More than three decades after the war ended in Vietnam, explosive remnants, including unexploded cluster bombs still pose a deadly threat to the lives and livelihoods of Vietnamese people. Actually, more than 100,000 people have been killed or injured because of explosive remnants of war. Like a lot of my fellow people, I am expecting Vietnam to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions soon to secure much needed international assistance for cluster munition victims.

I have a dream of a peaceful world in which cluster munitions are banned by all countries forever for the sake of our children who will have a safe environment to study and prosper. Therefore, I call on more countries to jointly participate in this global effort to make it happen by signing, ratifying and putting the convention into practice and implement the Convention very soon.

I desperately call on the international community to take action in providing support to the affected countries including Vietnam which is struggling to overcome the consequences of war. This is a great chance to speed up clearing contaminated land for our farmers to continue working without fear, for our children to have a brighter future as well as to bring new hope and opportunities to the survivors of cluster munitions.

I wish you a successful conference.

Thank you very much.

Pham Quy Thi