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Laos launches SDG 18 to Make Lives Safe From UXO

Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday inaugurated the Lao PDR’s own national Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on unexploded ordnance (UXO) during the ongoing ASEAN Summits.

Luang Prabang Excited It’s On World Map With Obama Visit

LUANG PRABANG, Laos (AP) — Growing up in Wisconsin, Son Inthachith’s classmates in school had no idea where his native Laos was. Thanks to President Barack Obama, not only is the little landlocked country on the world map but so is Inthachith’s sleepy hometown of Luang Prabang.

Aiming for closer ties to Laos, Obama honors its culture

U.S. President Barack Obama pauses in the Ho Raj Rod, or Carriage House, as he tours the Wat Xieng Thong Buddhist Temple in Luang Prabang, Laos, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

LUANG PRABANG, Laos — Aiming to cement closer ties to Laos and its people, President Barack Obama toured a Buddhist temple Wednesday and paid tribute to Lao culture after pledging the U.S. would fulfill its “profound moral and humanitarian obligation” to clean up millions of unexploded bombs.

Obama’s Announcement in Laos Puts Spotlight on US Cluster-Bomb Use

President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Laos this week has put a spotlight on the United States’ role in the use of cluster bombs, a particularly devastating weapon known for its indiscriminate harm, and comes at a time when there have been increased calls for the U.S. to join an international ban on the weapon.

The Latest: Obama Touring Buddhist Temple In Luang Prabang

VIENTIANE, Laos — The Latest on President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Laos (all times local):

12:40 p.m.

President Barack Obama is touring a Buddhist temple that’s an important symbol of Lao heritage and culture.

His first stop was a carriage house at the Wat Xieng Thong temple in Luang Prabang.

Dressed in shirt sleeves and black socks, Obama looked in awe at a large golden ship adorned at the bow with golden dragons.

 Obama said “it’s gorgeous” when reporters accompanying him asked his opinion.

Construction of the temple began in the 16th century when Luang Prabang was the seat of Lao royalty. The temple was used for coronations and was under royal patronage until 1975, when the monarchy was abolished. It is one of Luang Prabang’s most popular tourist destinations.

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12:15 p.m.

President Barack Obama is continuing his historic visit to Laos with a trip to the city of Luang Prabang.

Located in mountainous northern Laos, the city is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Obama plans to tour a Buddhist temple, before opening himself up for questions from young Southeast Asians at a town hall-style event at a local university.

Upon arrival at the airport, Obama shook hands with the officials who were on hand to greet him.

And with a slight bow, he accepted flowers from Miss Luang Prabang. She bowed back.

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10:55 a.m.

President Barack Obama says Laotians have been living under the “shadow of war” for four decades.

Obama is touring a rehabilitation center in Laos that treats victims of bombs the U.S. dropped during the Vietnam War. Obama says the U.S. dropped some 270 million cluster bombs, including 80 million that never exploded and remain a threat.

He says the war wasn’t contained to the battlefield because the bombs have killed farmers and of children who thought they could be toys.

The president says the U.S. has a profound moral obligation to help clean up the unexploded bombs. He’s touting $90 million the U.S. will spend over three years to aid the cleanup effort.

Obama is also telling the survivor of one of the bombs that he’s inspired by him.

10:45 a.m.

President Barack Obama is touring a rehabilitation center in Laos that treats survivors of bombs the U.S. dropped on the country during the Vietnam War.

Obama’s visit to Laos is the first by a sitting U.S. president. He’s touring the U.S.-funded Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise center in the capital, Vientiane.

Obama plans to meet with injured survivors and be briefed by center officials.

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. dropped hundreds of millions of tons of explosives, including 80 million bombs that never exploded. Obama has announced the U.S. is roughly doubling financial help for bomb-clearing efforts to about $90 million over three years.

Source: Associated Press

Laos US: Obama Regrets ‘Biggest Bombing In History’

The bombs, as one Laotian described it, “fell like rain”, US President Barack Obama said Tuesday on a visit to Laos, a first for any sitting US president.

“Given our history here, I believe that the United States has a moral obligation to help Laos heal,” he said.

He referred to America’s secret and devastating bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s.

Some $90m (£68m) will be spent over three years for the removal of cluster bombs and other unexploded ordnance.

That compares to $100m spent in the last 20 years.

How many bombs were dropped?

President Obama described Laos as the most heavily bombed nation in history. Eight bombs a minute were dropped on average during the Vietnam war between 1964 and 1973 – more than the amount used during the whole of World War Two.

