Our work in Vietnam focuses on remote rural areas where unproductive land and childhood malnutrition have a damaging impact on community health.
While Vietnam has seen significant development in recent years, particularly in urban areas, it remains a poor country, with significant poverty in remote rural areas.
One in three children is stunted as a result of poor nutrition during their formative years. With more than 60 percent of the population dependent on agriculture, access to quality agricultural inputs and extension services is critical.
While the country has some highly productive agricultural land it is in short supply and there are large portions of the country – particularly the highland regions—where the land is not productive. Not surprisingly those areas, home to many of Vietnam’s ethnic minorities, are the poorest in the country.
Veterinarians Without Borders North America couldn't do the work we do without your support. Whether it's a financial donation or a donation of your time, by improving the health of animals you will be working to improve the health and quality of life for people throughout the world.
The VETS project focuses on working with our partner, IEHSD, to build their capacity to improve gender-responsive sustainable development. Based on their identified needs volunteers are recruited to work directly with staff and community members to improve their understanding of One Health and how it can be integrated into smallholder farming practices.
Working with the Thai Nguyen University volunteers will develop a curriculum to train students in animal, human and environmental health programs to set up demonstration sites within target communities. The project also focuses on improving community leave risk communication practices and improved access to animal health services.
IEHSD is an independent organization established in 2013, in cooperation with the Center of Public Health and Ecological Research at Hanoi University (CENPHER) former VWB country partner.
Through inter-sectoral cooperation and multi-disciplinary approaches such as One Health, IEHSD implements interdisciplinary research on the assessment of health risk in relation to agriculture intensification, livestock production, water and environmental sanitation, community development, food security, antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic diseases, infectious diseases and non-infectious diseases.
In this edition of Ask an Expert, we spoke with Yana Zhambekova, Ukraine Country Director at Veterinarians Without Borders North America (VWB), about the realities facing rural communities, livestock keepers, and veterinarians across Ukraine today.
#VETSVolunteerVoices brings you stories of our passionate VETS program volunteers from the field. Meet Donald Hilborn, an Agricultural Advisor from Ontario who recently completed his third VETS placement in Kenya (March–April 2026) with our local partner, Meru Dairy, supporting small-scale dairy farmers in building more sustainable and resilient feeding systems.
In recognition of International Day for Biological Diversity 2026, VWB reflects on how healthy rangelands, community-led animal health systems, and pastoralist knowledge help sustain resilience across working landscapes worldwide.
