Vietnam

2008 Key Data

Ten-Year Summary

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam continues to view antipersonnel mines as legitimate weapons necessary for self-defense. Vietnam has abstained every year from supporting the annual UN General Assembly resolution calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. It has shown an increasing willingness to engage on the treaty since 2007. Vietnam has claimed it has not produced antipersonnel mines since the treaty came into effect, and that it has a policy not to export landmines.

Vietnam remains one of the world’s most affected countries, predominantly by UXO, including cluster munition remnants, although there is also a mine problem. Vietnam’s military has conducted most of the clearance since the end of the war with the United States in 1975. However, in the last decade, international organizations have been allowed to take on a small but slowly growing role in central Vietnam. The creation of a bomb and mine action coordination center in 2009 marked a new effort to mobilize resources and give added impetus to clearance.

Landmine Monitor recorded 1,545 mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties (589 killed and 956 injured) in Vietnam from 1999 to 2008.

Community and school-based risk education has been conducted through NGOs for over 10 years in six high-risk provinces. An evaluation of the UNICEF program in 2008 concluded, however, that it will take time to ensure a sustainable level of behavioral change.

The efforts of both the government and NGOs have led to an improvement in medical and rehabilitation services for mine/ERW survivors in Vietnam over the past decade. There has been an improvement in the quality and quantity of emergency and continuing medical care, provision of artificial limbs, and vocational training and micro-credit programs. Persons with disabilities have been included in the drafting of national laws and policies in relation to education, employment, and rights of persons with disabilities.^[1]

Mine Ban Policy

Vietnam has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. On 2 December 2008, Vietnam abstained from voting on UN General Assembly Resolution 63/42 calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. It has abstained on all previous annual pro-ban treaty General Assembly resolutions. Vietnam has cited national security concerns, and especially border security, as reasons for not joining the Mine Ban Treaty.^[2]

Since 2007, Vietnam has more frequently attended meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty. Vietnam made its first statement during an intersessional meeting in June 2008, where it stated:

“We therefore have joined the world community to welcome the various bans, moratoria and other restrictions already declared by States on anti-personnel landmines as well as the growing consensus against the indiscriminate use of anti-personnel landmines against civilians….We support the humanitarian aspects of the Ottawa Convention of Anti-personnel Landmines but we could not sign it yet as it regrettably does not duly take into account the legitimate security concerns of many countries including Vietnam.”^[3]

Vietnam attended as an observer the Ninth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in November 2008, but made no statements. It also participated in the Bangkok Workshop on Achieving a Mine-Free South-East Asia from 1–3 April 2009, the second in a series of regional meetings convened in the lead-up to the treaty’s Second Review Conference. It did not attend the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2009.

Vietnam signed but has not ratified the Convention on Conventional Weapons. Vietnam has not signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions.^[4]

Production, stockpiling, and transfer

Vietnam has not revealed any new information in the past year regarding its production or stockpiling of antipersonnel mines. Vietnam has produced antipersonnel mines in the past.^[5] In 2008, officials said that Vietnam has not produced mines since the Mine Ban Treaty came into force, but also emphasized that Vietnam reserves the right to use and produce mines in the future.^[6] Until Vietnam issues an official public statement that it does not and will not in the future produce antipersonnel mines, Landmine Monitor will continue to list Vietnam as one of the few remaining global manufacturers.

In May 2008, an army official informed a Canadian government delegation that Vietnam’s stockpile of antipersonnel mines will expire in a few years. He stated that Vietnam has gradually started to destroy the mines “lot by lot.”^[7] The Ministry of National Defense told the ICBL in 2006 that the stockpile consists only of mines recovered from cleared minefields.^[8] In 2003, an official confirmed the existence of a stockpile of antipersonnel mines, saying, “Vietnam does not keep large stores of landmines, but we have enough to protect our country against invasion.”^[9]

Vietnam told States Parties in June 2008 that, “we strictly observe our policy not to export” antipersonnel mines.^[10] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously wrote Landmine Monitor stating, “Vietnam has never exported and will never export mines.”^[11]

Scope of the Problem

Contamination

Vietnam is heavily contaminated by ERW, mainly UXO, including widespread and extensive contamination by cluster munition remnants, which date back to the war with the US in the 1960s and first half of the 1970s. Vietnam also has a lesser problem of mines, mostly left by conflicts in the 1970s with neighboring Cambodia and China.

