Key
developments since May 2000: The government has carried out clearance
activity related to construction of the new Ho Chi Minh national highway.
Clearance by non-governmental organizations has expanded. The US and Vietnam
signed their first mine action assistance agreement. An advance survey mission
was conducted in May 2001 in preparation for a national Landmine/UXO Impact
Survey.
Vietnam has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty.
There has been no change in Vietnam’s official attitude toward a mine ban,
according to Nguyen Manh Hung, Director of Americas Department at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.[1] Vietnam
was one of 22 nations to abstain on the vote on the November 2000 UN General
Assembly resolution in support of the Mine Ban Treaty. However, Vietnam
participated as an observer in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine
Ban Treaty in September 2000. It did not attend the meetings of the Standing
Committees in December 2000 and May 2001. Vietnam has not ratified the
Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), although it signed in 1981. Vietnam
did not attend the Second Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW Amended
Protocol II (Landmines) in Geneva in December 2000.
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use
The Institute for the Study of Weapons Production
under the Ministry of Defense, which had been responsible for production of
Vietnam’s landmines, now focuses on the study of detection and clearance
equipment for landmines and unexploded ordnance
(UXO).[2] Ministry of Defense
officials would not discuss, on grounds of national security, whether and at
what levels Vietnam may be currently producing
landmines.[3] However, at Expo
2000 in Hanoi, the Institute of Military Technology listed scatterable landmines
in the display of their top ten research
projects.[4]
The Ministry
of Foreign Affairs again maintained, “Vietnam has never exported and will
never export mines.”[5]
Vietnam will not reveal information about the size or composition of its
current stockpile of antipersonnel mines. An official of the Ministry of Defense
Mine Technology Center (BOMICO) said that their policy is to destroy immediately
newly detected mines and UXO, and not to keep them in
inventory.[6] Previously a
BOMICO official had indicated that it was in the process of destroying
“tens of thousands” of unsafe pre-1975 mines and planned to destroy
2,000 tons of mines during
2000.[7]
There is no evidence
of recent use of landmines in Vietnam, although Ministry of Defense officials
would not comment for reasons of national security.
Landmine/UXO Problem
The Landmine Monitor Report 2000 described
the heavy contamination of many areas of Vietnam by landmines and unexploded
ordnance. The problem has abated slightly, notably in Quang Tri Province where
most international mine action projects are located. At the national level, the
priority is mine and UXO clearance in support of economic development,
especially major infrastructure projects for transportation such as roads and
bridges. Construction on the new Ho Chi Minh Highway is reported to be 30
percent behind schedule, presumably because of the seriousness of the UXO
problem along the
route.[8]
Surveys and Assessment
In early November 2000, the US Department of State
signed a $1.4 million agreement with the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation
(coordinator and fiscal agent for the Survey Action Center) to conduct a Level
One Impact Survey, contingent on approval by the Vietnamese government.
Ministry of Defense officials expressed an interest in a national survey, but
indicated that they would consider accepting the funding and carrying out a
survey by themselves.[9] The
Survey Action Center reported to Landmine Monitor that an advance survey mission
was conducted in May 2001; it will be followed by a pilot survey, then the
national Landmine/UXO Impact
Survey.[10]
In March 2001,
the Mines Advisory Group undertook a study mission to seven other mine affected
provinces, seeking to identify new projects to set up and implement in 2002.
The provinces selected for visits were identified by Vietnamese officials as
national priority areas: Quang Binh, Thua-Thien Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai,
Binh Dinh, Binh Phuoc, and Tay Ninh. MAG said local officials in all seven
provinces affirmed that there were continuing problems with landmines and
UXO.[11]
A proposal for a new
project in Quang Tri province, requested by the Provincial People’s
Committee and initially funded by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, includes
plans for a Level One Survey in Trieu Phong District of the
province.[12] Specific
authorization and implementation of the survey must still be formulated and
agreed to by Vietnamese authorities at the province and national levels.
Mine Action Funding
Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam. The Ministry of Defense has a budget for mine action, but the
figure is not available. Most of the government's funding comes through the
Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in the form of development projects.
