A total of 34 foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and 23 international organisations are taking part in the settlement of post-war bomb and landmine consequences in the central province of Quang Tri, the most severely contaminated locality in Vietnam.

According to Nguyen Trieu Thuong, Director of the provincial Department for Foreign Affairs, since 2020, there have been 122 NGO-funded programmes and projects in the field launched in the province. Their costs totaled more than 59 million USD.

She named a number of active organisations such as Peace Trees Vietnam (PTVN), Mines Advisory Group (MAG), Clear Path International (CPI), and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA).

Their assistance helped revive many local places once severely contaminated by bombs and mines, she said.  

Earlier, in the 2001-2020 period, Quang Tri mobilised 270 million USD worth of funding from foreign NGOs to conduct 778 bomb alleviation projects. As a result, 25,000ha of contaminated land were cleared. The projects also helped raise mine risk awareness for over 600,000 local people, mostly students, and generate stable jobs for about 1,000 workers.

Quang Tri is the most polluted locality in terms of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Vietnam, with over 82 percent of its land area contaminated. War-left landmines and bombs have killed over 3,430 people and injured 5,100 since the war ended in 1975.

Since 1995, the local authorities have cooperated with international organisations to carry out demining activities.

By 2025, the province targets to clear 30,000ha of land, meaning it needs to mobilise some 10 million USD from foreign NGOs a year./.