Almost all Vietnam’s provinces and cities are affected by ERW to some extent. The US dropped 413,130 tons (4.1 million kg) of submunitions on Vietnam between 1965 and 1973, striking 55 of its 64 provinces and cities including Haiphong, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hue.^[12]

The most affected provinces are Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, and Quang Tri in central Vietnam on either side of the former Demilitarized Zone that divided the north and south during the war. In 2009, Vietnamese officials estimated that some 66,000km² (20%) of the country is still affected by ERW,^[13] which is almost identical to official estimates in 2006.^[14] Officials reported in 2006 that clearance operations had tackled only 9–12% of the area affected by mines and UXO, and about one-quarter of the contaminating ordnance.^[15] An impact survey conducted in 2004–2008 estimated that almost 16,000km² of land was likely to be contaminated across the six central provinces.

Many items of UXO are also found along the border with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, where the Ho Chi Minh trail was a target of intensive US bombing during the war.^[16] Much UXO contamination is still on the surface, but considerable quantities are found below the surface at depths of up to five meters and, in cases of heavy ordnance, at depths of up to 20m.^[17] Despite extensive surface clearance operations since the war, contamination at depths of 30cm or more remain “hardly investigated” and pose a significant threat.^[18]

Casualties

In 2008, Landmine Monitor identified at least 90 new mine/ERW casualties (36 killed and 54 injured).^[19] All the casualties were civilians: 52 men, 27 boys, six girls, and four women. One casualty was a female of unknown age. For 44 casualties, the device causing the incident was not recorded: submunitions caused 13 casualties, mines five, and other ERW 28. The majority of casualties were involved in scrap metal collection (24), agricultural activities (18), and playing, handling, or tampering with the explosive device (17). Incidents were reported in seven provinces, with most occurring in Quang Tri (42), Quang Nam (17), and Quang Binh (10).

The 90 casualties recorded in 2008 is a decrease compared to the 110 new mine/ERW casualties (48 killed and 62 injured) recorded in 2007 and 96 casualties (39 killed and 57 injured) in 2006.^[20] Due to limited data collection in Vietnam, comparison of annual recorded casualty data may not indicate a trend, nor represent the full scope of the problem.

Casualties continued to occur in 2009, with at least 18 new casualties (eight killed and 10 injured) as of 30 June. All the casualties were civilians: 11 men, two boys, one woman, and one child of unknown gender. Nine casualties were caused by submunitions, another four by other ERW, and the devices causing five incidents were unknown. Most casualties occurred during the collection of scrap metal (eight), “burning” (three), and agricultural activities (two).

The cumulative number of mine/ERW casualties in Vietnam is unknown. Landmine Monitor analysis recorded 1,545 mine/ERW casualties (589 killed and 956 injured) from 1999 to 2008. Project RENEW, an NGO, has identified 6,941 mine/ERW casualties (2,587 killed, 4,349 injured, and five unknown) in Quang Tri province between 1975 and 2008.^[21] From 1975 to the end of 2007, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) recorded 104,701 mine/ERW casualties (38,849 killed and 65,852 injured).^[22] According to the Ministry of Public Security, there have been more than 138,000 mine/ERW casualties (38,000 killed and 100,000 injured) in Vietnam since 1975.^[23] People with war-related disabilities reportedly account for 26% of persons with disabilities.^[24]

Risk profile

UXO poses a greater threat to the civilian population than do mines, particularly BLU-26 and BLU-36 submunitions and M79 rifle grenades, which have together been responsible for most of the casualties since 1975.^[25] The greatest risk is in the provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue.^[26] Incidents are caused by livelihood activities, collecting scrap metal, and playing/tampering. They mostly occur during the flood season and summer.^[27]

