Overview

Between 2006 and April 2013 many foreign organizations, both public and private, funded actions to clean up dioxin contaminated soils and augment services to people with disabilities, especially in the heavily sprayed provinces.  The contributors included 17 foundations, led by the Ford Foundation, nine civic groups and corporations, the United States, five other countries and two U.N. organizations, UNDP and UNICEF.  The total amount raised so far is $112.7 million, of which 70% has been allocated to clean up and 30% to services, as shown in the chart below.

Two Public Private Partnerships

The Aspen Institute has helped create two public private partnerships to channel funds to services for people with disabilities.
 
The Public Private Partnership in Da Nang began in November 2011. It has received contributions totaling $425,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation, Hyatt Hotels, HSBC Bank, the Landon Carter Schmitt Memorial Fund and the Henry E. Niles Foundation. The funds are used for a three year innovative program of comprehensive services for children and youth with disabilities in Da Nang’s Cam Le district. Called the Hope System of Care, the program is led by the Cam Le Peoples Committee with a technical assist from Children of Vietnam. The Hope System of Care has enrolled all children with disabilities in Cam Le and a quarter of the youth with disabilities. Further funding to extend the program to all youth in Cam Le district is being sought.

The Public Private Partnership in Bien Hoa was approved in November 2012.  It has received contributions totaling $100,000 from the Asia Education and Friendship Association, Chino Cienega Foundation, Grapes for Humanity Global Foundation, Reis Family Foundation, Parsons Family Foundation and the Aspen Institute Agent Orange in Vietnam Fund. These funds are being used for a School-to-Work Program, to prepare a five year Disability Action Plan for the province and to enlarge a primary school. Further funding to expand the School-to-Work Program and to add daycare services and a revolving loan fund for the Bien Hoa Disabled Peoples Organization is being sought.

Both Public Private Partnerships benefit children and youth with disabilities and their families and add to capacities within local social service agencies so they can provide quality services that fit the needs of their clients.

The U.S. Government

In December 2012, President Obama signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 which allocated $20 million for Agent Orange in Vietnam. Of this total, $15 million was applied to the cost of remediation of the Da Nang airport dioxin hotspot. The balance of $5 million was directed to 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 provide a much-improved framework, indeed a breakthrough, for a serious start on ending the Agent Orange legacy in Vietnam.

In March 2013 the Congress approved a Continuing Resolution which authorized the federal government to continue all programs at the same spending levels as in 2012. Agent Orange thus is receiving $20 million in 2013.
 
Over the six years from 2007 to 2013 the U.S. Government has provided $81.6 million for clean up and services to people with disabilities in Vietnam regardless of cause.

This is progress, and worthy of celebration. However, there is still need for additional funds to establish sustainable systems that support people with disabilities, beginning with those living near dioxin hot spots and in heavily sprayed areas, and to finish the chemical clean up process.

The chart below shows the funds Congress has appropriated through 2013 and projects the funds required from all sources to complete the clean up and meet the goals for health and disability services laid out in the Second Year Report of the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/ Dioxin.  The early attention and early money from American foundations and civic groups peaked in 2009-10. Today, 2013, the scale of resources required for further fundamental progress is such that governments must take the lead.  The U.S. Government and the Government of Vietnam should act to recruit new bilateral donor partners from Europe and Asia. There is also a continuing role for the United Nations.