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Laos
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Mine ActionAs soon as the needed permissions are granted, DCA will start the cluster munition clearance operations in Laos. |
DCA Mine Action
CHALLENGES
Fast facts
Area of operations: The northern province of Phongsaly, in the districts of Meuang Mai and Meuang Khooa. The province has up to 24 ethnic groups.
Plans for 2012:
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Gain an Operator's Permit
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Get accredited by the NRA.
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To establish and train one, possibly two, roving clearance teams in the Phongsaly Province to provide a service across two districts. The team will ideally be multi-ethnic and include people with disabilities.
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To conduct a contamination survey in the two districts to better estimate levels and the spread of contamination. Today the government only has old and incomplete US bombing data.
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Raise further new funding for clearance in Laos beyond the start-up funding provided by DCA.
Laos is one of the most heavily contaminated countries in the world when it comes to number of explosive remnants of war per inhabitant.
It was heavily bombed by the United States during the 1960s and early 1970s. Laos was officially neutral at the time.
If the maps of the areas bombed are compared with today's map of the poorest parts of Laos, there is still a strong and rather sad correlation.
The contamination is widespread in areas populated mainly by poorer, rural, hill-dwelling people, made up of many ethnic groups.
Accidents typically occur when people are farming or lightening fires, but also when children play with items they come across.
Finally, a large at-risk group is scrap collectors and dealers collecting and storing dangerous items with the aim of selling them at a later stage.
WHAT WE DO IN LAOS
In 2011, DCA Mine Action started the process of seeking accreditation and operating permits in Laos.
Once the permission has been obtained, the plan is to work initially in the northern most province of Phongsaly (bordering with China and Vietnam), where no humanitarian demining agency has ever worked.
The areas of work have been chosen in close cooperation with the National Regulatory Authority (NRA).
In addition to mine action, DCA will work with partner agencies to support development activities in Laos in accordance with DCA's mandate to work for the poorest of the poor, within the targets and objectives set by the government of Laos.