SUMMARY OF DECEMBER'S ACTIVITIES AND OUTPUTS

The programme continued to reduce the threat of unexploded ordnance (UXO) to vulnerable communities in Vietnam by implementing humanitarian mine action in Quang Binh and Quang Tri Provinces.

- Nine Mine Action Teams (MATs), supported by four Community Liaison (CL) Teams.

- Teams visited 829 houses, searching 2,540 square metres of land; performing 346 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) tasks; and removing a total of 192 items of UXO and two mines.

- Community Liaison teams conducted 14 community/partner meetings; visiting 107 villages, conducting 1,119 house to house surveys; documenting 267 mine/UXO reports; generating 58 post-clearance impact reports.

- These activities benefited 34,719 people, mainly in remote, marginalised communities.

SUMMARY OF IMPACT

- Creating a more secure environment for the Vietnamese people by reducing risk to life and limb.

- Building national capacity.

- Building safer communities and working to improve the futures of people affected by the explosive remnants of conflict.

- Creating poverty alleviation opportunities by freeing up land that can be used for sustainable livelihood generation and infrastructure projects.

OPERATIONAL UPDATE

Quang Binh Province:

Mobile Operations: MATs 1, 3 & 4 based in the province conducted mobile operations during the month, visiting 829 households, searching 2,540 sq/m of land and removing 67 items of UXO.

Static Site Clearance: All four MATs cleared 18,932 sq/m of land on five separate sites and destroyed eight items of UXO.

EOD Response Tasks: Two of the MATs conducted four EOD Response Tasks during the period, removing and destroying four UXO items.

Community Liaison: CL teams conducted five community/partner meetings; visited eight villages, conducted 1,119 house-to-house surveys; documented 172 mine/UXO reports.

Quang Tri Province:

Mobile Operations: MAT 2 based in the province conducted mobile operations during the month, responding to Community Liaison information, and removing 33 items of UXO and two mines.

Scrap yards: One MAT was tasked with visiting three scrap yards in the province, conducting five tasks and removing 78 items of UXO.

Static Site Clearance: All five MAT Teams were deployed to conduct clearance of a 140,000 sq/m site for a sustainable agricultural project. The teams cleared 90,800 sq/m, destroying 26 items of UXO.

EOD Response Tasks: One MAT conducted nine EOD Response Tasks during the period, removing and destroying 10 UXO items.

Community Liaison: CL teams conducted nine community/partner meetings; visited 99 villages; documented 95 mine/UXO reports; generated 58 post clearance impact reports; and produced information for one case study.

DONORS

MAG would like to express its gratitude and many thanks to the following current donors to the Vietnam Programme: Adopt-a-Minefield; DFID; Imperial Tobacco; Irish Aid; Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State; Schonstedt/UN.

To download this report in PDF format please visit www.maginternational.org/vietnam