| Reducing disaster risks and assisting recovery
Overview
Lao PDR was heavily bombed during the Second Indo-China War, with more than 2 million tonnes of bombs dropped on all provinces between 1964 and 1973. More than 30 percent of these bombs failed to function and remain live and dangerous in the ground as Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). More than 20,000 people in Lao PDR have been killed or injured as a result of UXO accidents following the war.
UXO also negatively affects development and poverty reduction by considerably constraining livelihoods in rural areas, where the vast majority of people still live, through delayed land clearance and increasing costs of investment. UNDP helps people in Lao PDR be free of fear of being injured or killed by bombs and other leftovers of war.We also help people better protect their lives and property from natural disasters . Acknowledging the strong correlation between UXO contamination and the prevalence of poverty, the Government has committed to achieve a new national MDG9 on reducing UXO impact, including victim assistance.
UXO must be cleared in order for socioeconomic development to take place in the country. Through the Government's National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao), UNDP and other partners help to clear land with improved technology, training de-miners and offering community-based UXO risk education and surveys, particularly in the most UXO-affected provinces.
We have assisted the Government to establish the National Regulatory Authority for UXO/Mine Action as a focal point for prioritizing clearance areas, tracking survivors, and overseeing and setting standards for organizations that work on reducing UXO impact. We also supported preparation for the first global meeting of state parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, held in Vientiane in November 2010. This marked a milestone by bringing together for the first time countries that have ratified the treaty, United Nations Agencies, international organizations, civil society, and cluster bomb survivors. At this meeting, countries drew up a blueprint to translate this new global standard for international humanitarian law into action.
In disaster risk management, UNDP works to develop national and local capacities to better prepare for and respond to recurrent natural disasters such as floods, drought, tropical storms and landslides. These natural hazards particularly result in human and economic losses in poor rural communities in Lao PDR that depend heavily on agriculture. Our disaster management work, in turn, can promote effective governance and development that does not harm the environment.
Useful links
Convention on Cluster Munitions
MDG 9 in Lao PDR
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Lao PDR
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