Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Vietnam still considers antipersonnel mines as legitimate weapons of self-defense and has cited national security concerns, especially border security, as reasons for not joining the Mine Ban Treaty.[1] In June 2011, a representative from Vietnam said it was unlikely that the country would join the Mine Ban Treaty at this time as they are still using mines on their borders “as a form of defense.” The representative added that Vietnam was not necessarily laying new mines, but was actively maintaining them.[2]

On 8 December 2010, Vietnam abstained from voting on UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 65/48 calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. It has abstained on all previous annual pro-ban treaty UNGA resolutions.

Vietnam did not attend any meetings on the mine ban in 2010 or the first half of 2011.

Previously, Vietnam attended meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty more frequently. Vietnam made its only statement during an intersessional Standing Committee meeting in June 2008 where it stated, “We support the humanitarian aspects of the Ottawa Convention of Anti-personnel Landmines but we could not sign it yet as it regrettably does not duly take into account the legitimate security concerns of many countries including Vietnam.”[3]

Production, stockpiling, transfer, and use

Vietnam has not revealed any new information in the past year regarding its production or stockpiling of antipersonnel mines.

Vietnam has produced antipersonnel mines in the past.[4] In 2008, officials said that Vietnam has not produced mines since the Mine Ban Treaty came into force, but also emphasized that it reserves the right to produce mines in the future.[5] Until Vietnam issues an official public statement that it does not currently and will not in the future produce antipersonnel mines, the Monitor will continue to list Vietnam as one of the few remaining global manufacturers.

In 2003, an official confirmed the existence of a stockpile of antipersonnel mines, saying, “Vietnam does not keep large stores of landmines, but we have enough to protect our country against invasion.”[6] The Ministry of National Defense told the ICBL in 2006 that the stockpile consists only of mines recovered from cleared minefields.[7] In May 2008, an army official informed a Canadian government delegation that Vietnam’s stockpile of antipersonnel mines will expire in a few years. He stated that Vietnam has gradually started to destroy the mines “lot by lot.”[8]

Vietnam told States Parties in June 2008 that, “we strictly observe our policy not to export” antipersonnel mines.[9] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously wrote to the Monitor stating, “Vietnam has never exported and will never export mines.”[10]

Vietnam is not thought to have used antipersonnel mines since its occupation of Cambodia in the 1980s, but it has said it reserves the right to use antipersonnel mines in the future.[11]

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

In a statement to the convention’s First Meeting of States Parties in November 2010, Vietnam’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pham Binh Minh, welcomed the humanitarian goals of the convention, but said that some of its obligations “create difficulty for implementation.” He cited two particular concerns: 1. That the convention places “responsibility for solving the cluster munition problem with victim states while the international cooperation and assistance mechanisms have not been specified,” and 2. That it will take Vietnam “decades, if not a couple of centuries” to complete clearance in affected areas while the convention requires that states “complete in ten years with an extension of not more than five years.”[1]

In October 2010, Vietnam’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in New York expressed the same concerns in a meeting with CMC representatives. He said Vietnam was not in a position to join the convention because, in his view, it puts the obligation to clear “exclusively” on affected countries and only “encourages” other states to support and assist. The representative said that Vietnam first wants to see how Lao PDR benefits from being a party to the convention.[2]

Vietnam has expressed its full support for the humanitarian aims of the convention on several occasions.[3] It has often expressed concern that important producers and stockpilers of cluster munitions have not joined the convention.[4]

During a May 2010 visit to Vietnam, the CMC met with senior government officials and reported that the government was studying a number of issues to address concerns relating to the convention through an interministerial policy review process led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with engagement by the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs.[5] As of May 2011, this policy review was believed to be continuing, but no timetable was available for its completion.

Vietnam participated in two of the international Oslo Process diplomatic conferences to develop the convention text, but attended the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008 and the Oslo Signing Conference in December 2008 as an observer.[6] Vietnam has continued to participate in meetings related to the convention. It attended a regional conference in Bali, Indonesia in November 2009 and an international conference in Santiago, Chile in June 2010. Vietnam sent a large high-level observer delegation to the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010 and also attended intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2011.

