Lao PDR

Left to right: New Zealand's Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, Ms. Georgina te Heuheu, H.E. Onchanh Thammavong, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Ms Sonam Yangchen Rana, UNDP Resident Representative. Photo: Laophoto/UN

The Government of New Zealand has today contributed 860.000 US dollars to UXO Lao operations in Xiengkhouan province. Ms Sonam Yangchen Rana, UNDP Resident Representative, said at the signing ceremony, “The contribution from New Zealand will provide a much needed and important injection of funds to support the citizens of one of Laos’ most heavily contaminated provinces overcome a significant obstacle to development.”  

New Zealand’s Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, Ms. Georgina te Heuheu, was impressed with the leadership of the Government of Lao PDR in hosting and taking on the Presidency of the First Member States Parties Meeting to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.  The Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of Lao PDR, Ms Onchanh Thammavong, in attendance to witness the commitment, also expressed her gratitude to the Government of New Zealand in recognition of their generous and sustained support in the sector.         

The presence and scale of UXO pose humanitarian challenges throughout Laos and are an impediment to poverty reduction and the development of the country.  Bombies have caused death and injuries to an average of 300 people a year over the past decade.  In addition, they prevent access to agricultural land and require substantial extra resources for UXO clearance before any kind of development, such as road building, tourism development and school construction, taking place in UXO-affected areas.   

New Zealand’s latest financial support will be channeled through the UNDP Trust Fund and used to conduct area clearance activities, roving Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) tasks, general survey and technical survey tasks, community awareness activities, and procurement of vehicles and other equipment. Support provided will be in line with the Lao Government’s National Socio-Economic Development Plan, the Millennium Development Goals, and the Convention on Cluster Munitions.   The announcement and signing event was organized in Vientiane on 9 November, marking the opening day for the First Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.  The obligations under the Convention will not be met without sustained and increased financial support from the international community.  

Fact sheet on the UXO problem in Lao PDR (pdf)

Lao PDR is the most heavily bombed country in history (per capita), with up to 25% of the villages contaminated with Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). During the period of 1964 to 1973, over 2 million tons of ordnance, including 270 million ‘bombies’ i.e. cluster sub-munitions, were dropped on Laos. With an average failure rate of 30%, approximately 80 million of them remained in Laos after the war. All 17 provinces of Laos suffer from UXO contamination.    

Notes for editors:

For more information please contact

Inka Leisma at the UNDP Public Information Unit
Tel: (021) 267 777 ext: 751, Email: inka.leisma@undp.org

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