In partnership with Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), RENEW maintains two emergency response teams at constant readiness to react quickly when local people or survey teams discover cluster bombs or other explosive ordnance (EO). This rapid response is essential to maintain widespread participation and confidence in RENEW’s community reporting network. Working with local Youth Union members and teachers, RENEW engages and trains school children, farmers, community workers and others to be RENEW’s “eyes and ears” and to call a hotline number when EO are found. RENEW’s response teams then assess the threat and either destroy the ordnance in place or, if deemed safe, transport the item to a safe site for disposal. Since 2008 RENEW’s rapid response teams have found and destroyed over 39,000 items of explosive ordnance, a significant part of the over 105,000 munitions destroyed by all RENEW teams. All teams are trained to the same high standard, so RENEW’s emergency response teams are also available to assist in clearing EO identified by the survey teams.
Thanks to RENEW/NPA teams’ location and destruction of many cluster bombs right on the paddy fields that we have been farming for nearly four decades, local farmers now have peace of mind to continue farming.
Nguyen Hung
Farmer, Quang Tri