The government so far has spent 100 billion Vietnam dong (around US$6-7 million)
for mine/UXO clearance during construction of the new Ho Chi Minh Highway. An
estimated cost for complete clearance of that project is US$500
million.[13]
On 14 March
2001, Tran Huong, Chief of the My Son Champa Vestige Management Board, stated
that the Board is to spend 700 million dong (about US$50,000) for mine/UXO
clearance in a 90,000 square meter area of the E, F, and G sites of the My Son
Vestige, a popular tourist
site.[14]
AusAID.
Representatives of the Australian government’s international
development agency, AusAID, have been reviewing the landmine/UXO problem in
Vietnam with the intention of offering some funding in the near future.
According to Shireen Sandhu, First Secretary of AusAID at the Australian Embassy
in Hanoi, Hanoi, a field visit and assessment conducted in March, which included
an AusAID representative from Canberra, resulted in a commitment to fund as yet
unspecified landmine/UXO activities in Vietnam at a level of $1 million
Australian dollars a year for the next five years. AusAID will seek out an
Australian NGO paired with a commercial demining company to work with the
Vietnam government to determine an appropriate demining project. In the future
AusAID may expand into other mine/UXO issue areas such as victim
assistance. AusAID already has extensive development assistance projects
in Quang Ngai Province, so they are considering that as a possible priority
location, but will also consider Thua-Thien Hue, Quang Tri Province, and Quang
Binh Province.[15]
DANIDA. The Danish government, through its aid agency, DANIDA,
provided the initial US$1 million in funding for the MAG project in Gio Linh
District. DANIDA declined to provide funding for extension of the
project.[16]
Japanese
Government. A Vietnamese official source says the Japanese Government has
pledged to provide US$10 million for demining efforts through the Ministry of
Transport of Vietnam, but this has not been independently confirmed through the
Japanese Embassy.[17] A
Japanese company, Nichimen, which is licensed to sell a large Hitachi front-end
loader adapted for minefields, has contacted several NGOs about a possible
partnership, because the Japanese ambassador has discretionary authority to
provide two grants in Vietnam of US$1 million each for two projects associated
with demining
activity.[18]
US
Government. President Bill Clinton visited Vietnam in November 2000. At a
demining event in Hanoi on 18 November he pledged, “You will have
America's support until you have found every landmine and every piece of
unexploded ordnance.” He also noted that since June 2000, the US had
provided over $3 million “to purchase equipment and survey the
countryside,” and said, “Today, our Defense Department is donating
more than $700,000 in hospital supplies to Quang Tri Province,” to help
mine victims.[19]
According
the US State Department data, the US provided $2.596 million in its fiscal year
1999 (October 1999-September 2000) and another $1 million in FY
2000.[20] In June 2000, the US
and Vietnam signed an agreement under which the US provided $1.75 million in
demining equipment. In early November 2000, the State Department signed a $1.4
million agreement with the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation to conduct a
Level One Impact Survey, contingent on approval by the Vietnamese government.
The Department of Defense has committed $200,000 for technical mapping and
$80,000 for mine awareness education and landmine database
support.[21]
Freeman
Foundation. The US-based Freeman Foundation has contributed some US$3
million so far to clearance efforts in Vietnam. The Freeman Foundation provided
$1.5 million to the American NGO, PeaceTrees Vietnam, which contracted with UXB,
a US commercial demining company, to clear a 170,000 square meter residential
area for construction of a community called the PeaceTrees Friendship
Village.[22] In addition, the
Freeman Foundation has provided approximately half of the $2.7 million that is
needed for continuation of the demining project launched in January 1999 in
Quang Tri by the Mines Advisory Group. The Freeman Foundation also provided
nearly $250,000, or half of the funding required, to launch Project RENEW under
the sponsorship of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. The other half of
start-up funding was donated by an individual American businessman, Christos
Cotsakis, founder of E-Trade online brokerage, who is himself a veteran of the
Vietnam War and was in Quang Tri Province. Project RENEW is described as a
two-year pilot (or model) program in Trieu Phong district, Quang Tri,
encompassing the establishment of a mine action coordination office, a Level One
Survey, mine awareness, and victim
assistance.[23]
SODI
and Potsdam Kommunikation e.V. According to Karl Heinz Werther, Gerbera
project manager in Quang Tri Province, most of the projects contracted to
Gerbera either by Solidaritatsdienst-International e.V. (SODI) or Potsdam
Kommunikation e.V. are budgeted in the range of just under US$5 million. In Cam
Lo District, Cua Commune, a 600,000 square meter site is being cleared at a cost
of about US$480,000. And a new Potsdam Kommunikation e.V. project in Thua-Thien
Hue is estimated to cost about
US$450,000.[24] Demining for
these projects is being funded by the German government.
