Laos

Mine Ban Policy

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. In recent years the Lao government has expressed an intention to join the treaty.^[1] At the Lima Conference on Cluster Munitions in May 2007 the Lao representative said that Laos would soon join both the Mine Ban Treaty and the “Oslo Process” to conclude a new treaty on cluster munitions in 2008.^[2] In a regional mine action conference in Phnom Penh in March 2007 the Lao delegation said that Laos “in principle is willing to become a member” and that, although no definite timeframe could be given for this, it could happen “very soon.”^[3] The delegation also noted that in late 2006 the government reached a consensus to continue preparations to become a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.^[4]

Several officials have stated concern that Laos will not be able to fulfill the treaty’s clearance obligation as a reason for Laos’s reluctance to accede.^[5] In April 2007 the director of the National Regulatory Authority for UXO/Mine Action Sector (NRA) stated, “If the government accepts and agrees to be bound by the Ottawa Convention, we have to implement it. If the government cannot because of the lack of resources or the immensity of the problem, it is a question of credibility.” He also noted that most of the accidents in Laos are caused by cluster submunitions, not mines, and adherence to the treaty could have an impact on clearance priorities.^[6]

Laos has not attended as an observer an annual Meeting of State Parties since 2003, but did attend the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in April 2007, its first in five years. It did not make any statements. Laos was absent from the vote on the December 2006 UN General Assembly Resolution 61/84 calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it has been for similar resolutions in previous years.

Laos is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its original Protocol II on landmines, but not Amended Protocol II or Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

In October 2006 the Australian Network of the ICBL sponsored in Vientiane a Regional Mine Awareness Youth Workshop for youth involved in the issue of landmines in the Asia-Pacific region.

Lao officials have stated that Laos does not produce antipersonnel mines, has no production facilities, has not purchased or sold mines, and has only a relatively small stockpile.^[7] The NRA director said destruction of the stockpile will not be a big problem if ever Laos joins the Mine Ban Treaty.^[8] There was no allegation of landmine use by any entity in Laos within the reporting period.

Landmine and ERW Problem

Laos is affected by landmines, but the problem is overshadowed by the greater threat to the population from explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly unexploded ordnance (UXO) remaining from the Indochina War of the 1960s and 1970s. Clearance teams have found at least 186 types of munitions, including 19 types of cluster submunitions.^[9]

Laos does not have reliable, up to date information on the degree, location or impact of ERW contamination. A national survey by Handicap International (HI) in 1996, although acknowledged as out of date, remains the primary data source on contamination. It found that 15 of the country’s 18 provinces, all those it surveyed, had districts significantly or severely affected by UXO; a quarter of the villages were UXO-affected, including 1,156 villages with large bombs.^[10]

The 1996 survey concluded that UXO “has a significant impact in terms of personal suffering, loss of productive labor force and adding a burden on the over-taxed health care system.”^[11] UXO has also posed a significant threat because of its value as scrap metal.^[12]

All sides in the war laid antipersonnel landmines, particularly along borders and around military bases and airfields. The HI survey reported that landmines (as opposed to UXO) were present in all of the 15 provinces it surveyed and continued to contaminate 214 villages.^[13] Clearance operators have estimated Laos may have 1,000 minefields,^[14] yet because of the remote location of many of these, operators say they pose little immediate threat to the population and are not a clearance priority.^[15] Landmines account for only 1 percent of the total items of ordnance cleared since 1996.^[16]

Mine Action Program

The Lao National UXO Programme (UXO Lao) had primary responsibility for clearance, coordination and regulation of all UXO action until 2004, when a government decree created the National Regulatory Authority, reporting to the Deputy Prime Minister and a Board of Directors including the ministries of foreign affairs, defense and security. After donor protest over delays in implementing the decree, the government appointed a director in December 2005 and the NRA became operational in 2006.^[17]

As of March 2007 the NRA employed 22 national staff and had set up three working groups for clearance, victim support and mine risk education, reporting to an operations officer and under management of the NRA director and a Chief Technical Advisor provided by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).^[18] The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) provided advisors in 2006-2007 to draft national standards and help to set up a database.^[19] ArmorGroup provided a technical advisor for standards and quality management in February 2007, financed by the US Department of State.^[20]