At the First Meeting of States Parties, Vietnam commended the “important” effort made by the CMC to mobilize support for the convention as well as the clearance work conducted in Vietnam over the years by NGOs.[7]

Local NGOs have undertaken a number of activities in support of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[8] In October 2010, a public exhibition of cluster munition photographs by John Rodsted was held at the Hanoi Cinematheque.[9]

Vietnam is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. Vietnam is also not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but it attended a CCW meeting in November 2010 as an observer and made a statement stating that it “fully supports” the CCW and would ratify “when conditions permit.”[10] Vietnam has not provided its view on the CCW deliberations to negotiate an agreement on cluster munitions.

Vietnam is not believed to have ever used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions. It is not clear if it possesses a stockpile. Some officials have said that Vietnam does not have a stockpile, but others have been less than certain.[11] Vietnam’s May 2010 position paper states that foreign reports show that Vietnam has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[12]

Cluster Munition Remnants

The US scattered a total of 413,130 tons (4.1 million kg) of submunitions over Vietnam between 1965 and 1973, striking 55 of its 64 provinces and cities, including Haiphong, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, and Vinh. Vietnam’s Military Engineering Command has recorded finding 15 types of US-made submunitions.[13] Most submunition types used by the US were air delivered, but artillery-delivered submunitions were used in three provinces: Quang Binh, Quang Nam, and Thua-Thien Hue.[14] There is no reliable figure for the amount of contamination remaining, although the extent of the threat remains vast.

The Military Engineering Command has also encountered substantial amounts of cluster munitions abandoned by the US military, notably at or around old US air bases, including eight underground bunkers found in 2009, one of them covering an area of 4,000m² and containing some 25 tons of munitions.[15]

Clearance of cluster munition remnants

Vietnam does not report in detail on its clearance of cluster munition remnants. In 2010, international NGO operators reported destroying a total of 2,848 submunitions in the course of battle area clearance operations.[16]

Cluster munition casualties

In 2010, 11 casualties from unexploded submunitions were recorded in Vietnam.[17] However it is likely that more casualties occur annually as there was no national casualty data collection system in Vietnam and the information available was not comprehensive. At least 2,111 casualties from incidents involving unexploded submunitions were reported as of the end of 2010.[18] However, one estimate put the likely total of such casualties at over 34,000.[19] In addition, numerous casualties occurring from cluster munitions strikes have been reported.[20]

Contamination and Impact

Vietnam is heavily contaminated by explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly unexploded ordnance (UXO) and mostly dating back to the war with the United States (US) in the 1960s and first half of the 1970s. This includes among the most widespread and extensive contamination from cluster munition remnants in the world. There is, however, no precise figure for the extent of contamination remaining.

Vietnam estimates around 49,500km² (15% of its total land area) is still contaminated by ERW. This represents a significant reduction from the previous estimate of contamination covering 66,000km², which reportedly dated from 2002, but ERW still affects all of Vietnam’s 63 provinces and cities.[1]

The Landmine/UXO Impact Survey of the six worst affected central provinces—conducted between 2004 and 2008 by the Technology Center for Bomb and Mine Disposal (BOMICEN) in cooperation with Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF)—reported a total of 3,214 battle and mined areas covering 15,897km², more than one-third of the six provinces’ total land area and affecting up to 8 million people. Worst affected was Quang Tri province, with 739 bombed and mined areas said to be affecting 3,866km² or 83% of its total landmass.[2]

Cluster munition remnants

The US scattered a total of 413,130 tons (4.1 million kg) of submunitions over Vietnam between 1965 and 1973, striking 55 provinces and cities, including Haiphong, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, and Vinh. Vietnam’s Military Engineering Command has recorded finding 15 types of US-made submunitions.[3] Most submunition types used by the US were air-dropped, but artillery-delivered submunitions were used in Quang Binh and provinces to the south of it.[4]

The Military Engineering Command has also encountered substantial amounts of cluster munitions abandoned by the US military, notably at or around old US air bases, including eight underground bunkers found in 2009, one of them covering an area of 4,000m² and containing some 25 tons of munitions.[5]

Other explosive remnants of war

Vietnam estimates it still has between 350,000 and 600,000 tons of ERW to clear, including unexploded bombs, missiles, artillery shells, mortars, and grenades, which are affecting cities as well as rural areas in almost every province.[6] Incomplete US records showed it dropped 6.5 million larger bombs during the war.

