After nearly 30 years (1996-2025) of cooperation with international organizations, Quang Tri province has become a model for addressing the legacies of war.
According to Quang Tri Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jerry Guilbert, Chief of the Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) Program under the US State Department, assessed that "Quang Tri is not only a model for Vietnam and Southeast Asia, but also a model in the world in removing explosive remnants of war."
Minimize explosive ordnance accidents
Quang Tri is the most heavily bombed province (about 80% of the total land area is affected by explosive ordnance).
Explosive remnants of war continue to pose a major threat to the safety of the local people in their daily lives and production. It is also an obstacle to the province’s socio-economic development.
Since 1975, explosive remnants of war in Quang Tri have caused accidents for 8,640 people, of which 5,271 were injured and 3,369 were killed.
Nearly half of all explosive ordnance accidents in the province occurred when people were working in the fields.
In most cases, the victims are primary breadwinners in their households, leading to devastating losses for their families and communities. Tragically, the province has also recorded that children under 18 have been nearly one-third of all explosive ordnance victims, a lack of awareness being attributed as a cause of these tragedies.
Over the past decades, Quang Tri has made efforts to overcome the consequences of explosive ordnance and heal the wounds of war. The province was the first to receive the Government’s approval to cooperate with international organizations in 1996 for clearance projects.
To date, Quang Tri is the only province that has fully implemented all components of a mine action program in accordance with international standards.
Over the past time, dozens of countries and organizations have supported Quang Tri in the work of removing explosive remnants of war, with the US emerging as a key supporter.
Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet and US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc E. Knapper press the button to detonate explosive ordnance in Huong Tan commune, Huong Hoa district, Quang Tri province. (Photo: Nguyen Linh/TTXVN)
Since 1996, the US Government has supported various programs and projects through NGOs; The budget for mine action programs and projects has amounted to approximately 104.8 million USD.
Currently, organizations such as the UK-based Mines Advisory Group (MAG), the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), and the US-based PeaceTrees Vietnam (PTVN) are collaborating to implement survey and clearance projects, with funding from the US Government.
The US-funded mine action programs play an important role in reducing explosive ordnance risks, clearing land for local livelihoods, ensuring safety for local communities, and supporting people with disabilities (PWDs). These programs have also created jobs for more than 1,000 local workers.
According to the Quang Tri Provincial Mine Action Steering Committee, cooperation programs with the US have achieved significant results, contributing greatly to poverty reduction and socio-economic development in the local area.
These programs and projects have cleared about 260 million square meters of confirmed hazardous areas and significantly raised public awareness of explosive ordnance risks.
In particular, explosive ordnance risk education has been incorporated into the curriculum for primary and secondary school students, helping to reduce the annual average of explosive ordnance accidents from 60 between 2006 and 2010 to just two between 2020 and 2024.
Towards a "safe province" with explosive ordnance
What differentiates the international cooperation programs for post-war mine clearance in Quang Tri province from others is that they are integrated rather than carried out individually. Their activities include explosive ordnance risk education, mobile explosive ordnance disposal, clearance, arranging resettlements in areas cleared of explosive ordnance, functional rehabilitation, community reintegration, and livelihood support for PWDs. They are also implemented in conjunction with poverty reduction efforts and local socio-economic development plans.
Officer of the August Engineer Corps (Engineer Corps) educate and raise awareness about the dangers of explosive ordnance, and how to prevent accidents for the Van Kieu ethnic group in Dakrong commune, Dakrong district, Quang Tri province. (Photo: Pham Thi Hue/TTXVN)
Quang Tri Mine Action Center (QTMAC) has been established to carry out these activities. This is the first and only provincial-level coordination unit in Vietnam. The center is an innovative initiative that helps optimize coordination between foreign NGOs involved in the mission.
The center deploys community liaison teams to collect information on explosive ordnance contaminated areas; establishes explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams to handle items of EO that pose immediate danger to the community; utilizes technology and innovation to accelerate clearance; implements infrastructure construction and socio-economic development projects; and provides explosive ordnance risk education to students and local people.
In Quang Tri, the area of land contaminated by cluster munitions (a high-risk explosive weapon) is 61,946 hectares, of which 37,705 hectares of land have been safely cleared with over 830,700 items of EO removed.
Under the coordination of QTMAC, from 2015 to April 2023, Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) completed the Cluster Munition Remnants Survey (CMRS) in all accessible areas in Quang Tri, identifying 1,270 confirmed hazardous areas.
This helps stakeholders have an overview of the explosive ordnance contamination situation in Quang Tri to support the effective planning of clearance resources.
According to QTMAC, Quang Tri is aiming to be the first province in the country to be “safe” from the impact of explosive remnants of war.
This goal is not the complete clearance of all explosive ordnance, but rather the completion of surveys and mapping of confirmed hazardous areas for monitoring; it also strives to ensure that 100 percent of the population is equipped with knowledge and provided support services, to live and work safely, reducing accidents caused by explosive ordnance.
In addition, the most dangerous types of explosive ordnance will be handled, and high-risk contaminated land with use demand will be prioritized for clearance, while the remaining areas will be controlled and cleared in order of priority, following land use needs.
Vice Chairman of the Quang Tri Provincial People's Committee Hoang Nam said the province hoped to receive continued support from the US government in mine action programs through international non-governmental organizations to achieve the goal of becoming a "safe province" with explosive ordnance in 2025.
During the recent visit to Quang Tri on April 2, US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Evans Knapper affirmed that the US Government will continue to support Vietnam, especially Quang Tri province, in overcoming the consequences of war, based on respect for the past and focus on a prosperous future.
Source: vietnamplus.vn