A decade after the start of systematic UXO clearance, Laos’ first national UXO/mine action standards, based on International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), were completed in English, distributed to all operators and posted on the NRA website in December 2006. The standards were expected to become official in 2007 after approval of a Lao-language draft by the NRA Board of Governors.^[21]

NRA objectives included assembling disparate data sources, including records of past clearance and US bombing data, into a national UXO database, and creating a victim database and national mechanism for reporting incidents. In July 2007 the NRA installed the latest version of the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) with assistance from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).^[22]

In 2007 the NRA aimed to open two provincial offices on a trial basis before establishing offices in the 14 UXO-affected provinces to coordinate data collection and prepare provincial annual workplans.^[23]

Donors, however, remained concerned that the NRA Board had yet to meet and that delays approving Memoranda of Understanding with some operators had left some donor funding unspent. Some government ministries previously responsible for oversight of mine action had yet to accept the NRA’s role.^[24]

Strategic Mine/UXO Action Planning

A national strategic plan for 2003-2013, The Safe Path Forward, adopted by government decree in April 2004, laid down broad objectives for the UXO sector.^[25] However, the plan pre-dated the NRA and had already been overtaken by developments including rapid acceleration in UXO Lao clearance rates and efforts to develop the database. As a result, the NRA initiated discussions with UXO Lao and other stakeholders in March 2007 with a view to revising and updating the strategic plan.^[26]

The NRA commissioned GICHD (through a contract with UNDP) in 2006 to lay the basis for “a new approach to addressing the Lao PDR contamination problem” that would set new standards for assessing risk and clearance priorities, tasking operators and releasing land to the community, accelerating clearance.^[27] The GICHD model, finalized in January 2007, was field-tested between March and June 2007 by four operators, and it was agreed to trial it for a further six months.^[28]

Integration of Mine Action with Reconstruction and Development

The 2003-2013 strategic plan acknowledged priorities of the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy and set as its main goal enabling “people from the most highly impacted communities to live free from the impacts of landmines and UXO.” The plan defined as the highest clearance priority agricultural tasks, roving tasks, public utilities and educational facilities.^[29]

Smaller operators have indirectly served national goals by undertaking clearance that supports poverty reduction programs and infrastructure projects. UXO Lao, the biggest operator, has focused clearance on tasks largely determined by local community leaders on the basis of perceived threats, whilst also following provincial development needs.^[30]

Evaluations of UXO/Mine Action

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) completed two evaluations in June 2006: a Clearance System Study reviewing performance of detector technologies, and Enhancing Technical Survey in Sekong Province which reviewed clearance methodologies. The studies were intended to raise UXO Lao’s efficiency and effectiveness, providing the basis for a transition from the mine clearance methodology employed for the past decade to battle area clearance appropriate to dealing with UXO. UXO Lao said the reviews could lead it “to completely modify its approach to its humanitarian mandate.”^[31]

The Clearance System Study recommended that UXO Lao combine detection equipment incorporating discrimination technology with more use of vegetation cutters, working with two-person lane teams, and that tasks are selected according to recommendations of survey teams based on assessed risk level.^[32] On the basis of the study findings, UXO Lao placed an initial order in April 2007 for 60 Vallon detectors.^[33]

The Enhanced Technical Survey study found that some sites cleared by UXO Lao yielded no UXO or mines. It proposed measures to improve task selection, and more thorough evaluation of proposed clearance tasks using US bomb data, historical records and interviews with villagers to determine appropriate responses (which might include cancellation of the task, deploying a roving team or using normal clearance methods).^[34]

Demining

UXO Lao, set up in 1996 and operating in nine provinces, provides the main UXO clearance capacity, with 572 deminers working in 23 teams.^[35] Other organizations engaged in UXO clearance included the international NGOs Handicap International, Swiss Foundation for Mine Action, Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and two commercial companies, Milsearch and Phoenix Clearance. MineTech ceased operations in 2006 at the end of a contract related to the Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric dam. The army engages in clearance operations in border areas and has taken on commercial tasks linked to road development and rural electrification, but little is known about the scope or results of its activities.

