The Aspen Institute Agent Orange Program is currently seeking donor support for Public Private Partnerships in Da Nang and Bien Hoa provinces.

Through these initiatives, donors can support training, education and rehabilitation services for over half the Vietnamese children and young people in need who are living with disabilities in the Cam Le area of Da Nang, as well as new vocational and workplace readiness training and creation of a five-year disability action plan for Bien Hoa province. Both Da Nang and Bien Hoa have been identified as dioxin hot spots from Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War.

Opportunity #1: Supporting Children and Youth with Disabilities in Da Nang Province
Opportunity #2: Supporting Disability Action Plans in Bien Hua Province 

Opportunity #1: Supporting Children and Youth with Disabilities in Da Nang Province

Project Description
In 2011, the Aspen Institute established the Public Private Partnership in Da Nang to gather and deploy resouces from public and private donors to address the disability issues that remain as a legacy of the war in Vietnam. 

In the 40 years since the end of the war in Vietnam, the country has become a regional economic and commercial leader, and its relations with the United States have steadily improved. But high rates of physical and mental disabilities have continued to afflict the Vietnamese, causing heartache to countless families and a major economic burden to the country. Many scientists and citizens attribute certain of these disabilities to direct and indirect exposure to herbicides the U.S. military used during the war, including Agent Orange, because some of those chemicals contained the highly toxic pollutant dioxin.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine associates dioxin with 15 serious
medical conditions, including birth defects, cancers and nerve and
mental disorders often seen in Vietnam. (Photo: Catherine Karnow)

The Aspen Institute U.S. Secretariat for the Dialogue Group is leading an effort to raise global awareness about Vietnam’s disabled population and the Plan of Action to assist them.

The Dialogue Group's Agent Orange in Vietnam Fund supports training, education and treatment services for the disabled, without regard to cause. Charles Bailey, who led Ford Foundation grantmaking on this issue for more than ten years and now heads Aspen’s program, manages the Fund. It seeks financial contributions and in-kind technical assistance from U.S. corporations, foundations and private individuals, as well as governments, in a public-private partnership (PPP).

Next Steps for Donors
We are currently seeking additional participation in the Da Nang Public Private Partnership, one of the Fund’s first projects bringing training, education and rehabilitation services to 182 Vietnamese children and young people living with disabilities in the Cam Le area of Da Nang, over half of those in need there and serving as a model for other areas. 

The Clinton Global Initiative at its September 2011 meeting recognized these plans as an official “CGI Commitment.” Donors to the Public Private Initiative in Da Nang can display the CGI Seal of Commitment to mark their contribution and showcase their leadership in addressing a humanitarian concern in Vietnam.

The U.S. Government has provided $61.6 million so far for environmental remediation and health/disabilities programs for people with disabilities regardless of cause. As U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear recently wrote, “As these efforts move forward, resources and expertise from the private sector will be crucial to bolster this assistance… It is a win for your companies, it is a win for our bilateral relationship, and it is a win for the people of Vietnam.”

The Rockefeller Foundation, a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, is supporting the core of the project with a grant of $306,800. This will cover system reform, training and equipment for the Cam Le program for three years, and at the same time provide services to 100 impoverished children under 16 who have single disabilities. Two corporations and two more foundations—HSBC Bank, Hyatt Hotels, the Landon Carter Schmitt Memorial Fund and the Henry E. Niles Foundation—have made additional grants totaling $119,442 to fund services to another 65 children and 27 3youth with disabilities ages 17 through 25 also for three years. 

We are now seeking $212,500 to extend vocational and workplace readiness training to a further 93 young people age 17-25 in Cam Le district who have one or more disabilities and come from poor families. These additional funds would enable us to reach the goal of 100% coverage of needy children and youth in the district.

Downloads:

The Aspen Institute Report on the Hope System of Care in Da Nang (Nov. 27, 2012) in English or Tiếng Việt
Read more about the Hope System of Care in Da Nang being used to weave medical, houseing, educational, vocation, and social integration into support for children with disabilities.

Download Request for Commitment in English or Tiếng Việt

Opportunity #2: Supporting Disability Action Plans in Bien Hoa Province

Project Description
Bien Hoa City, the capital of Dong Nai province, contains one of the three major dioxin hotspots which have been identified in studies by the Ministry of Health/ Hatfield and Ministry of Environment & Natural Resources/ UNDP. The Aspen Institute and Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped (VNAH) are leading an effort to raise global awareness about Vietnam’s disabled population and ways to assist them to achieve lives of greater opportunity, comfort and dignity.

Aspen and VNAH are joined in their effort by the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin, a bi-national group of scientists and prominent citizens. The Dialogue Group has played a leading role in the mobilization of $91 million to date from governments and the private sector for the activities described in the Plan.

The Partnership in Bien Hoa seeks financial contributions and in-kind technical assistance from U.S. corporations, foundations and private individuals, as well as governments for training, education and treatment services for the disabled, without regard to cause. So far, the Asia Education and Friendship Association (Tokyo, Japan), Chino Cienega Foundation (Palm Springs, California), Grapes for Humanity Global Foundation (Longboat Key, Florida) and the Aspen Institute Agent Orange in Vietnam Fund have pooled $101,500 to assist the Bien Hoa Partnership. 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.

The Partnership is now seeking additional funds to expand the School-to-Work Program and to add daycare services and a revolving loan fund for the Bien Hoa Disabled Peoples Organization. These programs both benefit children and youth with disabilities and their families and build capacities within local social service agencies so they can provide quality services that fit the needs of their clients. It is expected that in the first year these programs will directly benefit some 150 people with disabilities, build the skills of 50 teachers, disability leaders and care givers and engage government and business stakeholders with disability issues. The program will also indirectly benefit the families of people with disabilities and others in the community.