Editing Agent Orange (section)

===Help for those affected in Vietnam===
To assist those who have been affected by Agent Orange/dioxin, the Vietnamese have established "peace villages", which each host between 50 and 100 victims, giving them medical and psychological help. As of 2006, there were 11 such villages, thus granting some social protection to fewer than a thousand victims. U.S. veterans of the war in Vietnam and individuals who are aware and sympathetic to the impacts of Agent Orange have supported these programs in Vietnam. An international group of veterans from the U.S. and its allies during the Vietnam War working with their former enemy—veterans from the Vietnam Veterans Association—established the Vietnam Friendship Village outside of [[Hanoi]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vietnamfriendship.org|title=Vietnam Friendship Village Project|access-date=August 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917012142/http://www.vietnamfriendship.org/|archive-date=17 September 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The center provides medical care, rehabilitation and vocational training for children and veterans from Vietnam who have been affected by Agent Orange. In 1998, The [[Vietnam Red Cross]] established the Vietnam Agent Orange Victims Fund to provide direct assistance to families throughout Vietnam that have been affected. In 2003, the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange (VAVA) was formed. In addition to filing the lawsuit against the chemical companies, VAVA provides medical care, rehabilitation services and financial assistance to those injured by Agent Orange.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vava.org.vn/|title=Hội Nạn nhân chất độc da cam/dioxin Việt Nam|trans-title=Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin |website=vava.org.vn|language=vi-VN|access-date=2017-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326221003/http://vava.org.vn/|archive-date=2017-03-26|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Vietnamese government provides small monthly stipends to more than 200,000 Vietnamese believed affected by the herbicides; this totaled $40.8 million in 2008. The Vietnam Red Cross has raised more than $22 million to assist the ill or disabled, and several U.S. foundations, United Nations agencies, European governments and nongovernmental organizations have given a total of about $23 million for site cleanup, reforestation, health care and other services to those in need.<ref>{{cite report |author=Ngô Quang Xuân |title=Statement to the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee of Asia, Pacific and Global Environment |date=June 2009 |page=3}}</ref>

Vuong Mo of the Vietnam News Agency described one of the centers:<ref>{{cite web|title=Living with the sufferings|url=https://vietnam.vnanet.vn/english/living-with-the-sufferings/17917.html|website=vietnam.vnanet.vn|date=2005-12-07|access-date=2021-01-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103181452/https://vietnam.vnanet.vn/english/living-with-the-sufferings/17917.html|archive-date=2021-01-03|url-status=live}}</ref>

<blockquote>May is 13, but she knows nothing, is unable to talk fluently, nor walk with ease due to for her bandy legs. Her father is dead and she has four elder brothers, all mentally retarded&nbsp;... The students are all disabled, retarded and of different ages. Teaching them is a hard job. They are of the 3rd grade but many of them find it hard to do the reading. Only a few of them can. Their pronunciation is distorted due to their twisted lips and their memory is quite short. They easily forget what they've learned&nbsp;... In the Village, it is quite hard to tell the kids' exact ages. Some in their twenties have a physical statures as small as the 7- or 8-years-old. They find it difficult to feed themselves, much less have mental ability or physical capacity for work. No one can hold back the tears when seeing the heads turning round unconsciously, the bandy arms managing to push the spoon of food into the mouths with awful difficulty&nbsp;... Yet they still keep smiling, singing in their great innocence, at the presence of some visitors, craving for something beautiful.</blockquote>

On June 16, 2010, members of [[the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin]] unveiled a comprehensive 10-year Declaration and Plan of Action to address the toxic legacy of Agent Orange and other herbicides in Vietnam. The Plan of Action was released as an Aspen Institute publication and calls upon the U.S. and Vietnamese governments to join with other governments, foundations, businesses, and nonprofits in a partnership to clean up dioxin "hot spots" in Vietnam and to expand humanitarian services for people with disabilities there.<ref name="chicagotribune.com">{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange-actionplandec08,0,7945266.story |title=Public-private group has plan in the works to resolve issue |work=Chicago Tribune |first=Jason |last=Grotto |date=2009-12-08 |access-date=2012-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522082810/http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange-actionplandec08,0,7945266.story |archive-date=2013-05-22 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Margie |last=Mason |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna37735860 |title=Plan addresses Agent Orange legacy in Vietnam |work=NBC News |date=2010-06-16 |access-date=2012-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305083530/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/37735860/ |archive-date=2016-03-05 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2010/1001.spc-rep.html |title=Special Report: Agent Orange |magazine=Washington Monthly |date=January–February 2010 |access-date=2012-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901175643/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2010/1001.spc-rep.html |archive-date=2012-09-01 |pages=22–40}}</ref> On September 16, 2010, Senator [[Patrick Leahy]] acknowledged the work of the Dialogue Group by releasing a statement on the floor of the United States Senate. The statement urges the U.S. government to take the Plan of Action's recommendations into account in developing a multi-year plan of activities to address the Agent Orange/dioxin legacy.<ref>{{cite book |title=Congressional Record—Senate |page=S7168 |date=September 16, 2010 |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2010-09-16/pdf/CREC-2010-09-16-pt1-PgS7168-3.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312201512/https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2010-09-16/pdf/CREC-2010-09-16-pt1-PgS7168-3.pdf |archive-date=2017-03-12 |publisher=United States Government Publishing Office}}</ref>

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