BOMICEN, a unit of the Army Engineering Command, reported clearing a 12,000lb bomb in Gia Lai province in 2010, which it described as one of the two biggest bombs ever found in Indochina. To remove the bomb, an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team reportedly cleared hundreds of tons of earth and stone and extracted three and a half tons of explosive.[7] Construction workers in central Hanoi found bombs in early 2009 at a depth of 6m[8] and some UXO have reportedly been found at depths of up to 15m.[9] A cache of 131 items of ordnance, including mortars, 155mm artillery shells, and rocket-propelled grenades, discovered by clearance operators in early 2010 also point to the presence of abandoned explosive ordnance.[10]

Mines

Vietnam has a lesser problem of mines, mostly left by conflicts in the 1970s with neighboring Cambodia and China and affecting areas close to its borders with those countries,[11] but also around former US military installations.[12] Vietnam cleared an area up to 1km deep along its northern border under an agreement with China, but areas further inland from the border are still contaminated. Mines in those northern areas were emplaced by the military of both countries. Cambodian border areas are affected by randomly placed mines reflecting the more irregular nature of the fighting there.[13] Many ports and river deltas were mined extensively during the war and were not completely cleared when it ended and some sea mines have been found on the coast.[14]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

Vietnam’s mine/UXO action sector has embarked on a process of restructuring and expansion aimed at accelerating clearance. Under a 2006 Prime Ministerial Decision, the Ministry of National Defense has overseen mine action at the national level with clearance undertaken by the Army Engineering Corps of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN),[15] and with BOMICEN, part of the Ministry of National Defense, acting as a central coordinating body for clearance and survey by national operators.[16]

In accordance with Prime Minister’s Decision No. 504 of December 2010, Vietnam is establishing a National Steering Committee (NSC) consisting of 12 members chaired by the Prime Minister, and including the Minister of Defense and of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) as deputy chairmen. The NSC will meet every six months to oversee mine action, deciding policy and budgets. Other members will include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, of Environment, of Education, and of Health. The NSC was expected to convene for the first time in the second half of 2011.[17]

The NSC will be supported by a 21-member Standing Committee or Executive Office, chaired by the Ministry of Defense, which is to meet quarterly to decide mine action priorities and make recommendations to the NSC. VBMAC, which opened in February 2009, will serve as secretariat to the NSC.[18]

VBMAC, set up as a civilian agency under MoLISA, has a mandate to accelerate clearance and mobilize international funding. VBMAC operates with departments for planning, project management, and finance. From May 2010, it also deployed a total of 200 personnel in eight clearance teams and one EOD team operating in central Vietnam’s Quang Tri province.[19] The restructuring coincides with plans for major expansion of mine action. It said spending on its clearance operations amounted to $89 million in 2009, rising to about $100 million in 2010, and would rise further in 2011 “for sure.”[20]

In 2010, VBMAC had said it was “the wish of the government to do everything possible to double national clearance capacity.” The Army Engineering Command considers it may be desirable to increase the number of national teams from 250 to around 600 in order to implement the government’s mine action plans for the next five years.[21] As the Engineering Command’s training college is not big enough to train the number of deminers needed, it has proposed to build two additional training facilities.[22]

In April 2010, the Prime Minister approved a Strategic Plan for 2010–2025, the objective of which is to “mobilize domestic and international resources in making efforts to minimize and finally create impact-free environment for social economic development.” For the period 2010–2015, the plan has set seven goals, namely to:[23]

·         complete the impact survey nationwide;