Identification, Marking and Fencing of Affected Areas

HI’s 1996 survey of the socioeconomic impact of UXO contamination collected detailed information from 7,675 villages to determine the presence of UXO, type of land contaminated and types of UXO, the number of casualties caused by UXO and their impact on affected communities. However, it did not attempt to detail locations or assess the extent of the area contaminated, and it has not been updated, limiting its present value as a tool for planning or prioritizing UXO action.^[36]

UXO/Mine Clearance

The amount of land cleared of mines and UXO increased to 47 square kilometers in 2006, 2.75 times more than 2005 (17 square kilometers), as UXO Lao improved productivity and organizations more recently established in Laos increased momentum.

UXO Lao increased the amount of land cleared in 2006 by one-third to nearly 21 square kilometers, helped by initiatives ranging from changes in clearance methodology to the acquisition of new equipment. Although the number of deminers was reduced by 22 in 2006, UXO Lao cross-trained 72 drivers and medical staff to work as deminers and 90 section leaders were also tasked to undertake clearance. Roving explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams achieved only half their 2006 target but still conducted 1,216 tasks in 754 villages, clearing 37,115 items of UXO, including 284 large bombs.^[38]

UXO Lao revised its standing operating procedures, moving towards battle area clearance instead of 100 percent metal-free clearance, increased use of large loop detectors and Minelab F1A4 detectors with large heads, and implemented recommendations of the Enhanced Technical Survey in five of its nine operational provinces.^[39]

Mines Advisory Group also substantially increased the amount of land cleared, to 614,301 square meters, after a major expansion of staff from 91 to 203, raising the number of UXO clearance teams from two (in northern Xieng Khouang province) to nine (also working in Khammouane province, south of Vientiane), including two all-woman teams. Of the seven new teams, three started work in May 2006 and four in January 2007. MAG also set up seven community liaison teams which, among other roles, assist in task selection and post-clearance assessment. The expansion supported three new projects, all linked to development programs.^[40]

The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) received government approval to work in Savannakhet province in January 2006 where it started clearance in April with two teams in Sepone district, working on 23 World Food Program (WFP) Food-for-Work project sites and clearing 46,958 square meters. In 2007 FSD widened the program to undertake UXO clearance for WFP and CARE (Australia) in Sekong province, although implementation was delayed until the government approved deployment of vehicles.^[41] As of July 2007, FSD had four international and 71 national staff.^[42]

Handicap International signed an agreement with the government in October 2005 and started clearance in May 2006, as part of its Integrated UXO Threat Reduction Program. It deployed a clearance team of 30 including 15 deminers in Savannakhet province, working in Nong district supporting a rural development project of Belgian Technical Corporation and in Sepone district supporting World Vision rural development work.^[43]

Milsearch-BPKP EOD Ltd is a joint venture between the Australian UXO clearance company Milsearch Pty Ltd and Bolisat Phathana Khet Phoudoi Group (BPKP), which works under the Lao Prime Minister’s Office. In 2006-2007 its major tasks included UXO/mine clearance for the Sepone Gold and Copper Project and for the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project. At its peak in 2006 Milsearch employed some 560 Lao technical staff and 22 expatriate technicians.^[44]

Phoenix Clearance Ltd, registered in New Zealand, started work at the end of 2005 on clearance for resettlement linked to the Nam Theun 2 dam project under a contract running to 2008. It took on several other projects linked to the dam including a roving response and community awareness program, clearance to support livelihoods, build power lines, and an environmental project to restore wetlands. Phoenix had a core team of about 40 technicians, increased to 200 as required.^[45]

In the first half of 2007 UXO Lao continued to report significant productivity gains, clearing 16.25 square kilometers of land (more than in the whole of 2005) and destroying 39,186 items of UXO.^[46] HI reported clearing 134,167 square meters.^[47] FSD conducted 19 roving tasks destroying 643 items of UXO and cleared 92,238 square meters and 438 UXO in 50 area clearance tasks.^[48] Milsearch cleared 5.2 square kilometers and 880 items of UXO.^[49] Phoenix reported clearance of 1.1 square kilometers and 280 UXO.^[50]

UXO/Mine Risk Education

UXO Lao and World Education Consortium (WEC) with the Ministry of Education were the major organizations conducting UXO and mine risk education (MRE) in 2006, as in previous years.^[51] Phoenix Clearance provided community liaison.^[52] UNICEF continued support to the NRA’s MRE technical working group.^[53] MAG supported the NRA unit through an MRE advisor and funding.^[54] Handicap International (HI) began community-based MRE in Savannakhet in January 2007.

