Richard Hartman, National Program Director of APOPO in Vietnam

PANO - “The Vietnamese government has made wonderful and enduring efforts to overcome the aftermath of bombs and mines left behind from the war since the Vietnam War ended”, said Richard Hartman, National Program Director of APOPO in Vietnam, a non-governmental organization (NGO) specialized in mine action.

According to this director, in those efforts, Vietnam has received more active support from the international community, including NGOs like APOPO. Vietnam is highly appreciated thanks to its internal strength and self-reliance.

While meeting with victims of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in some rural Central areas, Richard is aware of many difficulties that they are confronting with. Thus, he said that APOPO would like to contribute to ensuring safety for the locals.

APOPO has been carrying out some projects relating to UXO clearance in some Central provinces, namely Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Binh.

This year, the organization will implement a capacity building project relating to mine action for 3 Vietnamese provinces.

“APOPO would like to further support Vietnam”, Richard confirmed, adding that the organization is closely working with Vietnamese army to carry out mine action and he himself is impressed by the army’s good capability and experience in the field.

Apart from APOPO, other sponsors at the recent Development Partnership Conference on Mine Action in Vietnam highly spoke of Vietnam’s mobilization of all resources for mine action, contributing to national socio-economic development, as well as the National Mine Action Program in combination with the education on the danger of UXOs, and support for landmine victims. They also hailed efforts of some local authorities in partnership with the army and some international NGOs in national mine action as well.

Translated by Ngoc Bich