According to a 2008 UNICEF evaluation of its support to mine action, three groups need to be targeted: the “unaware “ (including children aged six to 10), the “reckless” (children aged 11 to 16 and adults, including scrap metal dealers and collectors), and the general public, whose knowledge maybe fair to good, but many of whom are misinformed.^[28]

Socio-economic impact

Contamination imposes a heavy financial cost at a time of rapid economic modernization; it limits cultivation of affected agricultural areas and requires costly clearance operations for major infrastructure and industrial development projects.^[29]

The Vietnam UXO/Landmine Impact Assessment and Rapid Technical Survey also observes that “perhaps the most significant socio-economic impact of landmines and UXO is that their presence creates a burden of fear and concern among people living in contaminated communities and impedes full participation in a wide range of productive economic activities.”^[30]

Program Management and Coordination

Mine action

Under a 2006 Prime Ministerial Decision, the Ministry of National Defense oversees mine action at the national level and clearance is undertaken by the Army Engineering Corps of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN).^[31] The Technology Center for Bomb and Mine Disposal (BOMICEN), part of the Ministry of National Defense, has acted as a central coordinating body for clearance activities.^[32]

Provincial authorities coordinate mine action below the national level. NGOs engaging in mine action must sign a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Foreign Affairs of the province in which they work. Mine action priorities are set by the provincial government. District People’s Committees, which select the sub-districts or other areas that should be targeted.^[33]

The Vietnam Bomb and Mine Clearance Action Center (VBMAC) opened in February 2009 in line with a government decision announced a year earlier with a mandate to implement and accelerate clearance and to mobilize foreign funding for mine action. VBMAC said it was “the wish of the government to do everything possible to double national clearance capacity.” Although VBMAC’s director, Nguyen Trong Canh, is also BOMICEN’s director and he expected to recruit many of its personnel from BOMICEN, VBMAC is a civilian organization under MoLISA. In addition to clearance, VBMAC intends to engage in risk education and victim assistance and seeks to integrate UXO/mine action into broader development plans.^[34]

As of mid-2009, it remained unclear to what extent VBMAC would act as coordinator of the UXO/mine action sector. VBMAC said BOMICEN remained the lead agency in Vietnam’s mine action, and said it had been set up as “an implementing unit, not a policy-making unit.” However, VBMAC said it would actively participate and “coordinate” with the Ministry of National Defense in preparing a national mine action plan and would try to develop national standards.^[35] VBMAC also negotiated an agreement with Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) for support in developing a database unit to manage data from the UXO/Landmine Impact Survey and use it as a tool for tasking clearance operations by different agencies.^[36]

Risk education

VBMAC is also responsible for the coordination of risk education (RE).^[37] However, in 2008 UNICEF was the de facto RE coordinator, and VBMAC will need more technical, financial and legal support to take on this coordination role.^[38] UNICEF’s role is to support its counterparts and implementing partners, facilitate coordination of RE activities through the Landmine Working Group (LWG), provide financial and technical support for national implementing partners’ RE projects, and advocate for the Mine Ban Treaty.^[39] The LWG met quarterly, rotating between the central provinces and Hanoi. Most NGOs and government coordination agents participate.^[40] VBMAC participated for the first time in a Landmine Working Group meeting in April 2009.^[41]

Victim assistance

Formal coordination mechanisms did not exist in Vietnam for victim assistance (VA) in 2008. There was no VA framework and no agency had the clear mandate for coordination. However, the LWG quarterly meetings with NGO operators include collaboration on VA projects.^[42] VBMAC is also tasked with implementing government policies related to survivors and mine/ERW-affected communities.

MoLISA is responsible for disability issues and chairs the National Coordinating Council on Disability, which comprises 14 ministries and the Disabled People’s Organization (DPO). The National Action Plan for Supporting People with Disabilities (2006–2010) was revised in consultation with groups of persons with disabilities, and was implemented in 30 of 64 provinces in Vietnam in 2008. This reportedly contributed to improved care and protection of persons with disabilities in the provinces where it was implemented.^[43] Persons with disabilities were reportedly consulted in the development and review of national programs, such as the national poverty reduction program, vocational laws, and various education policies.^[44]

