Lao PDR holds the unfortunate distinction of being the most heavily bombed country per capita in history and remains among the five States most heavily contaminated by cluster munition remnants (CMR) in the world. Between 1964 to 1973, over two million tonnes of ordnance were dropped during 580,000 bombing missions – equivalent to one planeload of bombs every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, for nine years.
While a reliable estimate of CMR and other explosive ordnance (EO) contamination in Lao PDR is not available yet, the level of contamination is classed as ‘massive’. CMR contamination poses significant risks to livelihoods, socio-economic development, and quality of life in affected communities.
According to the current national mine action strategy, “Safe Path Forward III” (2021–2030), there have been at least 50,000 confirmed casualties caused by explosive ordnance since the 1964 to 1973 Indochina war ended. Of these, 30,000 were fatal.
Lao PDR is a state party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), being not only one of the convention’s first signatories but also an early champion of it. Under CCM’s Article 4, which requires clearance of all areas known to be contaminated by cluster munitions, the country has a completion deadline set to 2030.
According to the Mine Action Review, in 2025, Lao PDR cleared 67 km² of CMR-contaminated land and destroyed 55,808 submunitions, representing the highest annual clearance and destruction output recorded by any State Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Country Programme
The programme in Lao PDR was one of the biggest in the NPA’s Mine Action and Disarmament portfolio, with an expenditure of USD $13,716,113 for 2025 and employing over 1,000 national staff as of 31 August 2026.
In August 2023, NPA launched its first explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) activities, working with local communities, particularly children, to raise awareness of EO contamination, associated risks, safe behaviour, and reporting procedures.
By the end of 2023, NPA had doubled its operational capacity, supported by increased funding from the Government of the United States and continued support from the Government of Norway.
As of 31 August 2026, NPA was one of the largest mine action operators in Lao PDR, with eight survey teams, 40 clearance teams, four EORE teams, and one mechanical vegetation cutting team operating across Champasak, Sekong, Attapeu, and Saravane provinces.
NPA continues to support the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) in strengthening Information Management (IM) capacity through staff training, development of key documents, improvements to the IM system, and efforts to enhance the quality of historical UXO data.
With funding from the Government of Canada, NPA is also supporting the Lao Presidency in planning and delivering the Third Review Conference of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, to be held in Vientiane in September 2026, including through the engagement of consultants.
Following the introduction of new U.S. funding requirements earlier in 2026, NPA will be unable to enter into new contracts with the Government of the United States. As a result, from 1 November 2026, NPA Laos will significantly scale down its operations in Lao PDR, reducing its workforce from more than 1,000 national and international staff to approximately 30 personnel, including two multi-task teams.
NPA remains committed to supporting Lao PDR’s national UXO priorities. With expected continued support from the Government of Norway in 2027, NPA aims to maintain a small, efficient operational capacity in southern Laos while seeking new funding opportunities from other donors.
Overall results
Since the start of the programme until 31 August 2026, NPA’s Lao PDR programme has:
- Surveyed more than 658 km² and identified more than 4,712 contaminated tasks covering a total size of over 323 km².
- Cleared over 69 km² of contaminated land in 990 tasks.
- Destroyed more than 176,268 items of UXO through survey and clearance of confirmed hazardous area.
- Secured safe access to land, both direct and indirect benefitting from safe access land 666,355 persons, further enabling development efforts
Achievements 2026
From 1 January to 31 August 2026, the NPA Lao PDR programme:
- conducted 746 EORE sessions in 40 targeted villages
- cleared over 6.5 km2 of previously UXO and CMR-contaminated areas over 110 tasks
- found and safely destroyed over 5,651 items of explosive ordnance (EO)
- surveyed 4.8 km2 and identified 16 Confirmed Hazardous Areas covering more than 1.4 km2
- secured safe access to land, directly benefitting over 5,304 persons.
- Lao PDR Profile in the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor
- Technical Notes for Mine Action - TNMA 08.20/02 Cluster Munition Remnant Survey
- National Standards Technical Note 08.20/01
- Comparative Trails of Manual Demining Methods
- NPA Lao PDR on Facebook
Donors
Norway
The Government of Canada