In 2006 at least 273,569 people received some form of MRE in Laos, with UXO Lao reaching 152,579 people and WEC 120,000.^[55]  This is an increase from the 241,618 people who received MRE in 2005.^[56]

UXO Lao teams carried out MRE/community awareness in nine provinces, concentrating mainly on UXO. In 2006 UXO Lao visited 571 villages, reaching 152,579 beneficiaries; 68,986 were children. In January-May 2007 UXO Lao visited 226 villages, reaching 55,164 beneficiaries.^[57]

The American NGO, World Education Consortium (formerly Consortium Laos-World Education, Inc./ World Learning) continued working with counterparts in the Ministry of Education and education offices in 33 districts of nine provinces; planned expansion to eight more districts of nine provinces in 2006-2007 was implemented. Some 120,000 students, 3,800 teachers and 1,300 schools participated in the program in 2006. Both the arts and puppetry elements of the program now work through WEC-trained teachers for all classrooms, not only in “UXO class.” ^[58]

Both WEC and NRA commented that to refocus on higher risk areas with an in-school program is impractical. Also, it is “difficult to target high-risk areas with any degree of accuracy” until there is a comprehensive casualty surveillance system. Instead, WEC adjusted its coverage to concentrate on capacity development, training 30 teachers in each district per year until all high-risk areas are covered. While schools may not be in high-risk areas they may serve students from those areas owing to the great distances often travelled.^[59]

Handicap International’s Integrated UXO Threat Reduction Program included the Community Based Risk Education project, targeting 12 villages in three severely contaminated districts in Savannakhet province. After a needs assessment in December 2006, the project was deployed in January with one national manager and an assistant, three district supervisors and three-month training of 36 community volunteers (one per target village). As of July 2007 HI was in the process of identifying new risk education messages through community activities such as drawing contests and competitions, in part as a response to language issues between project staff and the ethnic minority target group. From January to July, 5,507 people participated in HI risk education activities (1,888 children and 3,619 adults).^[60]

Mines Advisory Group teams undertake MRE where a need is identified; they also ensure that when cleared land is handed over, communities and end-users are aware of residual risk. In 2006 MAG appointed an international community liaison manager, and community liaison officers were deployed to all MAG teams in April. It developed standing operating procedures based on IMAS, and an integrated approach to UXO clearance. MAG community liaison teams refer reports of new casualties to the NRA. In 2007, MAG plans to conduct a gender assessment in Xieng Khouang province to better understand gender differences among survivors and to develop practical mainstreaming of its UXO action process.^[61]

Swiss Foundation for Mine Action planned to include a small MRE component in its clearance project in Sekong province by the end of 2007.^[62]

The NRA’s MRE unit is responsible for oversight and coordination of all MRE activities, which is convened and chaired by the unit. UNICEF and MAG provide funds and technical support to the NRA MRE unit, with MAG seconding a MRE Advisor.^[63]

An October 2006 workshop led to the drafting of a national strategy and national standards for MRE. At the inaugural technical working group meeting on 2 November 2006, the draft Strategic Plan for MRE in Lao PDR, 1 January 2007-31 December 2010 was presented by UNICEF and the NRA. NRA, with support from FSD, also developed and presented draft national standards for MRE.^[64]

In 2006 UNICEF refocused its efforts in response to the 2005 evaluation by increasing support to the MRE unit through capacity development and formulation of strategies to address critical areas such as legislation, the scrap metal trade and behavioral change among high-risk groups.^[65]

High-risk groups in Laos include adults who actively and deliberately collect scrap metal, dismantle or move UXO out of farming land, scrap metal dealers, children who opportunistically and actively collect scrap metal or who play or tamper with UXO, adults and children involved in agriculture, out-of-school youth and young children.^[66]

The lack of accurate casualty data is seen as a major challenge to the provision of MRE in Laos. According to the NRA “[u]ntil we have an accurate and comprehensive victim information system it is relatively difficult [for MRE operators] to target high risk areas with any degree of accuracy.” ^[67]

