Dong Ha, Quang Tri (August 4, 2010)
Four EOD operators of Project RENEW including three team leaders and one national technical officer of Project RENEW EOD teams have been awarded IMAS Level 2 certificates.
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The 4th of August 2010 was a special day for the successful ongoing partnership between Project RENEW and the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) in term of capacity building for RENEW’s local staff in the fielf of humanitarian mine action.
Jonathon Guthrie, Country Director of NPA in Vietnam,, presented the certificates to the four Project RENEW EOD operators in the presence of Project RENEW’s Coordinator and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s in-country representative.
“We, NPA, are very pleased to work with the RENEW’s local staff who in the past years has always showed professionalism and strong commitment toward our common goal of eliminating the ERW threats and to build capacity for the long-term of ERW clearance in Quang Tri province and Vietnam accordingly”, said Jonathon Guthrie. “I see Project RENEW’s staff are among the best of any I have worked with and I am confident and comfortable to formalize the qualifications you’ve already achieved”, he said.
With this IMAS qualification, RENEW’s national technical officer and team leaders are now competent to dispose of UXO up to 155mm and 122mm (including White Phosphorous) respectively.
On behalf of the provincial authorities, Hoang Nam, Deputy Director of Quang Tri Department of Foreign Affairs and Coordinator of Project RENEW acknowledged the NPA’s contribution to help build up capacity for the national staff. “The event today sets a milestone in the partnership between Quang Tri Province and NPA via Project RENEW in the common effort to sustainably neutralize the effects of explosive remnants of war”, said Nam.
Project RENEW and NPA’s partnership has been established since 2007. The partnership includes training and operation of two EOD teams and one Battle Area Clearance team in response to the local population’s need for removal of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Quang Tri Province. To date, the teams have conducted over 1,100 tasks and removed and safely destroyed more than 3300 unexploded items .
