The conference also saw the presence of General Phan Van Giang, Politburo member, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of Defence; and the representatives of diplomatic missions and international organisations in Vietnam.
Speaking at the conference, PM Chinh, also Head of the National Steering Committee on the Settlement of Post-war Unexploded Ordnance and Toxic Chemical Consequences, noted that wartime UXO poses a daily threat to people and also a hindrance to socio-economic development, citing preliminary statistics as showing that since 1975, the deadly legacy of war has killed more than 40,000 people and injured 60,000 others.
The Government leader also emphasised that Vietnam has made active moves in settling the consequences of war, including UXO, over the past many years, and Programme 504 is important to socio-economic development as well as the stabilisation of people’s life.
Over 5,000 UXO victims and others have received assistance in health care, vocational training, and with their livelihoods. Besides these, hundreds of thousands of people, especially those in areas heavily polluted with UXO, have accessed methods for preventing UXO accidents. Notably, the number of UXO accidents has been reduced significantly, with many localities free of such incidents for many years.
Vietnam will push ahead with mine action and remain a trustworthy partner, an active and and responsible member of the international community, PM Chinh stated, calling on other governments, ambassadors, international organisations, and sponsors to continue supporting to help Vietnam get rid of UXO.
Prior to the promulgation of the national mine action programme, 6.1 million hectares of land in Vietnam was contaminated with UXO, 18.82 percent of the country’s total. During 2010 - 2020, UXO detection and clearance were carried out on 485,000ha at a total cost of over 12.61 trillion VND (553.3 million USD), including more than 10.4 trillion VND from the domestic budget and nearly 2.2 trillion VND in foreign non-refundable aid. As a result, the UXO-contaminated land has been shrunk to 5.6 million ha, equivalent to 17.71 percent of the country’s area, according to the national steering committee for settling post-war UXO and toxic chemicals.
It noted the non-refundable official development assistance (ODA) projects funded by the governments of other countries, including the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and Norway, and international organisations like MAG, NPA, Golden West, SODI, and Peace Tree, have also generated practical benefits for people and substantially contributed to overall social development in Vietnam.
