Addressing a New York debate session within the framework of the Mine Action Week held by the United Nations (U.N.) on the occasion of the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on April 4, General Hoa said that Vietnam is among the countries most affected by unexploded ordnance (UXO).
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An overview of the debate session |
Today, unexploded bombs and mines are hidden underground in almost all Vietnamese provinces and cities, with around 5.6 million hectares of land contaminated, equivalent to 17.71% of the country’s natural land area.
Since 1975, over 40,000 Vietnamese have been killed and 60,000 injured due to landmines left over from the war, he stressed.
With joint efforts of the Vietnamese government and people, and the support of the international community, over the past 50 years, since the Paris Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam was signed on January 27, 1973, Vietnam has cleared nearly 2.5 million hectares of contaminated land to serve resettlement, ensure safety for people, and build economic works.
Many projects on the settlement of UXO consequences funded by foreign countries like the U.S., Japan, the Republic of Korea, the U.K., Norway, Germany and Australia, as well as U.N. bodies and foreign non-governmental organizations have been carried out successfully in Vietnam, the Vietnamese official stated.
In the coming time, Vietnam pledges to continue improving the system of legal documents in overcoming the consequences of bombs and mines, especially in building an ordinance on overcoming UXO consequences, participating in the development of international standards and perfecting national standards and regulations in line with international standards, and perfecting a national database system to speed up the settlement of UXO consequences.
Vietnam continues to carry out surveys and demining activities, step up dissemination to raise people's awareness of UXO-related accident prevention and provide support for UXO victims, he added.
While in New York, the VNMAC Director General is scheduled to meet U.N. Under Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu and Director of the U.N. Mine Action Service (UNMAS) Ilene Cohn to discuss cooperation activities to overcome UXO consequences in Vietnam in the time ahead.
Source: PANO/VNA
Translated by Chung Anh