Evaluations

Two major studies were conducted during the reporting period, one focused on risk education and the other on risk management. In October 2006, the UXO Risk Education Needs Assessment was completed by MAG and the Lao Youth Union (LYU) for UNICEF. The study confirmed that a complex set of socioeconomic factors contribute to intentional engagement with UXO, that overall there is a high level of awareness of risks and that characterizing at-risk populations as uninformed, unaware and reckless is less relevant to the context of Laos. Community awareness targets mainly unintentional risk taking and does not address most of the high-risk groups. Key recommendations were to establish a process for engaging stakeholders, revise MRE messages, strategies and information management systems, develop risk reduction strategies for children and young people, scrap metal collectors, people who dismantle UXO, and for farmers.^[68]

In March 2007 the Lao PDR Risk Management and Mitigation Model was completed by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD). This included case studies of two villages reinforcing findings of the MAG/LYU study about intentional engagement with UXO in the scrap metal trade, and the need for revision of information management systems.^[69]

According to UNICEF and NRA, recommendations from studies and evaluation in 2005-2007 have been integrated into risk education in Laos.^[70]

Landmine/ERW Casualties^[71]

In 2006 there were at least 59 new mine/ERW casualties in Laos (16 people killed and 33 injured; for 10 no details were known) in 25 incidents. Although this represents nearly a 65 percent decrease from 2005 (164 casualties in 91 incidents), casualty data collection in Laos is very limited and under-reporting is certain.^[72]

The following analysis is based on 49 casualties recorded with sufficient detail. Cluster submunitions caused 31 casualties (63 percent), unknown devices, usually cluster submunitions, caused three (six percent); only one casualty was caused by a landmine. Children were the largest casualty group, at 24 (49 percent), followed by adult men, at 22 (45 percent). The vast majority of child casualties were boys (17), in particular boys aged 11 to 15 years (14). Boys also constitute a high proportion (45 percent) of all cluster submunition casualties (14). The most common activity at the time of the incident was handling, at 53 percent (26); 19 people were tampering and seven playing at the time of the incident. “Burning” and “collecting” accounted for 12 percent of casualties each (six). Of note is that no casualties were recorded as a result of scrap metal collection.

Casualties continued to occur in 2007; more casualties were recorded in the first six months than in 2006: 71 (20 killed and 51 injured).

Data Collection

Casualty data and the detail in which it is collected have been found to be too inaccurate and incomplete to give a reliable picture of the situation in Laos. Under-reporting is certain as there is no comprehensive nationwide data collection mechanism.^[73] Official estimates of 200-400 casualties per year continue to be reported, meaning that under-reporting could be between 50 and nearly 90 percent.^[74]

UXO Lao has maintained casualty records in its database since 1996, but only since 1999 have records been complete enough for meaningful analysis; before that, casualty data was collected only in Xieng Khouang province and this is not used in cumulative data analysis.^[75] Casualties are reported via UXO Lao field operations, but they are only active in some districts in nine of 17 provinces. All mine action operators, and Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise (COPE) and the Lao Disabled People’s Association, report casualties.^[76] The UXO Lao casualty database differentiates among different types of ERW and, as a result, cluster submunition casualties are recorded as such.^[77] Activity at the time of the incident is not recorded systematically, which is an obstacle for targeted MRE. For example, the poor discrimination between playing and tampering incidents makes it “virtually impossible” to determine what sort of handling actually occurred.^[78]

The October 2006 and March 2007 evaluations noted earlier recommended better data management and active casualty surveillance.^[79] The NRA National Strategic Plan prioritizes the development of a mine/ERW incident database covering all 17 provinces. Data collection and management will be implemented under the new national UXO/mine action standards.^[80] The NRA’s victim assistance unit began developing a data collection and analysis methodology in August 2006, first with a retroactive survey and then ongoing active casualty surveillance. The survey will include information on all conflict and post-conflict ERW casualties in Laos. The NRA planned to start the survey in September after training data collectors. At least 17 provincially-based victim assistance technicians will be recruited to oversee the historical survey and, based on its outcome, the NRA will decide how many offices will be needed for ongoing casualty surveillance. Draft casualty surveillance forms were presented at the Victim Assistance Technical Working Group workshop on 19 October 2006.^[81]

Results of the historical survey will be integrated into IMSMA with the results of the 1997 HI survey and existing UXO Lao data. Information about survivors will also be included.^[82] The results will be distributed among stakeholders in quarterly and annual reports to be used for planning of clearance, MRE and survivor assistance.^[83] The NRA victim assistance unit issued its first quarterly report in May 2007.^[84]

