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The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF), [1] established in 1980, now the Veterans for America (VFA), is a Washington, D.C.-based international humanitarian organization that addresses the consequences of war and conflict. The founder of VVAF is Bobby Muller, a former U.S. Marine lieutenant and Vietnam veteran.
In 1980, co-founders Bobby Muller and John Terzano created Vietnam Veteran of America Foundation with the goal of transforming the American experience of the Vietnam War into a mission of compassion and justice. VVAF's first major initiative was a journey back to Vietnam in 1981 to make peace with the country. In 1991, after a trip to the Killing Fields of Cambodia, VVAF co-founded the International Campaign to Ban Landmines to ban landmines, called Campaign for A Landmine Free World, which was awarded the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to persuade countries to sign a treaty eradicating the use of antipersonnel landmines. In 1992, VVAF opened a clinic on the outskirts of Phnom Penh to offer rehabilitative services to landmine victims.
One of VVAF's primary causes is Campaign for a Landmine Free World, which works to increase awareness of the world's landmine crisis. As of 2002, VVAF operated programs in Angola, Cambodia, El Salvador, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Vietnam.
Since early 1998, a number of top musical artists have contributed to the cause through VVAF's Artists for a Landmine Free World. Some of the program's most active members include Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow, Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith, Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Bruce Cockburn, Bruce Springsteen, and Mary Chapin Carpenter.
VVAF was a cofounder of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which was awarded the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with coordinator Jody Williams of the VVAF. Loung Ung serves as National Spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World.
Many survivors of war require physical and emotional rehabilitation. VVAF's Post-Conflict Rehabilitation Program (PCR) provides support through product services, physical and emotional training, and sport rehabilitation. It has provided rehabilitation services in Angola, Ethiopia, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and supports rehabilitation and disability programs throughout Central America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Thousands of people who suffer from disabilities caused by war or debilitating diseases such as polio and clubfoot benefit every year from artificial limbs, braces and wheelchairs produced at VVAF clinics. In addition, patients are enrolled in physical therapy sessions where they develop the strength, flexibility and skills to become mobile again. VVAF's community follow-up and outreach teams bring assistance to people where they live. And through the creation of self-help groups and the implementation of sports and recreation activities through its Sports for Life initiative, people develop the confidence, skills, and social networks necessary to become active participants in their societies.
Sports for Life (SFL), a project of PCR, uses athletic activity and play as vehicles for bringing about positive changes in the lives of people with disabilities. The SFL program uses therapeutic and competitive sports to rehabilitate disabled persons in war-affected nations, helping them to build physical and social skills and develop the confidence to improve their lives in other ways. SFL has conducted successful programs in Kosovo, Angola and Cambodia. In March 2006 two athletic superstars, 2000 NFL MVP Ray Lewis and Paralympian Cheri Blauwet joined the Sports for Life Advisory Committee and travelled to Africa with VVAF to support and promote new developments in Ethiopia and Angola.
VVAF's Information Management and Mine Action Programs (iMMAP) works in post-conflict countries, including Iraq, Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to evaluate the impact of landmines and provide technical assistance to coordinate information necessary for relief and development. IMMAP started from the basic premise that implementing organizations, national authorities and donor governments needed to be able to define the global landmine problem's physical, social and economic dimensions as a prerequisite for effective planning, resource allocation and advocacy. Its efforts resulted[ citation needed ] in broad international acceptance of landmine survey standards and socio-economic measures of landmine/UXO impact. In the winter of 2005 and beginning of 2006, tsunamis and earthquakes devastated much of Southeast Asia and Pakistan. iMMAP's information management support helped guide and maximize relief efforts by assisting in surveying hazardous and safe routes for transportation, supplies and locations for shelter. In January 2006, an iMMAP survey of Iraqi communities found that one in five areas in northern and southern Iraq were endangered by landmines and other unexploded ordnance.[ citation needed ]
VVAF's Nuclear Threat Reduction Campaign (NTRC) educates and mobilizes key constituencies to advance US public policy on a bipartisan basis that reduces the threats posed by nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. In late 2005, NTRC was largely responsible[ citation needed ] for the rejection of a government bill that would have allowed the use of robust nuclear earth penetrator (RNEP) bombs, commonly known as "bunker busters".
VVAF's newest programs, War Kids Relief and Returnee Integration Support Program were launched in November 2005. War Kids Relief, led by former Iraq veteran and captain Jon Powers, helps of Iraqi children recover from the disruptive effects of war. The program works to improve the physical conditions of existing housing facilities and provide training to orphanage directors and caregivers, integrate children back into safe family environments, and with Construct a Baghdad Career and Life Skills Center works to provide a safe haven for older children (age 12–18) and give them a place to learn job and life-training skills.
The Returnee Integration Support Program (RISP) helps Cambodian refugees readjust to Cambodia's lifestyle and culture. Through its services, the program provides orientation, assistance with employment and housing, drug, alcohol and HIV education, Khmer literacy classes, counseling and referral services, in order to support returnees who seek help in becoming independent and productive members of society.
