Background
From 1961 to 1971, U.S. military forces sprayed more than 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides on forests and crops in southern and central Vietnam. The campaign had both human and environmental consequences. The immediate effect was to defoliate and destroy vegetation over wide areas. The delayed impact came from dioxin, a highly toxic chemical in Agent Orange that is critically harmful to humans.
More than 35 years later, dioxin continues to pose significant health and safety concerns. It remains at dangerously high levels in and around former U.S. air bases where planes carrying the toxic spray were based, in some instances contaminating local food chains. A disturbingly high number of birth defects, cancers, and other diseases have struck Vietnamese veterans, civilians, their offspring and those now living in affected regions of Vietnam. Many American veterans of the campaign and their families have experienced health crises too.
For decades, the after-effects of dioxin remained an unresolved matter between the United States and Vietnam. The United States sought to avoid what appeared to be an open-ended liability; the Vietnamese were concerned that pushing too hard to address the matter might jeopardize their export-led growth strategy and entry into the World Trade Organization.
Promising Developments
Today, promising initiatives and efforts from diverse constituencies have fostered a new environment of cooperation between the United States and Vietnam. Government agencies, nongovernmental organizations and nonprofit donors are responding to the challenging legacy of Agent Orange.
The Ford Foundation has taken a leadership role in the philanthropic community, working to address the impact of dioxin on post-war Vietnam by seeking to increase awareness and resources around a humanitarian agenda.
Additional information:
Charles R. Bailey
Director
Ford-AOInitiative@fordfoundation.org
(+1) 212-573-4626