The programme is being jointly organised by the Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People’s Army) Newspaper, Vietnam’s Bomb and Mine Disposal Technology Centre (BOMICEN) and the Vietnam Multimedia Corporation (VTC), said Major-General Le Phuc Nguyen, the newspaper’s Editor-in-chief, at a press briefing on March 29.

The show will bring together the victims of bombs and landmines remaining unexploded and undetected since the war—known as unexploded ordnance, or UXO--and representatives of organisations that are directly involved in mine and bomb clearance activities in Vietnam.

The talk show is expected to help raise public awareness of the dangers of UXO as well as measures to avoid injury and death for those living in heavily infested areas.

According to Nguyen Trong Canh, BOMICEN Director, publicity campaigns to raise awareness should be accelerated, especially in focal localities, where many people living in poverty and forced to collect scraps to earn a living, putting them at risk of exposure to UXO.

Vocational training and guidance will be provided for the poor living in highly-contaminated areas in the coming time once the national action programme to address the UXO issue is approved by the government, Canh added.

Many places in Vietnam are still heavily contaminated with UXO, particularly the six central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Ngai.