Socialist Republic of Vietnam

The US State Department has announced it will match up to $60,000 in contributions made by any grassroots and private-sector donors to Clear Path International's landmine accident survivor assistance work in Vietnam.

The dollar-for-dollar matching challenge was one of two grants for Clear Path International announced by the State Department's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement.

"This is very exciting news for us," said Martha Hathaway, Clear Path's executive director. "It's the first time we have received assistance for our work with civilian victims of war from the government."

Since it was founded in 2000, Clear Path International has assisted more than 3,000 landmine accident survivors in Vietnam, Cambodia and along the Thai-Myanmar border.

The humanitarian organization has also sent 60 containers of medical equipment and supplies to hospitals in 22 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

All that work during the past six years was funded by individual grassroots donors, charitable foundations, churches, businesses and service clubs, Hathaway said.

"We are pleased to support this new initiative by Clear Path International, one of our many valued Public-Private Partners in humanitarian mine action," remarked Richard Kidd, Director of the US Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement.

The government agency also said it will contribute $75,000 towards Clear Path's initiative to construct a rice production facility in Cambodia where hundreds of landmine victims will learn farm-based skills in the coming years.

The $75,000 grant for the Cambodia rice mill project does not require a match from private-sector contributors. The rice mill has already received major private-sector funding from the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis and the United Nations Association USA's Adopt-A-Minefield program. Clear Path has now raised $280,000 of the $325,000 needed for the mill's completion.

Founded in the year 2000, Clear Path International serves landmine and bomb accident survivors, their families and their communities in former war zones in Southeast Asia.

This assistance takes the form of medical and social services to survivors and their families and equipment support to local hospitals. Current Clear Path projects are in Vietnam, Cambodia and on the Thai - Myanmar border.

Source: Clear Path International – USA, Thanh Nien News.