The US flew 580,344 bombing missions over Laos, dropping 260m bombs – equating to 2m tons of ordnance, with many targets in the south and north struck time and again as part of efforts to isolate Communist North Vietnamese forces.

Most devices dropped were anti-personnel cluster bombs. An estimated 30% of these munitions did not detonate.

Ten of the 18 Laotian provinces have been described as “severely contaminated” by unexploded ordnance (UXO).

Mine-clearing agencies estimate that about 288m cluster munitions and about 75m unexploded bombs were left across Laos after the war ended.

Why are cluster bombs so reviled?

Cluster bombs scatter explosives across a wide area and often fail to detonate on impact.

They pose a significant threat to civilians because of both their impact at the time of use and their deadly legacy.

Launched from the ground or dropped from the air, cluster munitions consist of containers that open and disperse sub-munitions indiscriminately over a wide area.

Many explosive sub-munitions, also known as bomblets, fail to detonate as designed, becoming landmines that kill and maim indiscriminately.

They are difficult to locate and remove, posing a danger to civilians long after conflicts end.

Children are particularly at risk, as they can be attracted to the bombs’ toy-like appearance.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions bans the stockpiling, use and transfer of virtually all existing cluster bombs, and also provides for the clearing up of unexploded munitions.

It has been adopted by 108 states, but not the US which, according to some estimates, spent as much on clean-up efforts in Laos between 1995 and 2013 as it spent in three days of bombing during the war.

Laos is likely to ask for an extension to its commitment to get rid of UXO when Convention member states next meet in August 2020.

How many people have been killed by UXO?

The number of casualties from air-dropped explosive devices – mostly cluster munitions – in Laos since 1964 is estimated by the Landmine and Clustering Munition Monitor to be around 50,000 people. Of these about 29,000 people were killed and 21,000 injured. The overwhelming majority were civilians.

Today only a handful of people are killed and injured, the figures show.

But the threat posed by UXO stops villagers from getting to their farms and renders vast tracts of agricultural land useless until they have been cleared of munitions.

Will more US money address the problem?

The president’s announcement has been widely welcomed by aid agencies working to address the UXO problem in Laos, which include the Halo Trust, the Mines Advisory Group, Norwegian People’s Aid, UXO Laos and Handicap International.

“Before the president’s announcement I feared that the UXO operation in Laos would take hundreds of years,” Mines Advisory Group country director Simon Rea told the BBC from Vientiane. “Now I am optimistic this can be reduced to decades.”

“The president’s announcement is extremely good news for us and for poor families in rural areas who lives are still blighted by UXO.

Likewise Halo Trust CEO James Cowan said the president’s announcement will have a profound effect on the people of Laos.

“It will help them live and farm in safety on their land, as well as creating opportunities for development and infrastructure,” he said.

“Explosive remnants of war have blighted their lives for far too long. It is a momentous step in Laos’s journey towards freedom from the deadly debris of war.”

What role can surveying play?

“Today more than ever we are getting a much better grasp of the scale of the contamination,” Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) Senior Advocacy and Research Advisor Lucy Pinches told the BBC.

“We are using survey triangulation data to place contaminated land into blocks or boxes which can then be systematically cleared of mines.”

Aid agencies have also gained access to Pentagon bombing records so that they can identify which areas of land – mostly the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the south and the Lao communist party headquarters in the north – were bombed and likely to contain unexploded bombs.

“More partnerships in the last couple of years among international clearance NGOs has greatly helped in pushing this process forward,” NPA Laos Country Director Jonas Zachrisson told the BBC.

But at the same time he cautions that “much of the country remains unsurveyed with limited data regarding the extent, scope and nature of the problem”.

How are Laos-US relations today?

President Obama is the first US president to visit Laos and has adopted a noticeably conciliatory approach towards his hosts. He said that the US bombings had destroyed “villages and entire valleys, killing countless civilians”.

His approach has been welcomed by Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachit as a way of enhancing mutual trust between the two countries after the devastating war.

The president in return has promised the government will step up its efforts to locate and return US servicemen missing in the war.

Source: BBC News

Foreign Ministers Discuss Ways to Fully Implement APSC Blueprint 2025

ASEAN Foreign ministers yesterday discussed ways and means to ensure the full and effective implementation of the ASEAN Political-Security Community Council (APSC) Blueprint 2025 adopted by the ASEAN leaders at the 27th ASEAN Summit in 2015.

Transmission line network management to be improved

Electricite du Laos (EDL) and General Electric International Inc. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation to study a proposal to improve the transmission and distribution of electricity through a line network.