A team from the Mines Advisory Group remove a wartime bomb in Quang Binh Province, 2019. Photo courtesy of Mines Advisory Group. (Source: Vnexpress)

Decades after the end of war, Viet Nam still suffers from the deadly threat from millions of tonnes of bombs, mines and UXO left by war, which have killed more than 40,000 and caused disabilities to over 60,000 others. At present, over 17 percent of the country's total natural land area is still polluted with bombs, mines and UXO.

In more than 10 years from 2010 to 2020, nearly 500,000 hectares of areas were cleared from bombs and mines under the National Mine Action Programme in the 2010-2020 period and mission orientation for 2021-2025 (Programme 504).

More than 5,000 victims of bombs and mines have received support in various forms worth over 50 billion VND (2.18 million USD). Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people in bomb and mine polluted areas have been educated with measures to prevent accidents related to bombs and mines.

Despite difficulties, the Party and State have allocated great resources to the settlement of problems related to bombs and mines, while calling for support from the whole society and international donors for the work.

Many projects in the field have been implemented with assistance from the governments of the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the UK, Norway, Germany, Australia and Russia as well as international organisations such as UNDP, UNICEF and many other international donors.

In the 2010-2020 period, total cost for activities under the national programme reached over 12 trillion VND (525.27 million USD), of which more than 10 trillion VND came from the domestic budget and more than 2 trillion VND from foreign non-refundable sources.

However, despite the efforts, Viet Nam has completed just nearly 70 percent of the target in bomb and mine clearance, while the ratio of polluted land area in the central and Central Highlands localities such as Quang Tri, Quang Binh, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Kon Tum and Gia Lai remains high.

In order to speed up the progress of bomb and mine consequence settlement, the VNMAC has recommended measures to the Steering Committee for Programme 504, including increasing the role of organisations and individuals, along with promoting international cooperation and the attraction of ODA in the work.

The centre underlined the need for the Mine Action Partnership Group (MAPG) in Viet Nam to intensify its operation and expand the country’s partnership with promising partners while fostering ties with traditional ones to broaden activities in bomb and mine clearance across Viet Nam.

It is also necessary to make full use of support from international organisations in researching and developing new technologies in bomb and mine clearance.

Viet Nam aims to eliminate accident caused by post-war bombs, mines and UXO in any corner of the country by 2025.