The Aspen Institute's Agent Orange in Vietnam Program (AOVP) is a multi-year project to help Americans and Vietnamese address the continuing health and environmental impact of herbicides sprayed in Vietnam during the war. Between the United States and Vietnam and within the U.S. policy community, the program promotes dialogue on solutions to the continuing impact of the wartime use of herbicides in Vietnam. The program provides the U.S. secretariat for the bi-national Dialogue Group and manages the Agent Orange in Vietnam Fund supporting model projects benefiting people with disabilities in Vietnam.

The Agent Orange in Vietnam Program takes a two-pronged approach. First, through meetings and policy briefs, it will promote discussion within the U.S. policy community about dioxin in Vietnam and solutions to stem its continuing impact. Second, the program will strengthen US-Vietnamese cooperation on this issue by assisting the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin. The Dialogue Group has identified ways to deal with the most pressing of the human and environmental consequences of the U.S. military's defoliation campaign. This bipartisan, non-governmental initiative is comprised of distinguished policy makers, scientists, and nonprofit and business leaders. With Susan Berresford serving as convener of the group, the Vietnamese side is lead by Ambassador Ha Huy Thong, vice chair of the Vietnamese National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, and leading the U.S. side is Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute.

The Aspen Institute welcomed Charles Bailey as the new Director of the Agent Orange in Vietnam Program in May 2011, at which time a roundtable was convened on the state of the issue, covering recent progress made on this urgent issue both in the United States and Vietnam. Video and photographs from this roundtable can be found here.

Highlighted past program events: 

• August, 2012 The Vietnam and the United States governments launched dioxin cleanup at Da Nang Airport through USAID.
• FY2012 Appropriation, December 2011 On December 22nd, President Obama signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, allocating $20 million for Agent Orange in Vietnam. Of this total, $15 million was intended to complete the funding of the full remediation of the Da Nang airport dioxin hotspot, and to get a start on remediating Bien Hoa and possibly other hotspots. The balance of $5 million was for health/disabilities programs in areas of Vietnam that were targeted with Agent Orange or remain contaminated with dioxin. The language in the bill and the accompanying Senate report provided a much-improved framework, indeed a breakthrough, for a serious start on ending the Agent Orange legacy in Vietnam.
• Public Private Partnership Established, August 2011 The Aspen Institute, Da Nang City government, Cam Le district government, Children of Vietnam and the Rockefeller Foundation created the Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Da Nang. The district government in Cam Le commited to providing public resources to maintain the new approach to social service delivery.
• Clinton Global Initiative Recognizes Public Private Partnership, September 2011 The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) recognizes the Public Private Partnership in Da Nang as a commitment from the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), the Aspen Institute, the Rockefeller Foundation, IBM, and Hyatt Hotels. The Partners committed to assistance to all people with disabilities in Vietnam, without regard to cause. The announcement at the CGI, valued at $3.0 million from USAID and $0.5 million from the private.
• Joint Advisory Committee, September 2011 Dialogue Group members Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong and Professor Vo Quy and the Aspen Institute’s Charles Bailey presented the recommendations from the DG First Year Report to the 6th Annual Meeting of the official bi-national Joint Advisory Committee in Hanoi.

Historical resources: 

• June 16th, 2010 launch of the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin's 10-year Plan of Action
• The US-Vietnam Dialogue Group, June 2009
• Congressional Testimony, May 2008
• Panel Assesses US Response to the Impact of Dioxin in Vietnam, March 2008
• Visit to Vietnam, January 2008
• Agent Orange in Vietnam: Assessing the US Response, October 2007

Director Charles Bailey
Charles Bailey joined the Aspen Institute in May 2011 to direct its Agent Orange in Vietnam Program. From 1997 to 2007 he was based in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he headed the Ford Foundation’s grant making in, economic development, international relations, arts and culture, sexuality and reproductive health and higher education. Learn more and read Dr. Bailey's writings.  

For More Information Contact: Janice Joseph at the Aspen Institute Agent Orange in Vietnam Program, 477 Madison Avenue Suite 730 New York, NY 10022. janice.joseph@aspeninstitute.org, 212 895-8000