The Disability Forum is a network of disability groups and international NGOs, which addresses a range of issues, including rehabilitation and health services, employment, disability prevention, public awareness, barrier-free access to public places, as well as inclusive and vocational education.^[45] The forum acts as a coordination body for NGO activities.^[46]

Data collection and management

There is no comprehensive national data collection system in place in Vietnam. As such, under-reporting is certain. The 2008 and 2009 casualty data analyzed by Landmine Monitor was collected and supplied by Clear Path International (CPI). CPI has collected casualty data through news media and reports from local authorities in 14 provinces since 2001. However, CPI only records and reports on casualties for whom it has provided services.^[47] A number of other organizations collect data, including MoLISA, which is responsible for collection of data on persons with disabilities. Project RENEW collects data on Quang Tri province. The LWG has regularly discussed the need for increased information sharing and coordination work, including regarding collection and verification of casualty data.^[48]

Mine action program operators

Plans

Strategic mine action plans

Vietnam has no strategic plan for mine action. VBMAC has indicated it will work with the Ministry of National Defense to prepare one (see Program management and coordination section above). VBMAC expected to have some 600 staff in 2010 or “maybe later,” including 20 to 25 clearance teams. These would also undertake RE and, unlike BOMICEN’s clearance units, would focus more on integrating clearance with development priorities.^[49] VBMAC also planned to open regional offices in the north, center, and south, but had no timetable for doing so.^[50]

There is no national strategic plan for RE.^[51] UNICEF has a five-year plan from 2005–2010 in six provinces which aims that, “The population over 6 years of age in affected areas is aware of UXO/mine risks and empowered to take preventative measures through effective education and training including mass media, community-based mine risk education, school-based mine risk education; and the marking of risk areas.”^[52]

Integration of mine action with reconstruction and development

BOMICEN operations have supported key national infrastructure projects, for example the expansion of Highway 1 between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, but do not form an integral part of any national economic development strategy. Clearance by international organizations is tasked by provincial and district authorities according to local priorities.

National ownership

Commitment to mine action and victim assistance

The government approaches UXO and mine contamination as a major impediment to economic development. VBMAC reported that in 2008, the government spent VND800 billion (US$48 million) on UXO/mine action.^[53] The government is, however, concerned that clearance is proceeding too slowly and in April 2009 it set up VBMAC in a bid to attract international resources to enable it to accelerate clearance.^[54]

National management

The Ministry of National Defense has had responsibility for UXO and mine clearance, and it has conducted most clearance operations through BOMICEN. International NGOs undertake clearance under agreements with provincial authorities (see Program management and coordination section above).

National mine action standards/Standing operating procedures

BOMICEN operates according to standing operating procedures developed by the Ministry of National Defense. VBMAC plans to develop national standards and had discussions with Golden West Humanitarian Foundation in March 2009 about conducting a review of mine action standards in accordance with the International Mine Action Standards.^[55] A workshop to develop national standards for RE was facilitated by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in December 2007.^[56] Draft national standards dated 15 December 2008 were being reviewed by MoLISA as of July 2009.^[57]

Demining and Battle Area Clearance

BOMICEN and PAVN have undertaken most of the UXO and mine clearance in Vietnam, operating with some 600–700 clearance personnel and reportedly clearing about 200km² a year,^[58] but details of their operations are not made public. VBMAC planned to initiate operations in 2009 by deploying 10 teams with 20 members each in two districts of Quang Tri province.^[59]

International and local NGOs also engaged in mine and UXO clearance in 2008: Mines Advisory Group (MAG), Solidarity Service International (SODI), and PeaceTrees Vietnam (PTVN). NPA opened an office in Vietnam in November 2007 and in May 2008 started clearance operations in Cam Lo district, Quang Tri province, in cooperation with Project RENEW.^[60]

Identification of hazardous areas

In July 2009, Vietnam released the final report of a UXO/Landmine Impact Survey conducted by BOMICEN with technical support from the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) in two phases between 2004 and 2008. The survey covered all 1,361 communes of six central provinces considered most heavily contaminated: Ha Tinh, Nghe An, Quang Binh, Quang Ngai, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue.^[61]

