US veterans help VN surmount post-war issues

The “Restoring the Environment and Neutralising the Effects of War” (RENEW) project has helped improve living standards of Vietnamese people, especially victims of bombs and mines, in the central province of Quang Tri .
The “Restoring the Environment and Neutralising the Effects of War” (RENEW) project has helped improve living standards of Vietnamese people, especially victims of bombs and mines, in the central province of Quang Tri .

This was signalled at the August 1 meeting between the President of Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Vu Xuan Hong, and donors of RENEW project, launched by the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Fund (VVMF), and the Mine Action Visitor Centre, which was scheduled to open on August 5 in Quang Tri province.

Hong spoke highly of the project’s contributions to raising awareness of local people, especially children, about the dangers of contact with bombs, mines and other unexploded ordnances of war.

Over the past decade, the project significantly contributed to reducing casualties caused by bombs and mines and provided medical aid for victims, while improving local capacity in managing and operating projects to defuse bombs and mines, Hong said.

Participants at the meeting agreed that coordination between international and local groups in coping with post-war consequences was a humanitarian, long-term task that needed to be enhanced.

They stressed that attention should be put particularly on Agent Orange/dioxin victims.

Hong used the occasion to express his hope that similar projects would be launched in other central provinces such as Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Binh and Ha Tinh.

The RENEW project launched by the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Fund (VVMF) had been run with initial support from individuals and organisations such as E-TRADE Group, Freeman Fund and UNICEF.

The US delegation was scheduled to attend the second international conference on AO/dioxin victims which is to take place on August 8-9. /.

See more