Mine/UXO Clearance
Vietnamese Army
The Ministry of Defense
engineer units continued active clearance efforts in association with
construction or engineering projects, but little specific information is
available. The key new clearance activity related to construction of the new Ho
Chi Minh national highway. The Mine Technology Center carried out clearance
activities along a 310 kilometer distance from Khe Co (Ha Tinh Province) to Ben
Tat (Cam Lo District, Quang Tri) along the new HCM highway. An official told
Landmine Monitor that as of early 2001, the engineers had cleared 97
antipersonnel and antitank mines, and 23,514 UXO, including different types of
bombs and bombies, artillery shells, rockets, mortars, and
grenades.[25] Construction on
the highway is reported to be 30 percent behind schedule, presumably because of
the UXO problem.[26]
Other
highway construction projects currently being cleared include three east-west
highways to the Laos
border.[27]
Mines Advisory Group (MAG), received agreement from the Vietnamese government
in December 1998 to begin a clearance project in Gio Linh District on the site
of a former US military base seven kilometers south of the DMZ. The project
began in January 1999 and Phase One, carried out by 40 staff and support
personnel, was completed in November 2000. The Project is designed for
clearance, resettlement, and environmental rehabilitation for families that have
not been able to use their land since the war. Once MAG's clearance work is
complete, Oxfam Hong Kong and PLAN International will work together with MAG and
the community to resettle 78 families and help rebuild a sustainable economy.
As of July 2001, MAG had cleared about half of the mines and surface and
underground UXO, over half the project area. More than 7,000 UXO and 700 mines
had been located and destroyed. MAG uses large-loop detectors to search for
buried UXO, and deploys where appropriate mechanical excavators and a
“sifter.” MAG also purchases PPE from the Cambodia Technology
Workshop. At July 2001, MAG employed 110 staff of which 84 are deminers. The
remaining staff are medics, drivers, mechanics, laborers and administrative
support staff.
In January 2001, with the permission of the Quang Tri
Province People's Committee, MAG initiated the first Mine Action Team response
unit to be operational in Gio Linh District. The team consists of Vietnamese
staff skilled in demining and EOD, community liaison, and medical support. In
consultation with district and commune authorities, the team rotates through
villages dealing with mines and UXO reported by the community. To July 2001, the
MAT had disposed of 964 items of UXO and 18 mines, in response to 150 task
requests.
MAG expects to hand over management of its projects in Quang Tri to
the Vietnamese in December 2002, under direction of the Provincial People's
Committee, with the continuing presence of a MAG advisor to assist in monitoring
and technical assistance.
Gerbera/SODI/Potsdam.
According to Karl Heinz Werther, director of a
clearance project in Quang Tri Province sponsored by SODI and operated by the
demining company Gerbera, between March 2000 and March 2001, Vietnamese deminers
have cleared 712,330 square meters and destroyed 2,241 pieces of UXO under this
project. Since the project began in June 1998, a total of 1.7 million square
meters has been cleared, and 5,604 UXO destroyed. Most recently, SODI-Gerbera
completed clearance of a former US airbase, Ai Tu, in Trieu Phong District.
That area is now being planted in rubber trees by the Vietnamese
government.
SODI-Gerbera funded teams of Vietnamese deminers are now working
in Cam Lo District, Cua Commune, clearing a former South Vietnamese military
base of approximately 600,000 square meters. When completed, the land will be
resettled and used for agriculture.
