Permanent Mission of the Lao PDR 317 East 51st Street New York, NY 10222 Tel: (212) 832-2734. Fax: (212) 750-0039. E-Mail: laoun@undp.org

STATEMENT
BY
H.E. Mr. ALOUNKEO KITTIKHOUN,
AMBASSADOR, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE
OF THE LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
TO THE UNITED NATIONS IN PLENARY ON ITEM 34
"ASSISTANCE IN MINE CLEARANCE"

NEW YORK, 5 DECEMBER 1996

PLEASE CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
N. 8 K-CLEARANCE

Mr. President, 

"Of course, I am very scared, but what can we do? We have to do the farming to survive" said a Lao mother who was injured in the head by bomblet shrapnel. "No body at school told me it could be dangerous" said an adolescent boy, sitting on a metal hospital bed, looking at his wounds on his shoulder and leg badly burned by a phosphorous bomb.

  "There are so many of them, just everywhere, it will be very hard to say one day that Laos is cleared, but we want to reduce the risks" said a UNDP adviser in the field.

  "We spent three months on a school site which was about one third of hectare, there were 700 unexploded ordnances" said a foreign expert of UXO clearance programme. 

These are the feelings of peoples on the ground, at the grass root levels in Laos that may give an idea of what the situation there is and how difficult it may be to overcome the problem of unexploded ordnance in our country. We urge the entire world community to give a serious look at the problem and help us in addressing it in the most efficient way possible. 

Mr. President,

From 1964 to 1973, our country, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, suffered during the war intense ground battles and some of the heaviest aerial bombing in world history. Ground battles left a staggering amount of unexploded ordnance such as mortar shells, munitions and land mines etc...., the aerial bombing (2 million tons for a population of 4.5 millions) consisted of anti-personnel cluster bombs that were to explode on or shortly after impact. Due to the lack of data, the bomblets or bombies as we call them in Laos, can be everywhere, in the fields, on the hill sides, inside villages, along roads and in the center of towns. It is estimated that unexploded ordnance contamination still affects up to 50% of Laos's total land mass (12 out of 16 provinces namely Attopeu, Bolikhamsay, Champassak,Houaphanh, Khammouane, Luangprabang, Oudomsay, Saravanh, Savannakhet,Sekong, Vientiane and Xiengkhouang).

Over 20 years ago since the war ended, we had no systematic Programme ofunexploded ordnance clearance or community awareness at the national level. Interventions and a number of small projects, however, have been launched in specific localities to deal with the problem.

 1. In 1975, after the war, the former Soviet Union provided us with equipment as well as technical assistance and training to assist in UXO clearance.

2. In the beginning of 1984, the American Friends Service Committee and the Mennonite Central Committee, two US NGOs, provided thousands of shovels to farmers in Xiengkhouang and Houaphanh provinces as a safer alternative to the use of traditional hoes for hand-tilling of ordnance-infested areas.

3. Ecole sans frontiere and World Vision International have produced educational materials about the hazards of unexploded ordnance and have them distributed in areas affected by UXO.

4. On a commercial basis, a number of companies have cleared nearly 200 ha of land, in support of irrigation, road and mining projects financed either by donor or by private investors.

5. The US military has cleared some land of UXO to ensure the safety of joint American/Lao teams conducting field investigations on American personnel "Missing in Action" in Laos. In the framework of an American-sponsored drug control rural development project in Houaphanh province, the US has also undertaken some clearance activities.

6. From 1994 to early 1996, the Mines Advisory Group, a British NGO and the Mennonite Central Committee, a US NGO have launched a "UXO eradication project" in Xiengkhouang Province. The project has been able to train 40 Lao clearance technicians and had developed a community awareness component to reduce the number of UXO related accidents in Xiengkhouang. 

On August 1st, 1995, aware of the tragic after effects of war, in particular in the form of landmines and unexploded ordnance, the Lao Government, together with UNDP and UNICEF have signed a Trust Fund for clearance of unexploded ordnance. A national Programme has been initiated, the objective of which is to reduce the number of civilian casualties and increase the amount of land available for food production and other development activities. Here, we aim to put in place a long-term, sustainable and nationally directed Programme, a programme that includes unexploded ordnance clearance, community awareness, surveys and other related activities.

  In May 1996, arranged by UNDP, international journalists from Europe, Asia and the USA visited Laos to see the problems caused by unexploded ordnance and the strategies of the Government in dealing with them. Last July,following its visit, the CNN prepared a half-hour programme and has it disseminated throughout the world. For the same purpose of publicising the work being undertaken, the UN Department of Public Information produced a short video. We are grateful to them and thank them all wholeheartedly for helping us in mobilising the necessary financial resources for the Trust Fund.

  While 1996 fund raising seems to be quite satisfactory for the first year Programme (Apart from UNDP and UNICEF, Australia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, USA, Germany and private donors have contributed), effort now is being focused on securing funds for the medium term future. This would very much help our concerned authorities in their efforts to elaborate a long-term sustainable Programme if pledges can be made in advance and on a multi-year basis. To this end, UNDP and many friendly countries like Australia, New Zealand, Norway, USA and Germany, have already committed funding to future Programme activities up to 1998-1999. Allow me to seize this opportunity, on behalf of the Lao Government and people, to express our sincere thanks to all donor countries and organisations for their important financial contributions to the Trust Fund. It is our hope that other friendly countries would also find possible to give their contributions to the Fund. 

Our national Programme is ambitious. To implement it is a daunting task. We feel however that with the support and cooperation of the world community, this Programme can be put into concrete action.

Thank you.