Lao PDR

His Excellency H.E. Dr. Peter Wienand, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the German Embassy and Ms Sonam Yangchen Rana, UNDP Resident Representative at the signing ceremony

In the world’s most cluster bombed country the continued presence of unexploded ordnance (UXO) poses serious humanitarian challenges. On average 300 people a year are killed or injured in UXO accidents. Their presence is also an impediment to poverty reduction. They prevent access to agricultural land and require additional resources for land clearance before any development can take place. UXO clearance is a precondition for the development of the nation and its attempts to graduate from Least Developed Country status by 2020.

To support their efforts, the Government of Germany has contributed 250,000 Euros to UXO Lao operations in Luang Prabang province. Ms Sonam Yangchen Rana, UNDP Resident Representative, said at the signing ceremony, “This will not only help save lives and increase human wellbeing, but will also help to preserve the area around the UNESCO World Heritage listed town of Luang Prabang and thus contribute to tourism development in the city.”

The German government has been one of the leading donors to the UXO Lao Programme. From 1998 to present the total funds provided by Germany amount to 2.5 million US Dollars. As a direct result of these funds 1,836 hectares of land has been cleared, 147 hectares of land has been released through technical survey, and approximately 356,000 people have benefited from risk awareness activities.