COPE), the Association for Aid and Relief (AAR)-Japan and the World Education consortium, provide victim assistance and risk education services. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) supports risk education via the NRA; ArmorGroup supports both UXO Lao and the NRA.
Each year, UN entities, nongovernmental organizations, national and local authorities and donors collaborate to assemble a national portfolio of mine action project proposals that together reflect the strategic response developed in the field to all aspects of the problem of landmines and explosive remnants of war. A Country Portfolio Coordinator, usually a representative of a UN agency or a national authority, coordinates meetings where all mine action actors agree on a set of projects and priorities and determine funding needs. The proposals in each country's portfolio are assembled with those of other participating countries and published jointly by the UN Mine Action Service, the UN Development Programme and UNICEF in an annual "Portfolio of Mine Action Projects." This publication serves as a tool for collaborative resource mobilization, coordination and planning of mine action activities. The Lao People's Democratic Republic Country Portfolio Team's funding appeal for mine action projects in 2007 totals US $15,713,257.
Scope of the Problem
Lao PDR has been, per capita, the most heavily bombed country in the world.
Throughout the Second Indochina War (1964 to 1973), more than 580,000 bombing missions (every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day, for 9 years) and wide-ranging ground battles dropped over 2 million tons of ordnance on Lao PDR. Additionally, over 260 million cluster munitions were used, of which an estimated 80 million remain live as a result of high failure rates.
Today UXO litters vast areas of the country; approximately 25 percent of 10,000 villages are contaminated.
Phase 1 of a 2008 National UXO Victim and Accident Survey presented data on 50,136 victims of UXO accidents that occurred between 1964 and 2008. About 60 percent took place during the hostilities. The number of victims declined rapidly after the conflict, with a low of only 151 casualties in 2001. Since then, the figure has risen to an average of approximately 250 per year, possibly related to a lucrative scrap metal trade that encourages salvaging UXO.
The World Bank reports that UXO negatively impacts socioeconomic development significantly retards growth in gross domestic product. A similar correlation has been made by the Lao Government in the National Socioeconomic Development Plan. It states that food insecurity is exacerbated by UXO making valuable fertile land inaccessible, and restricting local trade and market access. Infrastructure projects such as the building of roads and schools, and investment opportunities such as tourism and mining, stall. National health institutions struggle to meet the rehabilitation needs of victims. Communities and families suffer significant physical, emotional, social and financial trauma.
The latest estimate of the scope of contaminated land was 138,285,870 hectares, made during the UXO Sector Evaluation in 2008. The estimate comprises areas financially worth clearing at today’s costs and values. The evaluation team predicted that using land release survey techniques and clearance teams at current capacities could remove the threat in 16 years.
Coordination and Consultation
Coordination, regulation, consolidated information and strategic planning for the UXO sector are mandates of the NRA; its board comprises representatives of nine line ministries chaired by a Deputy Prime Minister. The NRA Office acts as a secretariat for the board. The NRA Office Director has technical staff who sub-divide coordination into three technical working groups of clearance, risk education and victim assistance. The groups meet monthly and bi-monthly, and feed into the UXO sector working groups. The technical groups act as a transparent forum for coordinating and planning UXO activities, exchanging information and building consensus.
Lao PDR signed the Paris Declaration on harmonizing aid in 2005. In line with this, the Vientiane Declaration was developed in 2006 to localize the Paris Declaration and its main theme of aid effectiveness. The Vientiane Declaration reaffirms eight key sectors of aid in Laos, one of which is the UXO sector. A Round Table Implementation Meeting is held annually where representatives from each sector meet under the Prime Minister to coordinate aid overall. This meeting is a key mechanism for integrating UXO activities across the whole spectrum of development priorities. Two sector working group meetings are held annually for each sector, with wide stakeholder membership.
The Information Unit of the NRA has established and maintains a national database using the latest version of the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA). It has demographic data from the most recent government census, and benefits from a variety of maps and satellite geographic information system products. The NRA requested all operators to file 2009 completion, mine risk education and accident reports in compliance with national standards. Not all operators have yet complied, but the reports received have been incorporated in the national database. Earlier reports are also being added to create an ever more comprehensive data pool. The system is available to all stakeholders and has been installed at the headquarters of several operators as well as in some provincial bases.
Strategy
A national strategic plan for the UXO sector from 2003 to 2013, “The Safe Path Forward,” was adopted by Prime Ministerial Resolution 33 in 2004. It was developed before the NRA became operational and the operations of independent UXO organizations expanded. It did not include commercial actors, and was in force before the Government signed the disability and cluster munitions conventions. Significant revision was therefore needed to make it relevant and appropriate for 2010 and beyond.
The NRA led a review process with the wide participation of government ministries and all UXO stakeholders through mid-2009. The long-term vision of the revised strategy is that Lao PDR is “free from the threat of UXO, where individuals and communities live in a safe environment contributing to development, and where UXO victims are fully integrated into their societies and their needs are met.” The revised strategy will run from 2010 through 2020, which fits with both the Government’s five-year National Socioeconomic Development Plan cycle and the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
The strategic goal of the Government and its development partners over the 2010-2020 period is to reduce the humanitarian and socioeconomic threats posed by UXO to the point where national institutions can sustainably address residual contamination and challenges.
Sub-sector strategic frameworks are in place for victim assistance, mine risk education and clearance that support and give more detail to the revised strategy.
The large scale of UXO contamination in Laos is such that there must be an active focus on affected communities. Progress is accurately measured in terms of impact reduction, rather than through pure numbers such as the total number of UXO cleared. Accordingly, the new strategy seeks to recognize and apply this principle by emphasizing the development priorities of provincial, district and village governments. These are harmonized into national strategies to establish priority areas and tasks. The NRA is actively participating in this process, with a key project being the strengthening of coordination, prioritization and impact monitoring across the levels of government.
With Phase 1 of the accident and victim survey complete, the NRA is working on the significant challenges of Phase 2. Its objective is to put in place a sustainable monitoring system for UXO and mine accidents that covers all 17 provinces. This has been a long and difficult process, but has been formulated and received initial funding. When up and running, the subsequent database will enable better targeting of resources and provide a platform for an overall community awareness strategic plan. In the meantime, UXO Lao, World Education and HI will continue conducting community awareness activities and channeling accident reporting to the NRA.
While the Government, via the NRA, is becoming more active in resource mobilization, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) continues to play an important role in donor coordination for the UXO sector. It administers and manages contributions received from donors to support both NRA and UXO Lao operations, and is establishing a new Trust Fund to help harmonize budgetary matters in line with the Vientiane Declaration on aid effectiveness.
Date Anti-Personnel Mine-Ban Treaty signed: N/A
Date of Anti-Personnel Mine-Ban Treaty ratification or accession: N/A
Consents to be bound by Protocol II of Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons: Jan 03, 1983
Consents to be bound by Amended Protocol II of Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons: N/A
Date signed Protocol V of Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons: N/A