In Thua-Thien Hue, Potsdam
Kommunikation e.V is funding a new Gerbera clearance project in Phu Loc
District. From June until December 2000, a total of 22 Vietnamese technicians
cleared an 8.24 million square meter area, disposing of 181 UXO. The area will
be resettled and a school and kindergarten will be built
there.[29]
Coordination of Mine/UXO Action
The pending plan to form a national landmine
policy or steering committee made up of multiple ministries still has not been
approved by the government. However, from 15-28 April 2000, Oxfam Hong Kong and
the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations organized a trip for a nine-member
team from various government institutions to visit and learn from the
experiences of Mine Action Centers in Thailand, Laos, and
Cambodia.[30] Their
recommendations in a report following the trip included greater participation by
Vietnamese representatives in the NGO Landmine Working Group; establishment of a
Vietnamese landmine working group under the government’s Committee for NGO
Affairs, in charge of mobilizing NGO aid for UXO clearance, and cooperating with
provincial People’s Committees in project areas; integrating NGO demining
assistance into resettlement, post-clearance production promotion and poverty
alleviation; and, “in the long run, consideration should be given to the
establishment of a national committee for UXO control with the participation of
various central government bodies in order to mobilize funding from governments,
international organizations and NGOs, coordinate and manage demining and
follow-up developmental
activities.”[31]
Recently,
representatives of the concerned ministries met and proposed to set up a
direction board on mine/UXO affairs, which involves the Ministry of Defense,
MPI, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), Office of
Government, Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MOSTE), and the
Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations
(VUFO).[32]
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has acquired funding to develop a school-based
mine/UXO education project in Quang Tri Province, intended to introduce
curriculum-based classroom teaching in the school system with appropriate
training of teachers and teaching aides, textbooks, and other materials.
Project RENEW in Trieu Phong District of Quang Tri Province will also include
mine/UXO awareness and
education.[34]
The US State Department said in October 2000 that Vietnam suffers over 2,000
casualties a year from landmines and
UXO.[36] There are newspaper
reports at least weekly of deaths and injuries caused by landmine/UXO
explosions, although there have been no new published reports of aggregate
figures of casualties since 1998. Prior to President Clinton’s visit in
November 2000, an article in Tien Phong newspaper referred again to the 1998
figures, reporting that, up to May 1998 there were 38,248 people killed and
64,064 injured by mines and UXO left after the
war.[37]
Although
information on mine/UXO casualties was available in the past from Quang Tri
Province, inquiries at the Foreign Relations Department revealed that no records
were maintained in 2000 due to lack of a budget. According to unofficial
information, there were 15 victims of landmines and UXO in the year 2000 in
Quang Tri Province, and between 1 January and 12 June 2001, six people were
killed and 14 injured by mines and UXO in Quang Tri Province. Two of those
killed and 11 of the injured were
children.[38]
In unofficial
inquiries made by Landmine Monitor sources indicate that in Trieu Phong district
there are five to ten mine/UXO accidents every year that occur mostly when
people are engaged in farming activities.
There is no specialized assistance for landmine and UXO victims in Vietnam
other than the medical and health care services provided by the national
Ministry of Health network at the province, district, and commune levels, and
rehabilitation services provided by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of
Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs. No distinction is made in treatment and
rehabilitation services for victims of landmines and
UXO.[40]
However, the
Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) program, established in 40 of the 61
provinces nationwide, is a network of trained volunteers who visit the homes of
disabled persons at the commune and village level and offer basic medical and
health assessments and institutional referrals, training for family members in
physical therapy, provision of adaptive technology including prosthetics and
simple orthotics, advice on home modifications for greater disability access,
and assistance in community reintegration, both social and educational, as well
as vocational
training.[41]
Some NGOs,
including PeaceTrees Vietnam and Clear Path International, provide individual
assistance for landmine victims on a case-by-case basis, in the form of cash
payments for emergency medical care or transportation or other kinds of
support.[42]
Handicap
International (Belgium) started a project in Quang Tri in 1994 initially aimed