The survey reported a total of 3,214 battle and mined areas covering 15,897km², more than one-third of the six provinces’ total land area of 45,115km², and affecting up to eight million people. Worst affected was Quang Tri province, with 739 bombed and mined areas affecting 3,866km² or 83% of its total land.^[62] Rapid technical response teams verified and cleared a total of 13.5km², less than 0.1% of the total area, removing 24,018 items of UXO.^[63]

In the first phase, completed in May 2005, teams surveyed Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, and Quang Tri and confirmed 1,308km² of land as contaminated and a further 3,057km² as suspect.^[64] The survey’s second phase, between November 2006 and June 2007, covered the remaining 214 communes of the first three provinces, and all 619 communes of two additional provinces, Nghe An and Thua Thien-Hue.^[65] BOMICEN reported that teams verified 7.85km² of land to a depth of five meters and destroyed nearly 17,000 items of UXO found to a depth of one meter. Another 40 detector signals indicating items buried at a depth of more than one meter were marked and reported to provincial military authorities.^[66] In 2008, VVAF and BOMICEN extended the survey to Quang Ngai and deployed 11 two-person survey teams to survey 180 communes as well as six 20-person rapid technical response teams. Fieldwork took place between May and July. VVAF reported clearance to a depth of five meters over an area of 2.12km², with some 7,000 items of UXO destroyed.^[67]

MAG community liaison teams conducted needs assessments in the provinces of Nghe An, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai in 2008, and Ha Tinh and Thua Thien-Hue in 2009, providing baseline data about UXO-related issues with a view to deciding the most appropriate province for expanding the program.^[68] NPA also conducted a needs assessment of Thua Thien-Hue due for completion in August 2009.^[69]

Mine and battle area clearance

MAG, the biggest international demining operator in Vietnam, had four international and 177 national staff as of May 2009. It operated in two central provinces, Quang Tri and Quang Binh with seven mine action teams which spend 90% of their time on roving tasks and only 10% on static clearance. In 2009, MAG expected to reduce its presence in Quang Tri from five to three teams with a view to expanding into Quang Nam province, subject to the availability of funds. Post-clearance assessments conducted on all MAG sites found 61% in use as planned, 35% still under development, and 4% under unplanned use.^[70]

NPA, working in partnership with Project RENEW, provides technical support and management for a roving explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team in Quang Tri. In 2008, it conducted 224 tasks and cleared a total of 977 items of UXO, of which 254 were submunitions and seven were mines.^[71]

PTVN, which has operated in Quang Tri province since 2005, added a second EOD team in 2008 bringing the number of technicians to 20. It also operated two RE teams with a total of 20 staff. In 2008, the EOD teams undertook 241 roving tasks, clearing a total of 53,298m² and destroying 14,577 items of UXO.^[72]

SODI, with a total staff of about 170 people, operated in two provinces, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, deploying an area clearance team and mobile team in each province. SODI reported higher productivity as a result of area clearance teams switching from a 100% metal-free methodology to battle area clearance and deploying new detectors, including large-loop detectors. It also added a second roving unit within one of its mobile teams, improving speed of response and the range of operations. The area clearance teams cleared 1.66km² in 2008, up from 1.48 km² in 2007, and destroyed 6,501 items of UXO, while the mobile teams cleared an area of 0.12km² and destroyed 13,548 items of UXO, up from 8,510 in 2007.^[73]

VVAF provided technical support to BOMICEN for two clearance projects. The first, implemented in October–December 2008 in Quang Tri province, involved three 20-person clearance teams and resulted in surface clearance of 99,486m² and clearance to a depth of five meters over 214,472m², removing six landmines and 254 items of UXO, including one 500-pound (227kg) bomb. The second project, implemented in June–August 2009 in Nghe Anh province, also involved three 20-person teams which cleared 202,000m² and 17 items of UXO, including five bombs.^[74]

Risk Education

RE was conducted by six NGOs in 2008, working in partnership with other organizations, and UNICEF working in partnership with the Research Centre for Ethnic Minorities’ Education (under the Ministry of Education and Training), the Departments of Education and Training in three provinces, Youth Unions, and Project RENEW.^[75] Total beneficiary numbers for the whole country are not available, but in Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue around 150,000 people were reached.^[76]