The total number of landmine/ERW casualties in Laos is not known.  According to UXO Lao between 1999 and December 2006, there were at least 951 casualties (279 killed, 672 injured and one unknown).^[85]  The 1996 HI survey data contains records for 10,639 casualties (5,487 killed, 4,832 injured and 320 unknown) between 1973 and 1997.  Most (42 percent) incidents were caused by cluster submunitions (4,436); all other ERW caused 32 percent of casualties (3,429); unknown devices accounted for 15 percent (1,608); it is estimated that almost half of these casualties were due to cluster submunitions.^[86] Landmine casualties were recorded in every province and accounted for 11 percent of reported incidents.^[87]  This could mean there are at least 5,492 mine/ERW survivors as of 31 December 2006.

Survivor Assistance

Landmine/ERW survivors and conflict casualties are a significant proportion of people with disabilities in Laos, and are a drain on the country’s assistance facilities. Being concentrated in the poor segment of society, living in remote areas and mostly being from ethnic minorities, they suffer disproportionately from limitations of service provision. All rehabilitation services are urban-based and do not fully reach individuals with disabilities in rural areas, though development of community-based rehabilitation capacity continues.^[88]

Healthcare facilities in Laos are limited and curative care is of low quality. District and some sub-district health stations possess basic equipment for first-aid and amputations, but casualties requiring complex surgery must be referred to provincial and national hospitals.^[89] There is inadequate management and technical capacity at the provincial level, and lack of policy, coordination and capacity-building at the national level. Referral and reporting systems are weak. However, where funding exists and activities functioned in a coordinated and comprehensive manner, overall improvement has occurred.^[90]

While physical rehabilitation is reasonably well-developed, services are centralized and not easily accessible for survivors from rural areas. Psychosocial support has been non-existent and socioeconomic services are very limited. The National Rehabilitation Center implements or facilitates most survivor assistance and disability projects in cooperation with the main (international) survivor assistance actors.^[91]

Various measures directly and indirectly benefiting communities impacted by ERW contamination appear in poverty reduction and economic development plans. Mine/ERW contamination hampers the use and irrigation of up to 66 percent of the country and 50 percent of the arable land, exacerbating poverty in these affected communities.^[92]

Laos has legislation and policies to protect the rights of people with disabilities. Regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Lao National Commission for Disabled People provide protection against discrimination, but lack the force of law.^[93] UNICEF has supported the Ministry of Justice in the development of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Children, which was passed in April 2007.^[94] As of 31 July 2007 Laos had not signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Survivor Assistance Strategic Framework

Survivor assistance in Laos is included in the NRA National Strategic Plan, which states that the specific needs of survivors and their dependents “will be factored in all national [and] local public health initiatives.”^[95]

The NRA became operational in April 2006 and hired an international technical advisor seconded by COPE through UNDP support and a Lao national victim assistance officer in August 2006. The NRA victim assistance unit is mandated to develop policy, strategy and an information system through its technical working group, which meets every two months. The working group’s role includes coordination of survivor assistance programs, resource mobilization, and facilitating relations between government, operators and donors. It was agreed that the working group would meet every two months. The technical working group created national standards for survivor assistance that included guidelines for strategic planning, design and development, monitoring and evaluation and accreditation of activities; these were submitted to the NRA in February 2007.^[96]

Responsibility for providing services to people with disabilities is divided between the Ministry of Health, which manages national and provincial rehabilitation centers, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare which oversees the National Commission for Disabled People.^[97]

At least 2,737 people with disabilities in Lao PDR received services during 2006, including about 659 mine/ERW survivors, of which 43 received emergency or continuing medical care, 505 received physical rehabilitation and at least 111 received socioeconomic reintegration services.  Within this total, COPE provided assistive devices to 1,264 people (505 survivors) and physiotherapy mentoring to 70 people; it also provided 41,641 physiotherapy sessions.^[98] World Education Consortium provided 43 new casualties with emergency medical assistance and 111 survivors or family members received economic assistance or vocational training.^[99] Handicap International provided 1,219 people with disabilities with community-based rehabilitation services and capacity-building for 237 rehabilitation staff and other stakeholders.^[100] Sikeud Vocational School for the Disabled provided 100 people with vocational skills training.^[101] Association for Aid and Relief Japan produced 243 wheelchairs, 166 tricycles and 10 sport wheelchairs.^[102]

