Workshop on regional experience and global innovation in mine action
WVR/VNA - On March 29, in Hanoi, a regional workshop opened to share regional experience and global progress in overcoming the consequence of bombs and mines for peace and sustainable development.
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| Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet speaks at the opening of the Workshop. (Photo: WVR/Quang Hoa) |
Co-hosted by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the two-day event draws about 100 delegates, including representatives from the Vietnam National Mine Action Centre, ministries, agencies, localities and Mine Action agencies from Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet said in Vietnam, nearly one-fifth of the land area, or about 5.6 million hectares, remain contaminated with bombs, mines and explosive ordinances.
Within the framework of the National Action Programme on Settling Consequences of Unexploded Ordnance (Programme 504) for the 2010-2020 period, Vietnam has pooled resources worth more than 12 trillion VND (521 million USD) and cleared more than 500,000 hectares of contaminated land to create space for development, he said.
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| Ms. Ramla Al Khalidi, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam spoke at the Workshop. (Photo: WVR/Quang Hoa) |
Also at the opening session, Ms. Ramla Al Khalidi, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, said that landmines and explosives left over from the war are hindering socio-economic development and living standards, sustainable livelihoods of people not only in Vietnam but also in other countries in the region such as Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. The UNDP Resident Representative highly appreciates Vietnam's leading role in promoting mine remediation for sustainable development at international forums, especially when Vietnam was a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the 2020-2021 term.
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| Mr. Lee Kyeong-dock, Minister of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Vietnam. (Photo: WVR/Quang Hoa) |
Mr. Lee Kyeong-dock, Minister of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Vietnam emphasized that the Korean Government is highly committed to global efforts to overcome the war consequences, towards peace and sustainable development and hopes that mine remediation projects in Vietnam could make positive contributions to the good bilateral relationship between RoK and Vietnam.
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| Regional Workshop is co-hosted by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). (Photo: WVR/Quang Hoa) |
The Workshop has taken place in two days, from March 29-30, 2023. The event featured seven sessions discussing diverse topics, including sharing experience of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand in the effort; the importance of effective information management; the tripartite cooperation model of UNDP/KOICA/Vietnam, overcoming the consequences of landmines in the overall fulfillment of the sustainable development goals, technological advances and regional cooperation mechanism in the field.
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| Overview of the Workshop. (Photo: WVR/Quang Hoa) |
This year's event takes place in the context of Vietnam having recently completed the review of 10-year implementation of the Programme 504 and setting the goal of striving for no more landmine accidents or explosions nationwide by 2025.
(Source: WVR/VNA)
