Dong Ha, Quang Tri (27 August 2019) — The Second Regional Cluster Munitions Remnants Survey (CMRS) workshop began today in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam with opening statements delivered by H.E. Mr. Daniel J. Kritenbrink, the US Ambassador to Vietnam and H.E. Mr. Hoang Nam, Deputy Chairman of Quang Tri Province People’s Committee.

The workshop is hosted by Quang Tri and Vietnamese authorities and organized by NPA with the generous support of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA).

“I am really grateful to all of you for the work you have done to save people’s lives, to make people’s lives better. We know that your jobs are hard. You work long hours in difficult situations, meticulously covering kilometers and kilometers of ground. Your work is vitally important,” said Ambassador Kritenbrink. “Because of you, farmers can harvest their cassava fields without fear. Because of you, mothers can send their children outside to play without worrying about what they might find in the woods.”

The workshop aims to identify best practices in CMRS in South East Asia, to better assist the governments of Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam to address the severe scope of cluster munition contamination present in the region and allow them for better planning of their clearance resources.

The national authorities of each country, as well as NGOs and other stakeholders working in the region, will share experiences in CMRS implementation and discuss the principles and approaches that can be considered best practices. All participants share the same objective: remove legacies of war more efficiently and more effectively through the application of CMRS, to improve the lives and livelihoods of people across South East Asia.

It is appropriate that the 2nd workshop on CMRS methodology is taking place in Quang Tri province. Quang Tri is one of the provinces with the heaviest contamination from cluster munitions and other UXO, and is a model of partnership and transparency in mine action. All partners in Quang Tri work towards the goal of being the first province in Vietnam to be free from contamination by 2025.