RE was delivered through community-based and school-based RE in six high-risk provinces: Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa, and through the mass media. Despite the need for RE in other provinces in the central and south-central region of Vietnam, NGOs have not been successful in raising funds for further expansion to these areas.^[77]

A 2008 UNICEF evaluation identified challenges to RE, including the lack of an updated nationwide UXO/mine casualty database and an effective coordination mechanism.^[78]

Limited needs assessments are conducted at the local level.^[79] A knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) survey was conducted as part of the UNICEF evaluation in July 2008. It found that there was a high level of understanding among children, but that children were also found to be scrap metal collectors. It also found that while adults had a higher knowledge and understanding of risks, a greater number had not reached a stage of adopting safer behavior.^[80] Catholic Relief Services (CRS) conducts baseline studies on UXO/mine contamination, casualties, and KAPs of at-risk groups each time it commences RE in a new district.^[81]

Two studies pointed to the challenge RE faced in addressing scrap metal collection. A Project RENEW/NPA study found that RE “interventions are ineffective in terms of modifying the behaviour of collectors” as in most cases people are aware of the risks but do it out of economic necessity. It suggested that RE activities be revised to determine whether a more effective message could be sent, such as focusing on schoolchildren, and working with women to discourage their husbands and sons from taking risks.^[82] The UNICEF evaluation also concluded that RE must go beyond the dissemination of information, for example by looking for incentives for safe behavior, and looking at safe practices in scrap metal collection.^[83] In 2008, the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation launched a project to reduce the risk of scrap metal collection by setting up 28 Safe Holding Areas in Quang Tri province.^[84]

A UNICEF project in 2008 increased attention to building the capacity of the education sector and youth unions to provide RE in the school curriculum and using a child-to-child methodology to facilitate RE and other extracurricular activities. Teacher training was implemented in 18 schools in each province.^[85] However, KAP study findings show that results from schools not involved in mainstreaming RE into the school curriculum were indistinguishable from those in schools where it was used,^[86] and recommended that a monitoring system be put in place.^[87] Other NGOs, including Counterpart International and CRS, were also involved in school-based RE.^[88]

The UNICEF evaluation also recommended that financial support for district mobile communication teams be discontinued, as it was “not a cost effective, efficient or appropriate vehicle for disseminating messages to the public.”^[89]

CRS disseminated telephone hotline numbers from MAG, SODI, and Project RENEW in Quang Tri, resulting in several requests for clearance of ERW.^[90] MAG established its community liaison capacity in late 2007 in Quang Binh and Quang Tri, and gained a roughly 25% increase in productivity as a result of the improved quality of information obtained and trusted reporting structures developed with stakeholders. A cooperative agreement with CRS was signed in 2008 to participate and assist in existing school- and community-based RE programs.^[91]

Although RE programs have a strong focus on capacity-building, the UNICEF evaluation recommended that it establish an explicit development strategy for its counterpart and implementing partners, demonstrating a clear transition by 2012 of the mine action project to government institutions.^[92] CRS works with local partners at every stage of project planning and implementation and conducts capacity-building, to enable them to take over the project with minimum support from international organizations.^[93] SODI’s program is nationally managed with one expatriate program manager for monitoring operations and giving managerial advice.^[94]

Eighteen TV and radio programs were broadcast in the ethnic minority language for the Bru Van Kieu group in Quang Tri.^[95]

No external monitoring takes place routinely.^[96] CRS staff, local partners, and community members conduct periodic monitoring of its activities.^[97] SODI activities are monitored occasionally by SODI headquarters staff or donor representatives during their program evaluations.^[98]

UNICEF’s mid-term evaluation in 2008 concluded that, “while it is difficult to determine causality of association between UNICEF’s MRE program and its project aim of reducing the incidence and severity of injuries caused by UXO/landmines in Vietnam, UNICEF can claim due credit for contributing towards a decline in mortality and morbidity rates linked to UXO/mines in recent years. ... The most significant improvements were in the areas of increased awareness and knowledge of children and adults on UXO/mines, more effective counterpart and partner annual planning processes, and development and promotion of Vietnam’s National MRE standards. There is a long way to go, however, to ensure a sustained level of behavioral change of majority people.”^[99]

