The Agent Orange in Vietnam Program

The Agent Orange in Vietnam Program is an online resource to help Americans and Vietnamese address the continuing health and environmental impact of herbicides sprayed in Vietnam during the war. Sitting between the United States and Vietnam and within the U.S. policy community, this program promotes dialogue on solutions to the continuing impact of the wartime use of herbicides in Vietnam. About the Program.

News, Media and Updates

Ramon Magsaysay Awardee 2024 Dr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong

Lecture: “Remembering the Vietnam War: Tragedies, Lessons, and the Unconventional Agents for Peace”
ENGLISH & VIETNAMESE EDITIONS NOW AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD

This groundbreaking book outlines steps the US and Vietnam can take to resolve the legacy of Agent Orange/dioxin in Vietnam.

Click here for a free download.
An Unfinished War Legacy

Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee Agent Orange
War Legacies Data Dashboard

Providing Geospatial Data about How the Legacies of the Vietnam War Continue to Affect Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Today
Public Health

Senator Jeff Merkley Keynote Address

“When I learned about Senator Leahy’s programs to heal the wounds of war [I said] this is the right thing to do. I want to help sustain these programs.”

BY The Agent Orange in Vietnam Program

Blog Post

09.03.2023
Public Health

Two New Special Reports

The effects of Agent Orange remain one of the most contentious legacies of the Vietnam War. These two report focus on the hardships faced by Vietnamese people living with Agent Orange–related health problems and disabilities...

BY The Agent Orange in Vietnam Program

Blog Post

09.03.2023
How Public-Private Cooperation Helped Unlock US Assistance on Agent Orange

Addressing the Agent Orange issue can further advance US-Vietnam bilateral relations and should be a priority for Washington.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE in the Pacific Forum
Literature

The Long Reckoning

In The Long Reckoning, George Black recounts the story of the small cast of characters—veterans, scientists, a private US foundation, and Quaker-inspired pacifists, and their Vietnamese partners—who used their moral authority, scientific and political ingenuity, and sheer persistence to attempt to heal the horrors left in the wake of the military engagement in Southeast Asia. Their intersecting story is one of reconciliation, embedded in a vivid portrait of Vietnam today, with all its startling collisions between past and present, in which one-time mortal enemies have been transformed into close allies and partners. Click here to read the reviews of The Long Reckoning.

BY The Agent Orange in Vietnam Program

Of Interest

04.07.2023
Ramon Magsaysay Awardee-Vo Thi Hoang Yen

Yen was disabled by polio as a child at the end of the Vietnam war when childhood immunization programs no longer worked. The Ramon Magsaysay Award, informally known as the “Asian Nobel Prize,” showcases her and what can be done to include, inform and create new opportunities for the disabled everywhere.
World Affairs

Vietnam War Legacies and Reconciliation Initiative

Drawing from the accomplishments and lessons of the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin, American and Vietnamese thought leaders will assess the current state of cooperation on the issue of Agent Orange.

BY The Agent Orange in Vietnam Program

Of Interest

01.31.2022
World Affairs

Senator Leahy Speaks About New Phase of U.S.-Vietnam Joint Work on Agent Orange

Five-year $65 million initiative will focus assistance on Vietnamese with severe disabilities linked to Agent Orange.

BY The Agent Orange in Vietnam Program

Video

12.11.2019
Victims the U.S. Has Never Acknowledged

America has never taken responsibility for spraying the herbicide over Laos during the Vietnam War. But generations of ethnic minorities have endured the consequences.

READ THE FULL PIECE BY George Black

READ "At War: One of the Last and Best-Kept Secrets of the Vietnam War" by George Black
USAID begins new round of Agent Orange cleanup in Vietnam

In December the United States Agency for International Development announced that it had launched dioxin cleanup operations and signed an agreement to implement a $65 million program to support people with disabilities in Vietnam.

READ THE FULL PIECE BY Amruta Byatnal
Nine U.S. Senators Visit Bien Hoa

On April 20, 2019, Vietnam and the U.S. recorded a significant milestone on Agent Orange when Senator Patrick Leahy led a Congressional Delegation of nine U.S. senators to Bien Hoa, Vietnam. They witnessed the signing of a five year $50 million Memorandum of Intent to assist children and young Vietnamese born with disabilities linked to exposure of a parent, grandparent or great grandparent to Agent Orange/dioxin.
Click to read more including:

Memo of Intent
Speeches by Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink
Senator Leahy's Instagram photos of the trip
Fifty years later, a daunting cleanup

From 1962 to 1971, the American military sprayed vast areas of Vietnam with Agent Orange, leaving dioxin contamination that has severely affected the health of three generations of Vietnamese. Now, the U.S. and Vietnamese governments have joined together in a massive cleanup project.

READ THE FULL PIECE By George Black in Food & Environment Reporting Network

Photo credit: Cuong Tran and George Black
Overcoming War Legacies:

On March 26th the governments of the United States of America and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, in partnership with the United States Institute of Peace, hosted a landmark event examining the transformation from enemies to partners by the two countries since the end of the war in 1975.
Perfecting US-Vietnam Relations

Charles Bailey and Le Ke Son continue to provide the latest information and insights about Agent Orange/Dioxin in Vietnam through periodic updates to their book, From Enemies to Partners: Vietnam, the U.S. and Agent Orange. They also prepared a policy brief discussing six recommendations the two governments can do to deepen their partnership on Agent Orange. Click to read:

Policy Recommendations to Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh

Postscript, From Enemies to Partners
Legacy of Agent Orange

November 28, 2018 - Charles Bailey addresses members of the European Parliament and diplomatic corps in Brussels at a program on Agent Orange in Vietnam. Read the full speech and see the presentation.
U.S. prepares for biggest-ever Agent Orange cleanup in Vietnam

BIEN HOA AIR BASE, Vietnam, October 17, 2018 - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited a former American air base in southern Vietnam that will soon become the biggest-ever U.S. cleanup site for contamination left by the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

READ THE FULL PIECE BY Phil Stewart in Reuters
Agent Orange — a humanitarian concern

Details the shared responsibility of the US and Vietnamese governments to address the public health and environmental impacts associated with dioxin contamination in Vietnam from wartime use of Agent Orange and other herbicides.

READ THE FULL PIECE BY Charles Bailey in The Hill

From Enemies to Partners Media Coverage

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