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Fact Sheet: U.S. Humanitarian Demining in Vietnam (11/18/00)

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                              THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary
                  (Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam)
___________________________________________________________________________
______For Immediate Release                                  November 18,
2000

                                FACT SHEET

                   U.S. Humanitarian Demining in Vietnam


Vietnam is among the countries most severely affected by landmines and
unexploded ordnance.  There are an estimated 3.5 million landmines left
over from various conflicts.  Many of these mines are homemade mines from
recycled unexploded ordnance (UXO).  There are about 300,000 tons of UXO in
Vietnam.  Each year, Vietnamese suffer over 2,000 casualties from landmines
and unexploded ordnance.

The Vietnamese have had an ongoing demining and UXO program, However, as a
result of increased dialogue on this and other issues, the Vietnamese
joined the United States, in June of this year, in a Humanitarian Demining
program.  As a result of this cooperative program, the United States has
provided:

   Over $3.1 million in support of Vietnamese humanitarian demining efforts
   -- $1.7 million of which was designated for the purchase of equipment,
   including vehicles, personal safety equipment and landmine/UXO detectors
   and support;
   $1.4 million to initiate a much needed "level one" national survey to
   help determine the scope of the problem and make recommendations for
   addressing it.  A visit to Vietnam by survey experts is scheduled before
   the end of the year to begin preliminary planning for this project.
   $200,000 to develop a computer system and a database that will tell the
   Vietnamese the location of mines and the location and type of ordnance
   used in Vietnam during the war.  The site survey for this project is
   being done in conjunction with the President's visit.
   $80,000 for a computer system that will help the Vietnamese manage their
   demining/UXO program.
   In 1998, the Department of State provided funding for a mine-awareness
   program in Dong Ha, in the Quang Tri Province, implemented by Peacetrees
   International (an NGO) and James Madison University.  The Mine Awareness
   Project has provided funding and training for local residents and was
   designed to allow trainees to carry out mine-awareness training in their
   own villages.
   Since 1991, USAID's Leahy War Victims Fund has provided more than $15
   million to provide rehabilitation services for adults and children and
   advance the standard of prosthetics technology, including:
      -More than 50,000 orthopedic devices fit and delivered;
      -The Vietnamese Disability Act signed and passed;
      -More than 300 rehabilitation personnel provided with standard
   technical training;
       -Nine rehabilitation centers renovated and upgraded; and
     -Public and private sector partnerships.

This month, a delegation of Vietnamese demining experts completed an
extensive visit to the United States to learn about the latest demining
management and technologies.  The delegation visited several U.S. Army
bases for briefings and demonstrations of the latest demining technology
and U.S. training standards.

Since 1993, the United States has contributed more than $400 million for
humanitarian demining around the world and will add nearly $100 million
more in FY 2001.


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