Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Vietnam's Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh has called on all individuals and organisations at home and overseas to help and support disabled children in general and children who are victims of Agent Orange in particular.

The vice president made the call at a campaign launched in Hanoi on March 22, to support disabled children and children affected by Agent Orange between now and 2005.

"Socio-political organisations, economic enterprises, communities, overseas Vietnamese, including children and their organisations, with their appropriate actions and capacities, should exert more efforts to make material contributions, take care of, and encourage disabled children, especially those who are victims of Agent Orange," the Vice President said.

She called on international organisations and individuals to support the programmes for health care and the functional rehabilitation for disabled children and help their families as well as to help Vietnam remove unexploded bombs and mines and cleanse areas of Agent Orange.

"The support from you and people of conscience all over the world will help relieve the pain of war, put the past behind and look forward to co-operation and development, as well as protection of the child's rights," she emphasised.

Incomplete statistics show that Vietnam now has more than one million disabled children. Of these, 27% suffer from mental retardation and 12% from blindness, 15% are deaf and mute and 19% suffer other functional disabilities.

US Defence records snow that, the US Air Force sprayed 72 million litres of toxic chemicals in southern Vietnam and parts of Laos and Cambodia. More than 44 million litres of these substances were Agent Orange contaminated with 170 kilograms of Dioxin between 1961 and 1971.

"The war has elapsed for a quarter of century, but the effects of dioxins on human health have remained and nobody knows exactly how long they will last. Many Agent Orange victims have silently died without deserved helps and supports and many innocent children have been born with diseases and defects caused by Agent Orange," said Vietnam Red Cross Society President Professor Nguyen Trong Nhan.

It is estimated that Vietnam has about one million people affected by Agent Orange, including almost 150,000 birth-deformed children, who are now living in difficult circumstances. Often, their fathers, the breadwinners, have lost their ability to work.

Over the past eight years, the National Fund for Vietnamese Children has raised VND 65 billion to help orphans, displaced and street children, disabled children and children in disaster-devastated areas.

Since its foundation in 1998, the Agent Orange Victim Fund has expanded its affiliates to 48 out of Vietnam's 61 provinces and cities and raised about VND 20 billion to support the Agent Orange victims, including children.

At the launching ceremony by the National Fund for Vietnamese Children, the Agent Orange Victim Fund and the Vietnam Save Disabled Children, Madame Binh pledged half of her salary for the campaign, while the Finance Ministry declared it would donate VND one billion for the Fund. (VNA)

Following are speeches made at the campaign launch to support disabled children, especially those who are victims of Agent Orange:

- Letter of Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh to call on contributions for disabled children, especially child victims of Agent Orange

- Speech by Professor Nguyen Trong Nhan, president of Vietnam Red Cross: The situation of disabled children,
especially disabled children affected by Agent Orange

- Speech by Lady Borton, Quaker Service Vietnam, American Friends Service Committee: Agent Orange victims - we can all take a small action to help every day


Agent Orange Victim Fund