Activities in 2008^[100]

SODI headquarters conducted an evaluation of its work in 2008, monitoring one RE performance in a village. They concluded that there needed to be greater interaction and more audience participation.^[101]

RE has been conducted in Vietnam for over 10 years, by up to six international organizations working with Vietnamese partners, including the Ministry of Education and Training, Women’s Union, Youth Union, the Committee for the Care and Protection of Children, and the Committee on Population, Family and Children. RE has mainly focused on six provinces, with most activities taking place in the three provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue. Many contaminated areas have been underserved. It has mainly been community-based, with a particular focus on school-based RE, with the training of teachers and the development of a curriculum-based classroom teaching program, and has also been delivered through mass media. RE has also been delivered alongside clearance activities.^[102] The number of beneficiaries increased each year until 2007, when it decreased slightly.^[103]

In 1998, PTVN established the Danaan Parry Landmines Education Center in Quang Tri, which served as a training and resource center.^[104] UNICEF took on a major role in RE in 2004, and in 2006 appointed a full-time RE officer.^[105] From 2004, UNICEF implemented an injury prevention program in 15 provinces using mass media and a manual for use in homes, communities, and schools.^[106] In 2004, a program targeting scrap metal collectors was conducted, including income generation projects.^[107]

Needs assessments and evaluations conducted in 2003 and 2004 showed that the majority of people were aware of the danger from mines and UXO, but most did not report or mark dangerous objects. They also concluded that RE did contribute to a reduction in casualties.^[108]

Victim Assistance

The total number of survivors is unknown, but is estimated to be 100,000.^[109] Healthcare and rehabilitation services were generally adequate in Vietnam in 2008. Yet services are unevenly distributed across regions and costs for transport and medical care itself remain a barrier for many persons with disabilities. The services can be difficult to access, particularly for populations living in rural and mountainous areas. The majority of mine/ERW incidents occur far from provincial centers, where the healthcare services are concentrated. National health insurance was only provided to a fraction of persons with disabilities.^[110]

The Ministry of Health is responsible for the majority of medical care. Rehabilitation services are provided by the Ministry of Health in coordination with MoLISA, and with the support of the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD). More than 300,000 persons with disabilities in Vietnam are reported to have received rehabilitation services, including provision of prosthetics, orthotics, and wheelchairs over the past decade.^[111]

Psychological and social support programs and economic reintegration activities were constrained by limited resources in 2008. NGOs and the government-sponsored rehabilitation program, which included approximately 100 vocational training centers for persons with disabilities, were the primary service providers.^[112] UNICEF reported in 2008 that 85% of all adolescents with disabilities did not finish primary school, and half of children with a disability are illiterate.^[113] However, the Vietnamese government reported, “The number of children with disabilities enrolled in secondary and tertiary education increases each year.”^[114] Moreover, an NGO working in Quang Binh province reported that the training, employment, and community participation of mine/ERW survivors has built a positive image of survivors’ capabilities in the general community.^[115]

The government has established a network of agencies and organizations operating at all levels throughout the country to protect the rights and interests of persons with disabilities, including MoLISA, the Viet Nam Association for the Support of Disabled Persons and Orphans, and the National Coordinating Committee on Disability.^[116] The National Coordinating Committee on Disabilities worked with local and international organizations to provide services in 2008, including social support, and advocacy for improved physical access to public buildings and transport, and employment opportunities.^[117]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the national constitution and other laws “all affirm disabled persons are citizens, society’s members, having full rights and obligations of a citizen, enjoying together with other citizens social achievements.”^[118] Vietnam has legislation protecting the rights and encouraging employment of persons with disabilities. The law requires businesses to meet a 2–3% quota of their workforce for persons with disabilities. However the government reportedly enforces these provisions unevenly.^[119] Barriers reportedly remain in education, employment, and participation in social activities.^[120]

