Lao PDR Risk Management and Mitigation Model

In 2005 and 2006, although the area of land released through clearance in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has continued to increase, so too has the number of casualties caused by unexploded ordnance (UXO) left over from conflict between 1964 and 1973. This observation triggered a chain of events that resulted in UNDP Lao PDR issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the development of an “EOD Risk Management/Mitigation Model in the Lao PDR”. The GICHD was subsequently awarded the project.
The aim of the project is to design and specify a new approach to addressing the Lao PDR contamination problem that is practical to implement and is based on nationally accepted risk management principals. In order to do that, it is important to define processes and procedures and develop practical and concrete models for Risk Management in Lao PDR. At the national (strategic) level the model recommends where the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) should plan ground clearance tasking within the guidelines of the government of the Lao PDR, whereas at field level it suggests how such actions should be undertaken by the
operators. This dual goal is complicated by multiple layers of perception of risk. Each of the stakeholders in Lao PDR has different perspectives and varying levels of resources to pursue risk reduction. At one extreme, villagers caught in a poverty trap have a dilemma: they have sometimes to choose between starvation and either collecting UXO for income from scrap metal or using contaminated land. As a consequence, even if they have received UXO risk education, it is likely that they will opt for one of the latter options. Thus, the risks posed by UXO rarely appear in isolation nor do they exist in a static milieu since local perceptions of risk may vary according to time, situation and the household coping abilities to survive. Therefore, the villager, the community, the country and the donors need to constantly balance risk-taking behaviours against the potential benefits derived from them.