YouSaid · the spoken record

Norwegian People’s Aid Viet Nam

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9
first
2021-04-08
most recent
2021-04-08
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1
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un-security-council

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  1. “Many other provinces in Viet Nam have not yet seen the benefit of extensive mine action activities like Quang Tri province has. So I hope that mine action remains on the agenda of the international community and that the recommendations I have made are well considered, so that all people in affected countries can live safely and development is not constrained by these explosive ordnance. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Government of Viet Nam for organizing this open debate on mine action and sustaining peace. I hope that the commitment demonstrated today will continue to grow and stronger partnerships and better delivery will be achieved in resolving mine action challenges.”

    2021-04-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/346 (2021) · source

  2. “We have shown that women can do this work just as well as men and that women have an important and necessary role to play in mine action and in the larger peace and security agenda. Mine action in Quang Tri has come a long way, and by working together we have made substantial progress in reducing the threat of explosive ordnance. The support for mine action from the Government of Viet Nam, as well as international donors — including the Governments of the United States, Norway, Ireland and the United Kingdom — is critical in allowing my colleagues and me to continue to make the people and land in Quang Tri safe from explosive remnants of war. However, there is plenty of work left to be done. Many villages still require full survey and clearance, and many people are still impacted by these explosive ordnance every day.”

    2021-04-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/346 (2021) · source

  3. “Frequent reflection and documentation of lessons learned and sharing these lessons in international forums is the best way to ensure that knowledge is shared and transpired beyond just one country. Finally, the involvement of women in all aspects of mine action should be promoted and increased. When I first worked in mine action in 2009, women were the minority, particularly in operational roles, and it was common for people to think that mine action was a job only for men. But now, Vietnamese women hold many different positions in all mine action organizations: from country directors, programme managers and team leaders to searchers and medics. I am very proud to have been part of establishing Viet Nam’s first all-women clearance team working for Norwegian People’s Aid at Project RENEW in Quang Tri province.”

    2021-04-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/346 (2021) · source

  4. “The partnership model in Quang Tri is an outstanding example of what can be achieved when mine action is coordinated well, communication is frequent among all stakeholders, data is shared openly, and everyone works towards a common goal. Thirdly, the international community can benefit from the experience and expertise of countries with long-term impacts from explosive ordnance. While there are new conflicts, new challenges, new threats and new areas with high need for humanitarian support, we should not forget the impact of legacy weapons, such as those in Viet Nam, and the decades of experience, knowledge and skills that have been developed through working in this part of the world for so many years.”

    2021-04-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/346 (2021) · source

  5. “An example of this is the day-to-day cooperation in Quang Tri between non- governmental organizations (NGOs) and the military, where military personnel liaise with each village to ensure smooth implementation of our survey and clearance operations, and where military and NGO operational teams work side by side under the coordination of the provincial mine action authority. All stakeholders in the province S/2021/346 S/2021/346 work towards the same strategic goals, outlined in a five-year plan by the provincial Steering Committee on Mine Action, and regularly coordinate on daily operations to ensure that everyone benefits from each other’s experience.”

    2021-04-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/346 (2021) · source

  6. “Secondly, all national and international mine action stakeholders should coordinate closely at every level — including operational, management and policy levels — to ensure the effectiveness of mine action operations. The successes we have seen in Quang Tri — more than 600 villages surveyed, 21 million square metres of land safely cleared, 748,000 explosive items destroyed and nearly 900,000 people, including over 300,000 women and girls, directly supported — is a clear result of close cooperation in Quang Tri among the Government, the military, national and provincial mine action authorities, international organizations and the donor community.”

    2021-04-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/346 (2021) · source

  7. “First, national capacity and national ownership should be increased to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of mine action results. While international technical expertise has been important to mine action in Quang Tri, the final aim has always been to support Vietnamese people in solving the ERW problem ourselves. Vietnamese expertise developed over the past 15 years is now driving operational development and management. Capacity development of national and provincial mine action authorities remains a priority for donors and Norwegian People’s Aid alike, which has resulted in better coordination and monitoring of all mine action activities by national and provincial authorities. To be successful in mine action, leadership from local government and national ownership is crucial.”

    2021-04-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/346 (2021) · source

  8. “Since the war ended in 1975, nearly 3,500 people have been killed and over 5,000 have been injured by explosive remnants of war (ERW) in Quang Tri province alone. However, thankfully there have been no accidents in the past three years, as a result of increased survey, clearance and risk education activities. After 12 years working in mine action, I am now responsible for all the activities of Norwegian People’s Aid in Quang Tri and oversee around 300 staff who spend each day travelling to different villages to search for and destroy explosive remnants of war. Today I would like to take this opportunity to share with the Security Council and the international community some recommendations that I believe will lead to more effective and efficient implementation of mine action activities.”

    2021-04-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/346 (2021) · source

  9. “I thank you for the honour of briefing the Security Council today. I was born and raised in Quang Trị province, where the former demilitarized zone was drawn to divide North and South Viet Nam from 1954 to 1975. Because of its location, we were subject to some of the heaviest bombing in world history. In 2009, I began working in mine action. One of the first things I learned was the continuing impact of explosive ordnance. Even though the war ended nearly 46 years ago, explosive ordnance still can be found in rice fields, school yards and residential areas. I even realized that the strange objects that my friends and I found as kids when we were playing in the afternoon were actually grenades. We were lucky that we were not injured or killed then, but not everyone is that lucky.”

    2021-04-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/346 (2021) · source