Parasports are sports played by people with a disability, including physical and intellectual disabilities. Some parasports are forms of adapted physical activities from existing able-bodied sports, while others have been specifically created for persons with a disability and do not have an able-bodied equivalent. Disability exists in four categories: physical, mental, permanent and temporary. At a competitive level, disability sport classifications are applied to allow people of varying abilities to face similar opposition.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in 1942 after amalgamating with the similar Emergency Rescue Committee, the IRC provides emergency aid and long-term assistance to refugees and those displaced by war, persecution, or natural disaster. The IRC is currently working in about 40 countries and 26 U.S. cities where it resettles refugees and helps them become self-sufficient. It focuses mainly on health, education, economic wellbeing, power, and safety.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations whose stated objective is a world free of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, where mine and cluster munitions survivors see their rights respected and can lead fulfilling lives.
The HALO Trust is a humanitarian non-government organisation which primarily works to clear landmines and other explosive devices left behind by conflicts. With over 10,000 staff worldwide, HALO has operations in 28 countries. Its largest operation is in Afghanistan, where the organization continues to operate under the Taliban regime that took power in August 2021.
Survivor Corps, formerly known as the Landmine Survivors Network, was a global network of survivors helping survivors to recover from war, rebuild their communities, and break cycles of violence. The organization operated programs in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, Colombia, Croatia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Jordan, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Uganda, Rwanda, the United States and Vietnam.
Loung Ung is a Cambodian-American human-rights activist, lecturer and national spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World from 1997 to 2003. She has served in the same capacity for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which is affiliated with the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation.
The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It is responsible for administering the department's programs that provide financial and other forms of assistance to veterans, their dependents, and survivors. Major benefits include Veterans' compensation, Veterans' pension, survivors' benefits, rehabilitation and employment assistance, education assistance, home loan guaranties, and life insurance coverage.
Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other. It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters, and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, reflective listening, or counseling. Peer support is also used to refer to initiatives where colleagues, members of self-help organizations and others meet, in person or online, as equals to give each other connection and support on a reciprocal basis.
A mine clearance organization, or demining organization, is an organization involved in the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) for military, humanitarian, or commercial reasons. Demining includes mine clearance, as well as surveying, mapping and marking of hazardous areas.
Strike Fighter Squadron 94 (VFA-94), also known as the Mighty Shrikes, is a United States Navy fighter squadron stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore. It is an operational fleet squadron currently flying the F/A-18E Super Hornet. It is attached to Carrier Air Wing 17 and based at NAS Lemoore, California. Its tail code is "NA" and its radio call sign is "Hobo".
The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is an organization created in 1920 by World War I veterans for disabled military veterans of the United States Armed Forces that helps them and their families through various means. It was issued a federal charter by Congress in 1932. It currently has over 1 million members. As a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, it is outside the purview of – and therefore not rated by – Charity Navigator. DAV's Employer Identification Number (EIN) is 31–0263158.
The Vietnam Friendship Village is a residency founded in 1992 by George Mizo, an American veteran of the Vietnam War. The institution serves individuals afflicted by conditions related to Agent Orange while also opening channels of cross-cultural dialogue. Originally conceived of as a residence for children and elderly people presumed to be victims of Agent Orange, the focus of the village has broadened, and it now provides a variety of services such as alternative health treatments, food grown in an onsite garden, and vocational training.
No More Landmines was a United Kingdom-based humanitarian landmine relief charity. The charity focused on landmine and unexploded ordnance removal, mine risk education programmes, and rehabilitation of survivors of landmine injuries. No More Landmines was established in May 2005 as the UK administrator of the United Nations Association Adopt-A-Minefield campaign, which has cleared over 21 million square metres of affected land since 1999. The charity closed in 2015, according to the Charities Commission.
The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is a non-governmental organization that assists people affected by landmines, unexploded ordnance, and small arms and light weapons.
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is a service located within the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations that specializes in coordinating and implementing activities to limit the threat posed by mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices.
Mark Perry was an American author specializing in military, intelligence, and foreign affairs analysis.
Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, part of Jefferson Health, founded in 1958, is a 96-bed specialty medical rehabilitation hospital providing physical and cognitive rehabilitation services. Magee's flagship facility is located in Center City Philadelphia. In addition to the main campus that offers comprehensive services for spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, orthopaedic replacement, amputation, pain management and work injury, Magee provides an expanding outpatient network serving the surrounding communities. In 1985, Magee's brain injury rehabilitation program became the first in the nation to be accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. Magee partnered with Jefferson Hospital to create one of the nation's 14 federally designated centers for spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Magee has been rated one of America's leading rehabilitation hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. Magee provides treatment to more than 5,000 individuals annually. Magee is authorized to treat wounded military personnel returning from war. Magee is not an Obligated Group Affiliate.
Burke Rehabilitation Hospital is a non-profit, 150-bed acute rehabilitation hospital located in White Plains, New York. It is the only hospital in Westchester County entirely dedicated to rehabilitation medicine. Opening in 1915, Burke has been involved in medical rehabilitation for over one hundred years. As of January 2016, Burke is a member of the Montefiore Health System, Inc.
Disability and Development Partners (DDP) is a UK charitable company limited by guarantee that works with local partners in South Asia and Africa. "DDP works in a holistic way, recognizing the correlation between poverty and disability and the importance of tackling social, economic and human rights issues through access to income generation and education opportunities as well as providing physical rehabilitation services."
The Leahy War Victims Fund donates prosthetic devices and other rehabilitation services to over 250,000 people with disabilities in 40 countries through the US Agency for International Development.