We aim to improve the quality of life of Persons with Disabilities in lasting ways through economic and social empowerment, access to health care, and inclusive education. The Association for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (AEPD) is a local NGO in Vietnam, born out of the international humanitarian organization, Survivor Corps/Landmine Survivors Network (SC/LSN). AEPD was established as a local NGO to preserve the legacy work of Survivor Corps that has been operating in Vietnam since 2003. Our programs aim to improve the psycho-social and economic well-being of people with disabilities, including those who have been injured and disabled by landmines or Unexploded Ordnance (UXOs), or have suffered limb loss from other war-related injuries. To achieve this goal, we have developed and applied a survivor-centric approach to people with disabilities that focuses on provision of peer support, economic opportunity and social empowerment, the only comprehensive program in Quang Binh province, Vietnam. Since 2003, AEPD has covered 68 communes in 5/7 districts in Quang Binh province; reaching out to approximately 2,650 landmine survivors and more than 2,000 persons with disabilities; assisting more than 1,000 households with economic opportunity activities; AEPD established 340 self-help groups with more than 800 members; upgraded 15 local health clinics with health equipment and tools; and supported local health clinics to conduct more than 22 training courses on rehabilitation techniques. During the past several years, AEPD has also led the work of the Landmine Working Group in Vietnam on advocacy issues, related to Vietnam’s signing of three international treaties affecting survivor’s lives: the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT), the Convention on Cluster Mu*****ns (CCM) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). In addition, AEPD has successfully organized and chaired an advocacy workshop on CCM with the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ho Chi Minh city and cooperated with the Provincial People's Aid Coordination Committee to organized the first-ever national workshop on Victim Assistance and International
Cooperation in Vietnam. AEPD continues to expand its reach into local communities, continuing to build community resiliency in areas such as inclusive education for persons with disabilities, as well as climate change awareness and disaster response.
