The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has partnered with Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped (VNAH) to expand a US$1.15-million project to support people with disabilities in Vietnam.

The project, which has run from 2023 to October 2025, supports the enforcement of disability laws, expansion of rehabilitation services and livelihood support to persons with disabilities, and improvement in early childhood disability detection.

USAID representative and Bac Lieu People's Committee leaders at the launch of the Bac Lieu Provincial Disability Support Program. Photo: USAID Vietnam

In the latest move, USAID partnered with the Bac Lieu Provincial People's Committee to launch the USAID Disability Programme in the southern Vietnamese province on  March 14. The program was first announced during US President Joseph Biden's visit to Vietnam in September 2023.

At the event, USAID/Vietnam Mission Director Aler Grubbs stressed that the launch of the program for persons with disabilities in Bac Lieu delivers on the two countries’ shared priorities and our support for a strong, resilient, prosperous, independent Vietnam.

"Our cooperation to overcome the legacies of war has been foundational for building trust, demonstrating our commitment, and advancing the relationship between the US and Vietnam to what is now a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” said Aler Grubbs.

According to Grubbs, USAID's Disabilities Rights Enforcement, Coordination, and Therapies project in Bac Lieu supports the enforcement of disability laws, expansion of rehabilitation services and livelihood support to persons with disabilities, and improvement in early childhood disability detection.

Through the US Leahy War Victims Fund, USAID has worked to improve the lives of people with disabilities in Vietnam since 1991. The US assistance aims to address medical and social needs, improve disability policies, and reduce physical and social barriers.