COPE continued to provide skills development support to the National Rehabilitation Center in Vientiane and four provincial prosthetic and orthotic centers.  Occupational therapy and physiotherapy mentoring programs that had ceased in May 2006 resumed in February 2007.  POWER rejoined COPE in late 2006.^[103]

World Education Consortium continued to support the health sector and survivor assistance through numerous projects.  The NRA technical working group used results of WEC’s March 2006 survey of 160 survivors and their families in Xieng Khouang and Houaphan provinces to decide on the provision of assistance.^[104]

Handicap International continued to provide physiotherapy and community-based rehabilitation (CBR), which was extended to three urban districts of Savannakhet and focused on inclusive education for children with disabilities. The HI CBR program reached four districts of Vientiane and 30 villages in six districts of Savannakhet in 2006.^[105]

The Lao Disabled People’s Association continued support to people with disabilities by protecting their rights, and promoting access to education and employment in 11 provinces.^[106]  The income-generating activities which were transferred from HI in mid-2005 were channeled into eight Village Savings Groups in late 2006.^[107]

Other organizations concerned with disability issues and mine/ERW survivor assistance are described in previous editions of Landmine Monitor.^[108]

Funding and Assistance

In 2006 international donations totaling $13,383,571 (€10,653,164) for mine action in Laos were reported by nine countries and the European Commission (EC), an increase of 85 percent from 2005 ($7,231,485 provided by 10 countries).^[109] Donors reporting funding in 2006 were:

• Australia: A$2,925,399 ($2,204,288) consisting of A$170,172 to the NRA and FSD for mine action, A$300,000 to UXO Lao for mine action, A$649,812 to World Vision Australia and MAG for mine action in Khammouane province, A$729,828 to FSD for mine action, and A$1,075,587 to CARE Australia and FSD for MRE and victim assistance in Sekong province;^[110]
• Canada: C$171,581 ($151,300) to Garneau International for victim assistance;^[111]
• EC: €814,400 ($1,023,131) consisting of €407,200 to HI for mine clearance, MRE, victim assistance and advocacy in Savannakhet province, and €407,200 to MAG for mine clearance, MRE, victim assistance and advocacy in Khammoune province;^[112]
• Germany: €368,796 ($463,318) to UNDP for UXO clearance;^[113]
• Ireland: €1 million ($1,256,300) consisting of €500,000 to MAG for mine clearance and €500,000 to UNDP for UXO clearance;^[114]
• Japan: ¥174,133,726 ($1,497,550) consisting of ¥86,151,371 to UXO Lao for mine action, and ¥87,982,355 to Japan Mine Action Service for EOD in Xieng Khouang province;^[115]
• Luxembourg: €250,000 ($314,075) to UXO Lao for UXO clearance;^[116]
• New Zealand: NZ$787,032 ($510,941) consisting of NZ$305,000 to UNDP for capacity-building, NZ$22,403 for MRE, and NZ$459,629 to UNESCO and MAG for mine clearance;^[117]
• UK: £576,471 ($1,062,667) consisting of £100,000 to UNDP for national capacity building, £130,487 to UXO Lao for UXO clearance, and £345,984 to MAG for mine clearance;^[118]
• US: $4,900,000, consisting of $3,400,000 from the Department of State and $1,500,000 from USAID/Leahy War Victims Fund.^[119]

The 2006 end-year review of the UN’s Portfolio of Mine Action Projects reported that Laos received 67 percent ($7,538,406) of funds requested through the appeal process in 2006. The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) reported that in 2005 and 2006 funding shortfalls for rehabilitation projects in Laos affected the number of prosthetic devices provided to survivors; funding was reported to be improving in 2006.^[120]

The 2007 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects includes six project appeals for Laos totaling $13,355,047, none of which had been funded at the time of publication (November 2006).^[121]

UXO Lao reported that for 2007 funds totaling $3,675,371 had been secured from donors including Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Switzerland, UK and UNDP, with pledges totaling $1,785,597 from Germany and the United States.^[122] The UXO Lao budget for 2007 was $5,818,979, including personnel, operating costs, equipment and UNDP administrative costs. ^[123]

Landmine Monitor sent a questionnaire to authorities in Laos requesting details of national funding of mine action in 2006; no response had been received by mid-2007.