Representatives of the US Veterans for Peace visited and worked with the Central Committee of VAVA

These are the first international friends of the new year 2024 for VAVA. The delegation includes: Mr. Paul Cox, National Committee of Veterans for Peace, California (former President of the US Veterans Health Care Policy Institute) and a core member of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign (VAORRC) and Mr. Chuck Searcy, President of the US Veterans for Peace Association, Chapter 160 (VFP 160), co-founder of Project RENEW in Quang Tri, who has lived and worked in Vietnam for nearly 30 years and has made important contributions to the efforts to reconcile and promote relations between the two countries.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Huu Chinh, VAVA’s President, chaired the meeting. Attended the meeting were Major General Do Hong Lam, Vice President, Ms. Do Mai Khanh, Head of the External Relations Department of VAVA, and Mr. Nguyen Manh Dung, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Vietnam Agent Orange Magazine. At the meeting, VAVA’s Central Committee listened to, exchanged, and discussed the strategic action plan to support Agent Orange victims in 2024. Both sides emphasized that the priority goal is to mobilize US congressmen to pass the Vietnam Agent Orange Victims Relief Act, which American friends have submitted and pursued since 2011. Up to now, 6 draft laws have been submitted to the US Congress but have not been passed. At this meeting, the two sides discussed the content of the 7th draft law, and agreed to try their best to mobilize the US Congress to support and help Vietnamese Agent Orange victims.

Speaking at the meeting, Lieutenant General Nguyen Huu Chinh highly appreciated the activities of the US Veterans for Peace Association - one of the long-established organizations, which has worked with the Central Association since its establishment; has actively contributed to promoting the healing of war, fighting for justice for victims of Agent Orange. Chinh hopes that the US Veterans for Peace Association will continue to lobby the US Congress to pass the Vietnam Agent Orange Victims Relief Act, while seeking every opportunity to help Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange.

VAVA’s External Relations Department