·         clear about 1,000km² a year in support of the government’s socio-economic development plans and to promote public safety. The plan targets clearance in 2010–2015 of 2,000km² in the six worst affected provinces that have already been surveyed and 3,000km² in other provinces;

·         establish a Database Center “to collect and manage data on victims, contamination status and mitigation activities”;

·         develop national mine action standards;

·         conduct risk education (RE) in provinces with high UXO/mine casualties;

·         provide victim assistance, and provide resettlement for people in heavily affected provinces with high casualties; and,

·         implement awareness-raising projects on the presence and effects of ERW with a view to obtaining support from foreign governments, international organizations, international NGOs, and foreign and national individuals to support implementation of the plan.

VBMAC started work in 2010 on setting up the Database Center, with support from NPA under a memorandum of understanding that took effect in July 2010.[24] It will operate Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) New Generation, which is being installed in cooperation with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining. This will serve as a national database, but the government is also considering plans to open two other regional databases: one in the central city of Hue and the second in Ho Chi Minh City in the south.[25]

Land Release

The Army Engineering Command reported that national operators undertook 513 tasks and cleared almost 612km² in 2010, the first time it has publicly released clearance results. Much of the clearance involved tasks supporting national development projects.[26] It also estimated that clearance rates averaged about 200km² a year between 1975 and 2007, rising to an average of 600km² a year in 2008–2010.[27] International NGOs cleared an additional 7km² of battle areas in 2010.

Survey in 2010

Army Engineering Command said teams completed survey of six provinces in 2010 but details were not immediately available. It said another 13 provinces would be surveyed in 2011. It planned to complete survey of the whole country in 2015 after surveying 12 southern provinces in 2012, 11 provinces in the northern Red River delta region in 2013, and 15 other northern provinces in 2014.[28]

Battle area and roving clearance in 2010

Clearance is mainly conducted by 250 teams of military engineers and 37 military companies, most with 22 to 25 personnel each. The Army Engineering Command has reported total clearance by these teams of 611.82km² in 2010.[29] This includes clearance of approximately 4.5km² by eight UXO/mine clearance teams and an EOD team deployed by VBMAC in Quang Tri province from May 2010.[30] International NGOs cleared 3.71km² of battle area in 2010, but also conducted 10,272 roving tasks, which accounted for most of the items of UXO they destroyed.

MAG, after sharp cuts in personnel in 2009 due to lack of funding, was able to expand capacity to 144 staff by the end of 2010, including 120 deminers and three international staff. It operated in Quang Tri province with two EOD teams and a community liaison team and in Quang Binh province with four mine action and three community liaison teams, focusing on roving operations that resulted in completing 8,335 roving tasks and clearance of 7,586 items of UXO. In 2011 MAG planned to maintain the same capacity in Quang Binh province and increase its operational capacity in Quang Tri back to three mine action teams, one EOD team, and three Community Liaison teams.[31]

NPA and Project RENEW, operating with 27 deminers and three community support staff, continued to work through a community reporting network in two districts of Quang Tri province and conducted a total of 794 roving tasks. NPA also completed a needs assessment of Huong Tra District, Thua Thien Hue Province, in 2010. In 2011, it prepared for clearance operations (expected to start in 2012), setting up a technical survey team in May that underwent training to identify cluster munition strikes in accordance with methodology trialed by NPA in Laos. It planned to recruit additional teams in 2011 including a MultiTask Team to conduct survey, battle area clearance (BAC), and EOD.[32]

PeaceTrees Vietnam operated two teams with 18 deminers in 2010 undertaking BAC and roving tasks in Quang Tri province, but also formed a partnership with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which planned to set up an EOD team in 2011 to operate in Quang Binh province.[33]

SODI added a roving EOD team in Quang Tri province in 2010, operating with 118 deminers. It conducted technical survey in Quang Tri (1.4km²) and Thua Thien Hue province (1.5km²) to prepare for clearance in 2011, focusing on area clearance of land for agriculture and resettlement, small area tasks, and roving tasks. SODI set up an additional EOD team for Thua Thien Hue in May 2011 and trained one representative from each of 20 communes to act as a focal point to undertake community liaison, RE and identify risk areas.[34]

