The Vietnam association for victims of Agent Orange (VAVA)

I've been "wandering" on the Internet for a little while, finding no incentive to write anything academically...And my eyes accidentally were stuck on the line "Hoi nan nhan chat doc mau da cam" or The Vietnam association for victims of Agent Orange (VAVA). It recalled me back to the peaceful moments we had been spending with the children affected by dioxin at Friendship Village last week. I suddenly realize that I am breaking the promise to bring the photo of one little boy living there to his family (I am still keeping his family' address in my purse and I'd rather complete my promise soon, right? :)...The flow of thought leads me to the idea why not researching more about the VAVA so that I can accumulate more knowledge regarding the organization standing behind to support for the war's victims, know more about the process of struggling for justice and human' rights - one of the hottest issues in Vietnam and the whole world as well in the recent years. The research surelly will offer me a chance to have a deep look into one of the biggest NGO in Vietnam now and I am interested in working at VAVA, and maybe I'll work there in the future, who knows :)) All those things, together take me to the way of logging in Google and finding information as much as I can.

Concerning the establishment of VAVA, it should be better to grasp the basic understanding regarding the evil toxic namely Dioxin and the serious consequences following it. During the war in Vietnam, U.S military forces sprayed approximately 80 million liters of herbicides (most of which was Agent Orange) on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and approximately 3 million Vietnamese people have become victims of Agent Orange. While chemical weapons used in past wars normally resulted in immediate death, this dioxin typically causes its victims to die gradually.With every passing year, there are a greater number of Agent Orange victims and their diseases become more serious.

In order to address the issues faced by its Agent Orange victims, Viet Nam needed an organization that was entrusted with more specialized tasks and functioned as their representative, working on the Agent Orange issues. This organization would also act as a center for educating & helping them in improving their daily lives, building mass support and conducting legal actions on their behalf. That's why VAVA was born on December 17th 2003.

Starting from a ten-member committee established at the founding meeting, VAVA presently owns 60,000 members, composed of 6 departments specializing in external relations, press and information, organization, advocacy, finance, science and administration. Also, VAVA is a self-supporting organization whose funds come mainly from private contributions. After five-years of activities, VAVA has received almost VND 62 billion from caring donors. Definitelyly, this amount is completely insufficient to meet the tremendous needs of our victims. Therefore, VAVA is unable to conduct the large scale and long-term projects that the victims require. VAVA has however played a key role in building housing and residential centers, providing medical treatment, loans for production, education and meeting other urgent needs of Agent Orange victims.

With the central role played by VAVA, the care afforded to Vietnamese Agent Orange victims has become more systematic. There has been stronger and more effective cooperation between health-care, scientific research and governmental policy making and implementation; more coordination between domestic and international support activities. Increasingly more rehabilitation centers have been set up in Viet Nam. Through VAVA and with mutual support in the fight for peace and justice, Vietnamese victims have maintained closer and closer relations with Agent Orange victims from South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, the United States & Canada.

Noticeably, one of VAVA's most important achievements thus far is the class-action lawsuit against the U.S chemical companies. The suit may not completely force the corporate perpetrators to pay compensation. Nevertheless, it can be said that what VAVA has achieved in the legal arena is significantly important. In the process of litigation, we have had a greater chance than expected to stop the U.S government from turning a deaf ear to the Agent Orange issue in Vietnam, as they did for the past decades. Despite US courts’ arbitrary dismissal of our case, this lawsuit has contributed greatly to the success of victims from many countries including the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada in gaining some compensation for their injuries. Whatever the outcome, our action will always remain as one of most significant legal struggles in the US and the world. It stands as an important foundation upon which humanity progresses toward justice, equality and peace for the future generations.