UXO Lao Operations Reflect The Generic Principles Of Humanitarian Mine Action
UXO Risk Education Tasks or Community Awareness (CA)
Raise the awareness of people living in UXO affected areas. CA teams utilise various methods to communicate their message including: puppet shows, songs, dances, and games. The teams support survey operations by noting locations of UXO pinpointed by villagers during community awareness activities.
Survey Task
Two person teams conduct survey tasks. They provide detailed maps and information on locations of UXO reported. The enhanced technical survey (ETS) task is a new methodology developped by UXO Lao in 2007. ETS teams evaluate a clearance request by studying available UXO records for a particular area (bombing data, reported UXO, and UXO victims.) Combined with a 25% sampling of the land area, this leads to the request being either: (1) tasked to an area clearance team or (2) designated low priority / low UXO impact threat (for possible clearance at some future date.)
Roving Tasks
Remove and destroy surface UXO. Increase the confidence and safety of people living in UXO affected areas to engage in their livelihoods and lead normal lives.
Clearance Tasks
Search for and remove UXO under the ground by using detectors. Increase the amount of land available for agriculture and other social-economic development projects.
Areas of Operation
The Lao PDR today is the most cluster munition and UXO affected country in the world. UXO hidden everywhere, UXO can be found in rice fields, school yards, on hillsides, in rivers, along roads and paths and even in the centres of provincial towns.
UXO LAO operates in 9 of the most UXO impacted provinces in the country:
1. Luangprabang
2. Huaphanh
3. Xiengkhouang
4. Khammuane
5. Savannakhet
6. Sekong
7. Salavan
8. Attapue
9. Champasak