Hanoi(VNA) – About 3,000 people in Hanoi took a walk for Agent Orange/Dioxin victimsalong streets around My Dinh National Stadium on August 6 to mark the 56th anniversary of the Vietnamese Orange Agent Day.
The event, co-heldby the National Charity Club (NCC), the Vietnam Association of Young Scientistsand Engineers (VAYSE), and Incom Media, aimed to increase local andinternational awareness of AO/Dioxin in Vietnam and raise funds for thevictims. It also supports the quest for justice for affected people and theprevention of use of mass destruction weapons.
According to NCCChairman Pham Van Toi, dealing with aftermaths of chemical warfare and providingcare and support to the affected people are long-term and pressing issuestoday. About 70 percent of families of AO/Dioxin victims are poor, 22 percentof them have more than 3 victims and 90 percent of affected people areunemployed, he said.
The walk started atthe national stadium, going though Le Duc Tho, Ho Tung Mau, Pham Hung andNguyen Hoang streets with state employees and students in attendance.
The NCC hasorganised a series of similar events for AO/Dioxin victims, for example, acycling event in May and August, 2016 with the participation of nearly 1,000people, and a Gala Concert in August, 2016 at the National Convention Centre.It also presented the victims with more than 100 gift packages, worth around 2billion VND, last year.-VNA