Charles Bailey, director of the Institute’s Agent Orange in Vietnam Program, has been awarded the highest honor given by the government of Vietnam to non-citizens, the Vietnam Order of Friendship medal. Bailey has done more than perhaps any other single individual to address the harmful legacy left by the wartime use of defoliants, including Agent Orange. Bailey joined the Institute in May to continue that work, which includes hosting the secretariat for the US-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin. In just a few short months with the Institute, Bailey has developed a new public-private partnership among local government, the Rockefeller Foundation, Hyatt Hotels, Children of Vietnam, and other partners to provide improved services to children with disabilities—regardless of cause—near one of the Agent Orange hotspots in Da Nang. The new partnership is already receiving accolades and was heralded at the Clinton Global Initiative meetings last month. The citation from the president of Vietnam recognizes Bailey’s contributions during more than ten years as the Ford Foundation’s representative in Vietnam.
To learn more about this important work, visit www.aspeninstitute.org/agentorangeprogram.