at providing support to landmine/UXO amputees. The project has evolved to
provide services to all disabled people, but mine/UXO amputees remain the main
target group. Since 1994, the project has provided 643 prostheses (73% mine/UXO
amputees), 86 orthoses, 37 wheelchairs, and 16 walking aids. A total of 2,763
people have been treated. The rehabilitation department can now provide an
average of 250 devices a
year.[43]
PTVN’s victim
assistance program provides support to UXO victims in different ways according
to their needs, said in-country representative Quang Le. He cited the specific
example of a child in Quang Tri Province who was injured last year by a piece of
UXO and who was sent to the General Hospital in the city of Hue because of a
lack of equipment at the Quang Tri Province hospital. Later, PTVN took the
child to Hue again for follow-up treatment. PTVN’s goal is to assist
victims and families to become self-supporting, in addition to providing
medical, transportation, and hospital assistance. PTVN’s position is
that, in the long run, direct cash payments to victims and families may not be
the best way.[44]
CPI
is working with the People’s Committee of Quang Tri Province to formalize
victim assistance efforts. CPI is committed to offering support for emergency
medical treatment for UXO victims, primarily children; follow-up care and
transportation to appropriate medical institutions; support for special
surgeries and medical expenses; educational scholarship programs for UXO victims
or victim families; possible upgrade of the Province Hospital’s emergency
room; and possibly a visiting medical team from the
US.[45]
Disability Policy and Practice
It has been two years since the government's
Ordinance on Disabled Persons took
effect.[46] In order to
coordinate the implementation and enforcement of the Ordinance, the Minister of
Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) issued on 22 January 2001
Decision No. 55/2001/QD-BLDTBXH to establish a National Coordinating Council on
Disabilities (NCCD). The Council, chaired by a Vice Minister of MOLISA, has 14
members representing MOLISA; Ministry of Construction; Ministry of Health;
Ministry of Transport and Communication; Ministry of Culture and Information;
Ministry of Education and Training; Committee on Sports and Physical Culture;
and the Association of the Blind of Vietnam.
However, according to Hong Ha,
Coordinator of the Disability Forum, which is comprised of about twenty NGOs and
ten local groups of people with disabilities, its implementation is very
slow.[47] The new building
codes issued by the Ministry of Construction also contain some requirements for
buildings to be accessible for the disabled, but so far there is no supervision
on implementation from the concerned
ministries.[48] This year marks
the second year in which the national Day of Protection and Care for Disabled
Persons, 18 April, is
celebrated.[49] An exchange
program for disabled people from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, sponsored by
foreign NGOs including Health Volunteers Overseas, Vietnam Assistance for the
Handicapped, World Vision International, and Vietnam Veterans of America
Foundation, was held in Hanoi in April 2001. A nationwide exchange program is
being planned for February
2002.[50]
[1] Correspondence from
Nguyen Manh Hung, Director of Americas Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
8 March 2001.
[2] Interview
with Eng. Nguyen Trong Canh, Vice Director, Mine Technology Center, Army
Engineering Command, Hanoi, 1 March
2001.
[3] A Ministry of
Defense official did confirm to Landmine Monitor last year that production
continues. Interview with Col. Bui Minh Tam, Director, Mine Technology Center,
Hanoi, 15 March 2000.
[4]
Interview with Lt. Col. Frank Miller, Military Attaché, US Embassy,
Hanoi, 2 February 2001.
[5]
Correspondence from Nguyen Manh Hung, Director of Americas Department, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, 8 March
2001.
[6] Interview with Eng.
Nguyen Trong Canh, Vice Director, Mine Technology Center, Army Engineering
Command, Hanoi, 1 March
2001.
[7]Landmine Monitor
Report 2000, p. 542.
[8]
Interview with Lieutenant Colonel Frank Miller, Military Attaché, US
Embassy, Hanoi, 2 February
2001.
[9] Interview with Eng.
Nguyen Trong Canh, Vice Director, Mine Technology Centre, Army Engineering
Command, Hanoi, 1 March 2001.
[10] Survey Action Center
submission to Landmine Monitor Report 2001, received July
2001.
[11] Interview with
Nick Proudman, MAG Program Manager, Hanoi, 9 March
2001.
[12] Project Renewal
Proposal, February 2001-December 2002, Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Fund.
[13] Meeting with
General Vu Tan, Director of External Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Hanoi, 27
February 2001.
[14] N.T.H.,
"Seven Hundred Million Dong to Clear Mines/UXO at My Son Vestige," Lao
Dong newspaper, 15 March 2001, p.
2.
[15] NGO Landmine Working
Group (LWG) meeting, Hanoi, 30 March 2001; meeting with Shireen Sandhu, First
Secretary of AusAID, Australian Embassy, Hanoi, 8 February
2001.