The government signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 22 October 2007, but as of 1 July 2009 had not ratified the convention nor signed its Optional Protocol. The government reported in April 2009 that it was drafting a “Law on the Handicapped” and had progressed towards ratifying the convention.^[121]

Victim assistance activities

A major challenge for the VA sector in Vietnam is resource mobilization. One NGO reported it could not expand its program to provide support for survivors and their families due to a lack of funding.^[122]

MoLISA and the Ministry of Health with the ICRC SFD provided rehabilitation services through 10 centers in 2008. The SFD subsidized the provision of assistive devices and rehabilitation care to 3,054 amputees, 59% of whom were war victims.^[123] The SFD continued to provide technical support and capacity-building, including a training course for 17 orthotic and prosthetic technicians through the Vietnamese Training Centre for Orthopaedic Technologists.^[124] In collaboration with the Vietnamese Red Cross Society, the SFD distributed 204 wheelchairs for persons with disabilities living in remote and impoverished regions.^[125]

Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped (VNAH) provided technical support to five regional rehabilitation and prosthetics centers, vocational training, and advocacy on laws and policies for persons with disabilities in 2008. It also worked with one state-owned and three private wheelchair manufacturers, and a network of local government and civil society organizations to distribute the devices. VNAH provided 2,500 prosthetics in 2008, physical rehabilitation to 450 persons with disabilities, and vocational training to 230.^[126]

Since Project RENEW began operations in 2002 in Quang Tri province, it has assisted 1,178 mine/ERW survivors and their families through microcredit projects and assistive devices. In Huong Hoa district, Quang Tri province, the Prosthetic and Orthopedic Mobile Outreach Program provided physical rehabilitation to 171 persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors in 2008. The majority of those assisted were fitted with an artificial limb. Project RENEW reported the 25 mine/ERW survivors who attended their vocational training course all reported a significant increase in income after participating in the program.^[127] Fifty survivors and their families were assisted in 2008 through the micro-credit project. Cooperation between Humpty Dumpty Institute and Project RENEW continued in 2008 to work towards establishing a mushroom farming project.^[128]

Clear Path International provided a wide range of services to 1,664 persons with disabilities in 2008, including 1,144 mine/ERW survivors and their families. Of the mine/ERW survivors assisted, 72 were new casualties in 2008. Services included emergency and on-going medical care, family counseling for recent victims, prosthetics provision and rehabilitation, and small grants, including educational scholarships and sponsorship of sport events for persons with disabilities.^[129]

Landmine Survivor Network Viet Nam (LSN Viet Nam) coordinated a diverse peer support program in Quang Binh province, assisting 382 mine/ERW survivors in 2008. Activities included providing loans to 145 survivors and vocational training to 144. In addition, LSN Vietnam provided assistance to more than 400 persons with disabilities through 20 self-help groups in 66 communes. LSN Viet Nam is working towards national registration as an NGO.^[130]

PTVN provided medical assistance and economic reintegration to mine/ERW survivors in Quang Tri province in 2008.

Support for Mine Action

Landmine Monitor is not aware of any long-term comprehensive cost estimates for meeting mine action needs (including RE and VA) in Vietnam. In June 2005, BOMICEN stated that without exact statistics on contamination and casualties, an accurate estimate of general funds required for clearance and VA was not possible.^[131]

National support for mine action

Vietnam has never reported the amount of funds that it has spent on mine action with the exception of 2002 when the Ministry of National Defense stated that the government had invested “hundreds of billions of dong [tens of millions of US dollars] for mine detection and clearance” each year.^[132]

International cooperation and assistance

In 2008, five countries reported providing $7,637,404 (€5,186,340) to mine action in Vietnam. Reported mine action funding in 2008 was approximately 93% more than reported in 2007.

2008 International Mine Action Funding to Vietnam: Monetary^[133]

In addition to the funding listed above, in March 2009, Iceland announced providing €22,000 ($32,397) to raise public awareness of unexploded ordnance in Thua Thien-Hue province.^[134] Also in March 2009, Solidarity Service International (Germany) pledged €435,250 ($640,949) for clearance in Quang Tri province.^[135] SODI mine clearance projects in Vietnam are funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and private donations.^[136]