From left: General Nguyễn Văn Cường, Deputy Director General of the Việt Nam National Mine Action Centre; United Nations' Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix; and UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Việt Nam Patrick Haverman. VNS Photo Trọng Kiên

HÀ NỘI — The United Nations' Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix has lauded Việt Nam for its "impressive efforts" to rid the country of unexploded ordnance, as well as its engagement in UN peacekeeping work.

The UN official made the remarks as he was meeting the local press at the end of his working trip to Việt Nam.

He noted that even with great undertakings so far, there is still much left to be done in addressing the leftover bombs and mines from the wars in Việt Nam, as more than 17 per cent of the country's territory remains contaminated with over 800,000 explosive devices.

Deputy Director General of the Việt Nam National Mine Action Centre (VNMAC) Nguyễn Văn Cường stated at the press meeting that with its current capacity, only around 40,000 to 50,000ha of land can be cleared each year. This means it would take between 150 and 180 years to complete clearance across the approximately 5.6 million hectares of contaminated land.

Việt Nam is developing a master plan to shorten the post-war mine and explosive ordnance clearance period to around 35 to 40 years, with the goal of basically clearing bombs and mines to a depth of 0.5 metres by 2065. To realise this goal, the country is formulating an Ordinance on Post-War Mine Action and a National Strategy on Mine Risk Education, Cường said.

"I believe it's very important to continue supporting the efforts of the Vietnamese authorities, particularly of the Việt Nam National Mine Action Centre. And I'm very happy, very proud to see that our colleagues from the UN Development Programme are providing support to these efforts, alongside a number of international partners," Lacroix said.

"It is important to continue the advocacy, because the example of Việt Nam demonstrates that even with the best political will and very good institutional framework and a very good level of expertise, completely clearing the country of mine and explosive devices takes a lot of time, several decades, and it requires continuous, relentless efforts, as well as partnership," he added.

When asked about the fallout from many countries scaling down foreign assistance, including the United States, the UN official admitted that it will have an impact on some projects, adding that we need to collectively "redouble the advocacy."

"Mine action is the most non-political activity you can imagine, and in the case of Việt Nam or other situations that are similar to Việt Nam, there needs to be continuous, even strengthened advocacy for more support, more resources to mine action," he said.

In terms of lessons from Việt Nam that can be applied in other conflict-affected regions in the world, Lacroix noted a number of good examples: first, political will and national ownership; second, institutional platforms or a national policy on mine action, and in the case of Việt Nam, VNMAC serving as the focal point and operator of demining efforts; and third, an integrated approach, linking several dimensions such as development, particularly agricultural development and the needs of communities, women and climate change; and last, the importance of partnership.

He particularly emphasised the importance of an integrated approach between mine action and sustainable development.

"We can see that mine action is more than an enabler. It's a prerequisite to achieve progressive sustainable development, because if the threat of explosive devices and mine remains in a given area, then every effort to pursue progress in sustainable development are undermined in terms of building infrastructure, in terms of returning land to farming activities, in terms of education," he said.

The UN Mine Action Service, along with UNDP and other entities in the UN system, have always underscored the need to include mine action in almost all sustainable development-related efforts when needed in post-conflict areas, he added.

With regards to the peacekeeping efforts in tandem with furthering the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, the UN official said the WPS agenda is a priority for peacekeeping operations, as they believe that more women in peacekeeping makes peacekeeping more effective, and that through having more women in peacekeeping, you can also better empower women who are affected by conflict.

He lauded Việt Nam's rate of women participants in peacekeeping units, saying that it has actually exceeded the targets in both the military and the police.

Việt Nam is among the countries with the highest proportion of female participation, at 14–15 per cent. Looking ahead, Việt Nam aims to increase the proportion of women in its peacekeeping forces to 20 per cent during the 2026–2027 period.

"What we expect from the Vietnamese is for them to come up with more female candidates for senior positions in peacekeeping, and also to participate in efforts that are more of a qualitative nature – that is to say, how to make peacekeeping welcoming to females both in terms of the physical environment, but also the psychological environment, the work environment. So these are also issues which we're happy to discuss and to work on further in the context of our cooperation with Việt Nam, and we have a very committed partner on these issues."

"In spite of all the challenges, multilateralism is more needed than ever. Mine action is an issue that is cross-cutting and multinational, and Việt Nam continues to need international solidarity. But at the same time, the lessons drawn from Việt Nam's experience will benefit other affected countries," Lacroix told the press.

"Then we have peacekeeping, which is, by definition, a partnership where we try to respond to challenges to peace and security collectively, and then there's climate change, sustainable development. The key challenges to today's world are transnational, and the response to that can only be multilateral," the UN official told the press. — VNS