[16] Interview with
Nick Proudman, MAG Program Manager, Hanoi, 9 March
2001.
[17] Interview with
unnamed government official, Hanoi, 27 February
2001.
[18] Meeting with Mr.
Kitai, Nichimen representative, Hanoi, 16 January
2001.
[19] The White House,
Office of the Press Secretary, Remarks by the President At Demining Event,
International Trade Center, Hanoi, 18 November
2000.
[20] US Department of
State, “Demining Program Financing History,” fact sheet dated 24
October 2000; Department of State, “FY 2000 NADR Project Status,”
fact sheet dated 27 December
2000.
[21] US Department of
State Press Statement, “Vietnamese Humanitarian Demining Experts Tour the
United States,” 27 October
2000.
[22] Friendship Village
Project Proposal, January 2001 - Summer 2002, PeaceTrees
Vietnam.
[23] Project RENEW
Proposal, February 2001 - December 2002, Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Fund.
[24] Interview with
Karl Heinz Werther, Gerbera Project Manager, 9 March
2001.
[25] Interview with
Eng. Nguyen Trong Canh, Vice Director, Mine Technology Centre, Army Engineering
Command, Hanoi, 1 March
2001.
[26] Interview with
Lieutenant Colonel Frank Miller, Military Attache, US Embassy, Hanoi, 2 February
2001.
[27] Interview with
Lieutenant Colonel Frank Miller, Military Attache, US Embassy, 2 February 2001.
Miller also commented, “The problem with some of these projects is that
the Vietnamese don't have the sophisticated technology they need for deep
search, and if they identify a small piece of ordnance maybe a meter
underground, and they blow it in place – which is the procedure preferred
by the United Nations – if they don't know what may lie deeper
underground, such as 1,000- or 2,000-pound bombs, even 3,000-pounders, a small
detonation could generate a much larger blast that would totally destroy the
roadbed or any preparatory work already
completed.”
[28]
The following information on MAG activities was provided in an interview with
Nick Proudman, MAG Program Manager, 9 March 2001, and an email from Tim
Carstairs, MAG Communications Director, 19 July
2001.
[29] Interview with
Karl Heinz Werther, Gerbera Project Manager, 9 March
2001.
[30] Vietnamese
Delegation to UXO Centers in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, 15 - 28 April 2000,
final report prepared for Oxfam Hong
Kong.
[31]
Ibid.
[32] Interview with
unnamed official, 1 March
2001.
[33]
For more information see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 550 –
551.
[34] Memorandum of
understanding between the Foreign Relations Department of Quang Tri Province and
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, April 2001, Quang
Tri.
[35]
For more information see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 551 –
552.
[36] US Department of
State Press Statement, “Vietnamese Humanitarian Demining Experts Tour the
United States,” 27 October
2000.
[37] "Enhancing the
Vietnam-U.S. cooperation in bomb and mine clearance," Tien Phong
newspaper, 4 November
2000.
[38] Emails from Chuck
Meadows, PeaceTrees Vietnam, 13 June 2001 and 17 July
2001.
[39]
See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp.553-554 for a broader overview of
survivor assistance
programs.
[40] Interview with
Dr. Tran Trong Hai, Deputy Director, International Cooperation Department,
Ministry of Health, General Secretary, Vietnam Association of Rehabilitation, 16
April 2001.
[41]
Ibid.
[42] NGO Landmine
Working Group (LWG) meeting, Hanoi, 30 March
2001.
[43] Information
provided by Handicap International (Belgium), 30 July
2001.
[44] Quang Le, Program
Coordinator, PeaceTrees Vietnam, LWG meeting, 30 March
2001.
[45] Kristen Leadem,
Country Representative, Clear Path International, LWG meeting, 30 March
2001.
[46] The Ordinance on
Disabled Persons was promulgated on 8 August 1998, and supposed to take effect
from 1 November 1998. But in fact, it took effect only after a government's
decree regulating in detail the implementation of the ordinance was issued on 10
July 1999.
[47] Telephone
interview with Hong Ha, Coordinator, Disability Forum, 11 April
2001.
[48] Building Codes,
Ministry of
Construction.
[49] Ordinance
on Disabled Persons, Article
31.
[50] Information provided
by Hong Ha, Coordinator, Disability Forum.
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