International NGO clearance in 2010[35]

Other Risk Reduction Measures

MoLISA took over the lead role in UXO/mine RE in 2010, with VBMAC due to act as its coordinating body, planning and mobilizing resources for RE.[36] Catholic Relief Services (CRS) used Community Mine Risk Education Outreach Teams in Quang Tri and Quang Binh provinces to deliver RE to high-risk groups in targeted communes, working in cooperation with provincial Departments of Education and Training and the Youth Union.[37] International NGOs engaged in mine/UXO clearance provided RE in Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces through community liaison or survey teams or through community networks.[38]

Casualties Overview

On the basis of incomplete data,[1] 42 new mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties were identified in Vietnam in 2010. All casualties were civilian. Of the total, 27 casualties were adults, including two woman and 25 men. The 15 child casualties were all boys.[2] The 2010 total represented an increase from the 38 casualties reported in 2009.

At least 104,871 mine/ERW casualties, (38,908 killed; 65,963 injured) have been reported in Vietnam. It was reported that from 1975 to the end of 2007, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) recorded 104,701 mine/ERW casualties (38,849 killed; 65,852 injured).[3] The total number of casualties is not known due to the absence of a nationwide casualty data collection mechanism. The semi-governmental organization Project RENEW recorded 7,075 mine/ERW casualties (including 2,635 people killed) between 1975 and the end of 2010 in Quang Tri Province alone.[4]

At least 2,111 casualties from incidents involving cluster munition remnants were reported as of the end of 2010. However, one estimate put the likely total of such casualties as high as 34,000.[5] In many cases, the type of explosive remnants causing casualties could not be determined and all these were recorded as ERW casualties, although there were likely many among them caused by unexploded submunitions. [6] In addition, numerous casualties during cluster munition strikes have been reported.[7]

Victim Assistance

The total number of mine/ERW survivors is unknown, but has been estimated to be between 66,000 and 100,000.[8]

Assessing victim assistance needs

There was no national survey needs assessment for mine/ERW survivors in 2010. MoLISA is responsible for the management of information regarding persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors. Information on the needs of mine/ERW survivors was collected through broader assessments of the needs of persons with disabilities. Various ministries, such as Education and Heath, also collect and manage information on persons with disabilities as part of their activities. This information was used to develop, adjust, or supplement policies and programs that support persons with disabilities, including survivors.[9]

Both domestic and international NGOs assessed the needs of the survivors for the implementation of projects and services. In 2010, the Association for Empowerment for Persons with Disability (AEPD) undertook a social survey on the current needs of survivors and persons with disabilities in Quang Binh province, focusing on economic inclusion needs and challenges.[10] In 2010 Project RENEW, in cooperation with Quang Tri Health Service, implemented an update of its 2006 survey on “A Study of Situation of Victims of Landmines/Unexploded Ordnance [UXO] and Knowledge-Attitudes-Practices-Beliefs of the People in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam,” to improve the effectiveness of mine action programs. The study provides the latest findings on circumstances faced by mine/cluster/UXO victims since 1975. The study’s findings were available through Project RENEW’s reporting. Project RENEW reported that in some cases it was difficult to reach survivors in remote rural areas.[11]

Victim assistance coordination in 2010[12]

MoLISA chaired the interministerial National Coordination Committee on Disabilities (NCCD), which also included NGO representatives. The Coordination Committee is responsible for the implementation of the National Action Plan for Supporting People with Disabilities (2006–2010). In 2010, the NCCD held quarterly disability planning and coordination meetings attended by representatives of MoLISA and related ministries and agencies. The meetings were focused on quarterly planning, implementation, and evaluation. In addition, NCCD organized four topical workshops: getting feedback from persons with disabilities; the labor market for persons with disability/survivors; an art and writing competition on occupations and persons with disability/survivors; and an exchange between survivors/persons with disability and donors. Overall, despite these high-level meetings, there was little regular victim assistance or disability planning and coordination due to a lack of involvement from agencies and ministries.[13]

