Cambodia - Laos, South-South Cooperation Workshop and Regional Seminar On UXO/Mine Action Sector

Held In Siem Reap, 25 - 27 November 2014 Regional Seminar on Action Sector, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam

In cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), CMAC hosted two different workshops on 25-27 November 2014, one of which was about “the 6th Laos-Cambodia Cooperation Program Workshop on UXO/MINE Action Sector” and the other was about “the Regional Seminar on South-South Cooperation Program on UXO/MINE Action Sector ”. Cooperation Agency Reap, 26-27 November 2014

Day one: 25 November 2014: The 6th Laos-Cambodia Cooperation Program Workshop on UXO/MINE Action Sector.

On 25th Nov 2014, the workshop, with the main purpose of the South-South Cooperation to develop human resources and strengthen institutional capacity of Laos and Cambodian governmental organizations working in the UXO/Mine Action sector through sharing knowledge and experiences, was held at the Sofitel Angkor Hotel, Siem Reap town, and

participated by the three key players namely CMAC, JICA and UXO Lao. This 6th workshop aimed to consolidate outputs and outcomes of the past 5 workshops, shape approaches to the further cooperation between CMAC and UXO Lao, to present the current effort of two organizations to other relevant actors and to promote the network among ASEAN countries on the issue of landmine and UXO. After a whole day discussion, the workshop came to an end with a pleasant and cheerful relationship, leaving fruitful outputs and significant feedbacks and recommendation.

Day Two and Three: 26-27 November 2014: The Regional Seminar on South-South Cooperation Programme on UXO/MINE Action Sector

The Regional Seminar on South-South Cooperation Exchange Program in Mine Action was held in Siem Reap on 26 and 27 November 2014, with various participants from mine/UXO affected countries, institutions and authorities in mine action sectors such as Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), Thailand Mine Action Centre (TMAC), Vietnam Mine Action Centre (VNMAC), Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), Lao National

Regulatory Authority for UXO (NRA), UXO Laos, JICA, Embassy of Japan, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), Japan Mine Action Services (JMAS), Apopo and the Golden West Foundation (GWHF) and other observers.

Exchanging knowledge and sharing experiences among mine and UXO affected counties are ways of enhancing the mine action practice because of different natures of landmine and UXO problems and practices in individual countries. Derived from the first day workshop, as a model for other mine and UXO affected countries, the workshop opened a floor to the donors, stakeholders, and partners in sharing knowledge,

experiences and challenges in mine action.

It was a great opportunity for all demining institutions to have an open discussion on the problems all countries in the region are facing in trying to meet international obligations on mine action and how to encourage and proceed with more South-South and Regional cooperation.

On 27th November 2014, third day of the workshop, participants went to visit actual field operations in Prasat village, Or bey Chan commune, Ouchroav district, Bonteay Meanchey province, where they could observe and see CMAC’s daily actual operational work in using different demining tools such as brush cutters, mine detection dogs, and manual demining and so on.