Title Decades After the Conflict: RENEW’s Integrated Model for Post-War Land Release and Community Recovery in Quang Tri, Vietnam
Author(s) Nguyen Hieu Trung
Affiliation RENEW Center for Rehabilitation and Disability Support, Quang Tri Province
Country Vietnam
Contribution type case study; empirical study; discussion contribution; data report; community-based evidence
Thematic area • Theory, Methodology, and Evidence• War and Soil Systems• War and Freshwater Systems• War and Land-Use Systems• War and Health
Conference framework connection • Analytical Track AT-01 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-02 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-03 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-04 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-05 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-06 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-07 — provisional title to be defined
Abstract The end of armed conflict does not necessarily mean the end of its consequences. In territories heavily affected by war, explosive remnants may continue to shape land use, livelihoods, human security, disability, and community development for decades. Quang Tri Province in central Vietnam provides a particularly important example of this prolonged post-war condition.More than five decades after the major period of warfare in Vietnam, communities in Quang Tri continue to live with the consequences of unexploded ordnance and other explosive remnants of war. Their presence has historically restricted safe access to land, complicated agricultural and infrastructure development, created continuing risks of injury and death, and contributed to long-term social and economic vulnerability.Project RENEW was established in Quang Tri in 2001 as a locally based response to these persistent consequences. Its activities combine explosive ordnance survey and clearance, land release, risk education, assistance to survivors, rehabilitation and disability support, and measures supporting community recovery.The experience of RENEW demonstrates that the consequences of war cannot be addressed through clearance alone. Removing explosive hazards is a critical first step, but sustainable recovery requires a broader transition from contaminated and restricted territory toward safe land use, restored livelihoods, rehabilitation of affected people, improved community confidence, and renewed opportunities for local development.Land release therefore has both a technical and a social meaning. When hazardous areas are surveyed, cleared, and returned to communities, the result is not simply the removal of explosive objects. It can mean renewed access to agricultural land, safer construction and infrastructure development, reduced risks for families and children, and the restoration of productive relationships between communities and their territory.The human consequences are equally long-lasting. Injuries caused by explosive remnants may result in permanent disability and continue to affect individuals and families long after the original conflict has ended. Rehabilitation, prosthetic support, disability services, livelihood assistance, and social inclusion therefore form an essential part of post-war recovery rather than a separate humanitarian issue.The Quang Tri experience illustrates an important temporal dimension of warfare: environmental, territorial, social, and health consequences develop over different timescales. Some effects occur during conflict, while others may persist across generations. Correspondingly, recovery must also be understood as a long-term process rather than a single post-conflict intervention.More than twenty years of RENEW’s work provide a practical example of how humanitarian mine action can evolve into an integrated model of territorial and community recovery. The presentation will examine the connections between hazardous land, human vulnerability, disability, land release, livelihoods, and local development, and will consider what lessons from Quang Tri may be relevant for other societies facing the enduring legacy of war.
Key points • The consequences of warfare may persist for decades after active hostilities have ended. • Explosive remnants of war affect not only physical safety but also access to land, agriculture, infrastructure, livelihoods, and community development. • Land release should be understood as both a technical process and a process of restoring the relationship between communities and their territory. • Clearance alone cannot address the complete legacy of war. • Injuries and disability create consequences that may continue throughout the lifetime of affected individuals and families. • Rehabilitation, disability support, livelihood opportunities, and social inclusion are integral components of long-term post-war recovery. • The experience of Quang Tri demonstrates the importance of linking humanitarian mine action with broader processes of community recovery and local development. • Post-war recovery should be understood in generational rather than solely short-term humanitarian timescales. 
Keywords Vietnam; Quang Tri; long-term consequences of war; explosive remnants of war; unexploded ordnance; humanitarian mine action; land release; post-conflict recovery; rehabilitation; disability support; livelihoods; community recovery
Main discussion question How can territories affected by the long-term consequences of war move from hazardous land and human vulnerability toward safe land use, restored livelihoods, rehabilitation, and sustainable community recovery?
OJS publication link https://pollution-diseases-ojs.org/index.php/pd/article/view/66
Note. Analytical TracksIn addition to the main thematic areas, the conference programme will include several cross-cutting analytical tracks. These tracks will be defined during the preparation of the programme, based on the submitted abstracts and the emerging links between presentations.At the preliminary stage, abstracts may be assigned to provisional analytical tracks marked as AT-01 to AT-07. Final track titles will be announced after the Scientific Committee has reviewed the submitted materials.