WUNRN
Unexploded
Ordnance
(or UXOs) are explosive weapons
(bombs, bullets, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, etc.) that did not explode when they were employed and still pose
a risk of detonation.
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LAOS - FEMALE DEMINERS ATTRACT
ATTENTION BUT INSUFFICIENT FUNDS
Photo: Phuong
Tran/ IRIN
Female deminers -- lots of photos, but not so much funding
XIENGKHUANG, 4 January 2011 (IRIN) - In the two years since the
"It was quite in vogue with donors to have all-female teams," said
John Dingley, the UN's senior technical adviser working with the government's
UXO Lao clearance programme. "But more than that, these are good jobs and
we want to create as many opportunities as possible for women in post-conflict
settings."
However, UXO Lao faces a US$1.4 million funding shortfall.
While there have been women working in the government's clearance operation
since it began in 1996, the government only started grouping all-female teams
(albeit with a male mechanic/driver) in 2008, following the lead of the British
demining NGO, Mines Advisory Group (MAG), which has worked in the country
since 1994 and launched all-female UXO clearance teams in Laos in 2007.
Lou McGrath, MAG's chief executive, described MAG's "ladies first"
initiative as a "genuine move to redress gender balance in the UXO
sector".
Priorities
Women can more easily relate to other women when assessing priorities for
demining, said UN adviser Dingley. Whereas men may focus on fields, women might
choose paths to water wells.
In the 17 countries where MAG operates, 13 percent of its 2,526 staff are
women. It has only tried all-female teams in Sri Lanka, Laos and
Cambodia, which no longer has any because of funding cuts, a point not
lost on Saisamon Noonthasin, 35, who has been clearing UXOs in Laos since
leaving school 15 years ago.
"There were no other women who went into it [at the time], but I wanted to
help my country and besides, I could not find any other jobs out of
school," said the mother of two, who earns $200 per month.
In 2009, she was one of 166 women clearing UXOs out of 1,039 government-funded
staff. (Only male soldiers demine, which is more dangerous and potentially
deadlier than working with UXOs.)
Since Noonthasin moved from a mixed team to an all-female UXO clearance team in
2008, however, she has noticed a significant increase in the number of visits
from curious foreigners (18 field visits in the first 11 months of 2010).
Noonthasin hosted two visiting delegations while clearing UXOs in Pek District
in
Female members of UXO Lao do most of what men do, other than fix cars, detonate
phosphorous, cut down trees or move big bombs.
But while the women have helped more than double press coverage of demining and
UXO clearance activities in Laos, there has actually been a reduction in
funding, said Dingley. For example,