EXTERNAL AFFAIRS HIGHLIGHTS OF VAVA IN 2024

 1. VAVA Leadership Delegation led by Major General Nguyen Hong Son, Vice President of the Association, took a business trip to France and Belgium to attend the lawsuit of Ms. Tran To Nga at the Paris Court of Appeal and participated in many activities to call for support of international friends for the lawsuit. In particular, the Delegation worked with French MP Anne Le Heanff; Belgian MP Andre Flahaut; the Vietnamese Embassies in France and Belgium; and met with 16 organizations which are supporting Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange.

2. VAVA Leadership Delegation went to the US to attend the 3rd Dialogue: “Legacies of War and Peace in Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia” held by the US Institute of Peace in Washington D.C. and worked with 6 important partners in the US. After the trip, VAVA has established its position with the US Institute of Peace by maintaining VAVA’s presence in the annual Dialogue by means of discusses and exchanges; the phrase “victims of Agent Orange/dioxin” was used at the Dialogue.

3. VAVA coordinated with the provincial associations of Da Nang and Binh Dinh to receive and work with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Vietnam. The delegation visited victims in local communities and at their home to develop a plan to realize the provisions of the Resolution supporting Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/dioxin passed by the Belgian Parliament in 2023. This is a premise and an important milestone to spread the support to other countries. In particular, this activity represented an important content for the State visit of the King and Queen of Belgium at the end of March 2025 in Hanoi, Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City.

4. The French Bar Association led by Lawyer William Bourdon worked with the Central Committee of VAVA to discuss the coordination in mobilising support for the lawsuit of Ms. Tran To Nga at the Paris Court of Appeal. The delegation visited and presented gifts to 60 families of AO victims in Ninh Binh, then went to Ho Chi Minh City to visit the victims and the War Remnants Museum.

5. The delegation of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign (VAORRC) worked with the Central Committee of VAVA. In particular, on the day for the victims of Agent Orange (August 10), the Party Central Committee's External Relations Commission coordinated with VAVA’s Central Committee, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, and the Party Committee of Hai Phong City to commence the ceremony to scatter the ashes of Ms. Merle Ratner, a close friend of the Vietnamese people, of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange, and an American social activist in Do Son, Hai Phong, as she had wished.

6. The delegation of the Association for Better Life and Education (ABLE) led by Ms. Rubina Qureshi, President of ABLE International, came to work with VAVA’s Central Committee, the Social Protection Centers of Da Nang  and Thai Binh to assess the situation and results of detoxification for AO victims in 2024 to best use the program of detoxification for Agent Orange victims to improve their health and enable them to integrate into the community.

7. VAVA received the Scientist Delegation of the Tohoku Fukushi University, Japan twice as they came to work, visit, survey the living conditions and present gifts to 45 families of AO victims in Tay Ninh, Dong Nai and Quang Tri provinces to serve as a basis for research and propose to the Japanese Government support and aids for Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/dioxin victims.

8. The delegation of the Japanese Seeds of Hope Project led by Ms. Masako Sakata worked with the Ho Chi Minh City Association, presented 1,400,000 Japanese Yen in support, visited the hotspot of Bien Hoa military airbase, visited 3 centers/facilities for concentrated care of AO victims and 3 families of AO victims, and visited and surveyed Cam Village to gradually mobilize support for the development of Cam Village in the future.

 9. For the first time, VAVA leader, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, Vice President of the Association, was claimed as one of the five winners of the prestigious "Asian Nobel Prize" from the Ramon Magsaysay Award Fund for 2024. Phuong donated all value of the award, totalling up to 50,000 USD to support Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/dioxin through the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

 10. As much as nearly 5 billion dong was mobilized through the VAVA’s External Relations Department, including organizations and individuals of: Belgian House of Representatives, Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium; Swiss-Vietnam Friendship Association; Thien Quang Pagoda Charity Fund, General Nguyen Chi Thanh Museum; Medical and Scientific Aid Organization for Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia (the highest so far is 73,680 USD); Japan Seeds of Hope Fund; American Veterans for Peace; Mr. Mike Rehner, an American veteran, Mr. Richmond Mayo Smith's family, Mr. Paul Nolan, the United Nations International School of Hanoi (UNIS), ABLE, VNAH, Tohoku Fukushi University, Japan, Kasumigaseki Spouse Association, Le Beauty High-Tech Aesthetics, etc. to support, give gifts, build/repair houses, give wheelchairs/crutches, give capital for developing livelihoods, provide vocational training for victims to enable them to work, earn a living, integrate into the community, and reduce the burden on their families and society.

Foreign Affairs Department - Central Committee of VAVA