Fighting the unseen enemy in Laos Case Study Click on either of these two links for further information about this case study: Teacher's Notes   Student Activities What are UXOs It's a scene most of us would recognize from the movies. A young soldier, masked in camouflage gear, is ducking and weaving through the jungle terrain. The sound of warfare fills the air. His vision is blurred by the sweat that drips from his brow. An uneasiness comes over him and he takes cover in a nearby thicket. He reaches for his hand grenades. He intends to make sure the way ahead is clear. He fires one, two. Waits for the explosions. There's only one. As he fumbles to throw a third, he feels a stabbing pain in his back. The enemy is upon him. Have you ever wondered what happened to that hand grenade that didn't explode on cue? Is it still active? Will it for some reason explode at a later date? Or has its life span been exhausted? During wartime, a great variety of ammunition is used from aircraft bombs to mortar and artillery shells, landmines, sub-munitions and projectiles used in ground battle. Manufacturers know there will be a percentage of faulty items that won't work when they need to. What happens to these unexploded ordnance, or UXOs as they are called, after a war is over? Are locals able to return to their land and sweep them up as it were? Or do they hold a greater danger? About 20 years ago the people of Laos found the answer to this. Their country had been savaged by the Second Indochina War. During the years 1964 and 1973, enemy planes rained tons of bombs into the jungles of Laos. The bombing was so bad that Laos holds the record for being the most bombed country in the history of warfare with 5000 bombing missions launched, the equivalent of one plane load of bombs every eight minutes around the clock for nine years. Along with this, Laos also suffered very long and intense ground battles. When locals returned, their land was littered with UXOs. It is estimated that up to 30% of the ammunition did not explode at the time. It is still sitting there waiting. Waiting for a villager to step on, or for a child to play with, or for a farmer to dig from their land. For the locals the war has not yet finished and UXOs are their hidden enemy. UXOs and Life in Laos A survey completed by the Lao Government in 1997 discovered that out of the 18 provinces in Laos, ten were severely contaminated by UXOs and five moderately contaminated. Life in Laos used to be a peaceful affair. Being subsistence farmers, the men's role is to tend the farm and use the nearby rainforests to log wood and collect forest products. These items are used in the building of houses, canoes, wagons, hunting or fishing equipment and also to sell to traders at the local market. Women tend the family garden that grows a variety of fruits and vegetables, which they use in cooking the meals for the day, and also collect raw materials needed for the spinning and weaving of cloth. In one way or another, all family members are involved with the land. It is little wonder then that UXO accidents occur, on average, once every two days. Most accidents occur when people are carrying out their normal daily activities with men representing approximately 60% of the national casualty figures. Children are also particularly prone. They are often attracted to the cluster bomb, which looks slightly smaller than a tennis ball and very attractive as a new toy. But these devices were designed to kill. More than half the victims die almost immediately following an accident. The average age of victims is 26 years old - people in the most productive years of their life who can contribute most to their community. Those that survive are inflicted with severe wounds, resulting in amputations and trauma. Survivors can also suffer blindness, deafness and burns. The severity of the injuries often means people cannot carry out farming work again. They rely on family and community support to survive. UXOs have affected the country in a number of ways: fear of their farming land being contaminated denies many communities of the opportunity to provide for their most basic needs. Because there is no real form of social welfare, begging is becoming common in the market places; the hospital system doesn't have enough resources to keep up with the medical treatment and rehabilitation of UXO victims and depletes the already limited medical resources; the cost of Government projects, such as road building and power production plants, increases by 10% due to the added cost imposed by clearing land of UXOs first. Working towards the Future UXOs are seen as one of the root causes of the growing poverty levels in Laos but because of their widespread contamination of the land, the problem is not easily fixed. In 1995 a United Nations trust fund was established. The aim of the fund was to support the Lao Government's coordination of a national UXO clearance programme called UXO LAO. The money for the fund comes form many countries around the world, including Australia who is presently one of the largest donors.To tackle the problem UXO LAO began by conducting a survey. This showed that out of the 18 provinces in Laos, ten were severely affected by UXOs and five moderately so. It was decided that in the ten severely affected provinces of Xieng Khouang, Houaphan, Savannakhet, Saravane, Sekong, Attapeu, Champassak, Khammouane, Luang Prabang and Vientiane, provincial offices would be established that would not only provide technical assistance for clearing UXOs but would also focus on community awareness programmes that would work to reduce the number of UXO accidents. For those provinces of Vientiane Province and Prefecture, Bolikhamxay, Luang Namtha and Phongsaly, which were moderately affected, roving teams would be established. These would visit these provinces periodically, also focusing on clearance and community awareness activities. The five general areas of messages used in teaching UXO awareness are prohibitive messages, cautionary messages, recognition of lethal ordnance, explanatory messages and positive action to be taken when a UXO has been identified. A national office was also established. It not only helps in the coordination of the national project, but constantly reviews and updates the national strategy for UXO community awareness. It also provides training courses for locals in all aspects of the UXO project from UXO clearance to medic, community awareness and staff coordination. UXO Lao then approached a variety of non government organisations such as World Vision and UNICEF regarding the possibility of becoming technical advisors/partners in the provincial offices. World Vision has provided trained staff, including a project manager and two Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians to assist in training locals in the detection and safe removal of UXOs and to help educate communities on the dangers of UXOs in the Khammouane province. UNICEF has worked with the Ministry of Education to implement a nationwide UXO awareness safety programme aimed at school aged children, their families and ethnic minority groups. An important part of this was developing a national in-school curriculum for UXO awareness. UNICEF is also involved in the ongoing development of radio and television messages and a UXO general campaign called Facts for Life, which aims to reach children at the village level and out-of-school children. AUSTCARE will soon be supporting four roving UXO clearance teams to support the UXO Lao programme in Khammouane province. The teams will undertake data collection, reporting, data analysis and UXO clearance. The fight against the unseen enemy has begun. But it will take time and much overseas monetary support to rid Laos of its enemy. However, with the united effort of the Laos Government, the people of Laos and the donor countries, the battle can be won.   Top © Commonwealth of Australia