Dong Ha, Quang Tri (28 September 2018) — The signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) today between the Quang Tri Province People’s Committee (PPC), Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), and Mines Advisory Group (MAG), in a ceremony in Dong Ha City, marks an important step to further the ongoing efforts of surveying and clearing Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) that remain in the province.

This supplemental funding is provided by UK Department for International Development (DFID) through NPA and MAG, the two key partner organizations currently implementing the Integrated Survey and Clearance Project in Quang Tri Province. Specifically, DFID funding will support the NPA-Project RENEW’s ERW Survey and Clearance program from Oct 2018 to March 2020.

Quang Tri PPC Vice Chairman Mai Thuc, NPA Vietnam Country Director Resad Junuzagic, and MAG Vietnam Country Director Simon Rea signed the MoA with the witness of representatives of Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Planning and Investment, Provincial Military Headquarters, and the PPC Office.

The DFID funding will enable NPA-Project RENEW to establish and put into operation two Battle Area Clearance (BAC) teams tasked with clearing the Confirmed Hazardous Areas (CHAs) in Hai Lang District. These CHAs have been already defined and mapped during NPA-RENEW’s Technical Survey operations funded by the U.S. Department of State. It is expected that from Oct 2018 and March 2020  these two BAC teams will release 2.4 million square meters of safe land to Hai Lang authority and residents for development purposes.

Project RENEW was established in 2001 as a joint effort between the government of Quang Tri Province and interested INGOs to “restore the environment and neutralize the effects of the war” – with the main focus on unexploded ordinance.

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) is one of the leading organizations worldwide in humanitarian disarmament. NPA has worked in Vietnam since 2008 following the signing of an MOU with the government of Quang Tri People’s Committee to support the development of Project RENEW’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) capacity. NPA’s operational footprint now covers all of Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue Provinces, with an increase of assets to two Battle Area Clearance teams, one Non-Technical Survey team, four EOD teams, and 21 Technical Survey teams.