Laos is currently carrying out large-scale land clearing operations and is preparing to host an international conference about banning cluster munitions.

寮國目前正進行大規模的土地清理行動，並準備舉辦一場關於禁用集束彈藥的國際會議。

The current contamination of Lao land is a result of air bombings by the United States between 1964 and 1973. This campaign was caused by the presence of the Ho Chi Minh trail and the Pathet Lao movement, leading to the use of over 2 million tons of explosives. Cluster munitions are especially dangerous; about 270 million small bombs were used, and roughly 30% failed to explode, creating a lasting danger for civilians.

寮國目前土地受污染的情況是由於美國在 1964 年至 1973 年間進行的空中轟炸所致。這次行動是因為胡志明小道和寮國解放人民聯合陣線（Pathet Lao）運動的存在，導致使用了超過 200 萬噸的炸藥。集束彈藥尤其危險；當時使用了約 2.7 億枚小炸彈，其中約 30% 未能爆炸，對平民造成了持久的威脅。

To deal with this problem, the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Program uses technical methods, such as metal detectors, to find and safely destroy these bombs. However, the scale of the problem is still huge. For example, in the village of Ban Napia, 23,000 hectares of land still need to be cleared. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) emphasized that these unexploded bombs are a major obstacle to rural development, as highly contaminated areas often have higher poverty levels. Consequently, Laos has added a special 18th Sustainable Development Goal to remove these risks.

為了處理這個問題，寮國國家未爆彈計劃（Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Program）採用技術手段，例如使用金屬探測器來尋找並安全地摧毀這些炸彈。然而，問題的規模依然巨大。例如，在 Ban Napia 村，仍有 23,000 公頃的土地需要清理。聯合國開發計劃署（UNDP）強調，這些未爆彈是農村發展的主要障礙，因為高度污染的地區通常貧困程度較高。因此，寮國增加了一項特殊的第 18 項可持續發展目標，以消除這些風險。

Furthermore, the government has focused on risk education to reduce injuries, especially among young people. This teaching approach helps people identify bombs and avoid dangerous activities, such as digging with hoes or starting fires on the ground. While the number of deaths has dropped from thousands per year in the 1980s to just a few in recent years, these devices still prevent the growth of agriculture and infrastructure.

此外，政府將重點放在風險教育上以減少受傷人數，尤其是年輕人。這種教學方法幫助人們識別炸彈並避免危險活動，例如用鋤頭挖掘或在地面點火。雖然死亡人數已從 1980 年代的每年數千人下降到近年僅有數人，但這些裝置仍阻礙著農業與基礎設施的增長。

Laos continues to carry out organized demining work while taking a leading role in the global effort to get rid of cluster munitions.

寮國繼續開展有組織的排雷工作，同時在全球消除集束彈藥的努力中扮演領導角色。