The NCCD and its ministry members liaised with national and foreign organizations to provide protection, support, physical access, education, and employment to persons with disabilities, including survivors.[14]

Nongovernmental service providers shared experiences, technical expertise, and lessons learned on mine action, including victim assistance, through meetings of the Landmine Working Group. Landmine Working Group consists of national and international NGOs and other agencies working on mine action including victim assistance. In 2010, the Landmine Working Group organized two regular coordination meetings.[15]

Survivor inclusion

The inclusion of mine/ERW survivors and persons with disabilities or their representative organization in planning and provision of victim assistance increased in 2010. Survivors/persons with disability or their representative organizations were consulted in the planning or monitoring of programs and activities and in developing legislation. They also attended meetings, seminars, or workshops to contribute recommendations and share lessons learned.[16]

Survivors and other persons with disabilities did not have many opportunities to participate in the development, implementation and monitoring of plans. The Government requests MoLISA to develop plans and MoLISA officially consult ministries and departments. However, in some cases, the opinions and comments of survivors and other persons with disabilities or their representative organizations were taken into account, but not officially and there was no impetus to include them. Persons with disabilities and their representative organizations were consulted in the development or review of national programs, such as the national poverty reduction program, vocational laws, and various educational policies relevant to them.[17]

Many NGOs consulted survivors and other persons with disabilities on issues that related to their needs and adjusted their services in accordance with survivors’ recommendations. Survivors and persons with disabilities implement victim assistance activities with some NGOs. The NGO AEPD employed survivors as outreach workers.[18]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2010[19]

In 2010, services for mine/ERW survivors improved in quality, quantity, and accessibility in Vietnam. The number of the survivors that received services by both government agencies and civil society organizations or NGOs gradually increased.[20] The provision of services to persons with disabilities more generally, although limited, improved during the year. [21]

To improve emergency medical response, the ICRC supported first-aid courses for community representatives and volunteers in Quang Tri province.[22]

There remained a significant need for employment and training opportunities for mine/ERW survivors and other people with disabilities. In particular, survivors sought stable employment, but lacked sustainable options for economic inclusion and mostly relied on irregular self-employment in agricultural work. In 2010, economic inclusion services for persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, increased. Among some 10,000 persons with disabilities who received vocational training, about half were female.[23]

In addition, international and domestic NGOs launched new initiatives to create work opportunities for survivors and other persons with disability through the establishment or expansion of small-scale businesses. In 2010, AEPD supported about 200 survivors and persons with disabilities in establishing small businesses. Project RENEW supported nearly 200 families of survivors and those people killed by mines/ERW through micro-credit and its mushroom farming economic inclusion program. The Blue Ribbon Employers Council, with more than 100 businesses as members, provided consultations and employment for persons with disabilities.[24]

Psychological support was not widely available and did not receive separate government resources although it was integrated in rehabilitation processes. Some domestic and international NGOs offered psychological support services. Social inclusion services for survivors and other persons with disabilities increased through both government and NGO programs with new resources allocated for social reintegration activities. More self-help clubs and sport groups were established in 2010, reaching 40 of 63 provinces. However, despite these improvements, a great need remained and the number of the survivors and persons with disabilities participating in cultural and sport activities remained very limited.[25]

The National Assembly of Vietnam enacted the first comprehensive national law providing for the rights of persons with disabilities in June 2010; it came into effect in January 2011. The Law on Disabled Persons prohibits discrimination against or maltreatment of persons with disabilities and also encourages the employment of persons with disabilities. The new law requires equality for people with disabilities through accommodation, access to education, employment, health care, rehabilitation, transportation, and vocational training.[26]

The Ministry of Transportation continued to implement accessibility codes for public transportation facilities and trained transportation agency officials and students on use of the codes. Construction or major renovation of new government and large public buildings must include access for persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Construction maintained enforcement units in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Quang Nam, and Ninh Binh to enforce the barrier-free codes.[27]

Vietnam signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 22 October 2007.