* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Quang Tri Province, Vietnam- On the anniversary of the end of U.S.combat operations in Vietnam, Clear Path International, a U.S.-based non-profit that works to assist civilian victims of war in five countries, announced a 524,000.00 dollar grant from the U.S. Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement to assist present-day land mine and bomb accident survivors here. The U.S. military ceased combat operations in Vietnam on August 15, 1973, but unexploded ordnance left over from that conflict still claims victims, decades after the last shots were fired and the lost bombs were dropped.
"This grant will enable us to expand our programming to every province in Vietnam and reach accident survivors that otherwise would not receive the assistance they need," said Kiman Lucas, Executive Director of Clear Path International which has been active in Vietnam since 2000.
More bombs were dropped on Vietnam than in World War I and World War II combined. With failure rates reaching 30%, up to 800,000 tons of unexploded ordnance is estimated to remain in the ground in Vietnam, hampering development in addition to regularly claiminglives and limbs. Up to 40% of those injured and killed by this deadly debris are children under 16 years old.
Clear Path International has projects in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. You can read more about CPI at www.cpi.org.
