Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment (VOICE) is a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit organisation. We registered in the U.S. in 2007 with a mission of working towards promoting civil and political rights and strengthening civil society in Southeast Asia with a focus on Vietnam.

1. Refugee Resettlement

We advocate and find durable solutions for refugees from Vietnam who have to seek asylum due to their persecution from the Vietnamese government for their human rights work and peaceful activism. In our refugee work today, we remember the roots of our organization which began as a legal aid office to assist almost 3,000 stateless Vietnamese refugees in the Philippines gain asylum from 1997 to 2009.

2. Civil Society Programs

Capacity Building

Our six-month internship program is designed to train committed human rights social activists from Vietnam and to equip them with new tools to become more effective leaders in civil society. We provide the activists with more robust knowledge on content areas such as Vietnamese history, political ideologies, advocacy, human rights mechanisms, English lessons, as well as to develop functional skills according to the interns’ capacity and interests, such as in communications, multimedia skills, and project management, etc.

Advocacy

We run specific campaigns aimed at promoting fundamental rights in tandem with our in-country partners and INGOs using UN human rights mechanisms and dialogues between Vietnam and Australia, the US, and the EU.

Additionally, by providing a space for networking in our capacity-building program, VOICE connects the Vietnamese HRDs to representatives from regional and international mechanisms, enabling further opportunities for advocacy.

Civil Society Support

We assist in the creation and management of civil society projects in Vietnam, especially those engineered by our former and current interns.

Our Approach

The VOICE team leverages in-depth country knowledge to identify synergy between the Vietnamese overseas community, its international partners and local Vietnamese civil society leaders’ needs to deliver on our four main programs. VOICE’s efforts are assisted and enhanced by our independent affiliates, which share our mission. Our partnership comprises of the following organizations: VOICE Australia, VOICE Canada, VOICE Norway, VOICE U.K.

For further information about VOICE, watch our video:

Our History

VOICE began operations in 1997 as a representative office of the Vietnamese Australian community in Manila, Philippines, providing legal advice and assistance to 2,500 stateless Vietnamese refugees residing in the country. Since then, VOICE has partnered with other NGOs and community groups, helping approximately 2,000 individuals resettle in the U.S. in 2005, and about 1,000 others resettle in Australia, Canada, and Norway, including those married to or having children with Filipinos, between 2000 and 2009.

VOICE officially registered and obtained 501(c)(3) legal status from the State of California, USA, in 2007.

Summary of our refugee assistance work:

  • 2000–2002: Advocated for Australia’s Special Humanitarian Program, enabling 230 refugees to reunite with family members in Australia.

  • 2004–2007: The Vietnamese Refugee Resettlement Project in the Philippines (VRPP) helped 1,573 individuals resettle in the United States.

  • 2005–2007: 49 cases (188 individuals) received residency permits in Norway to reunite with relatives.

  • 2005–2009: Canada’s policy on Vietnamese refugees in the Philippines enabled about 200 individuals, including spouses and children of Filipinos, to resettle in Canada with support from community groups.

  • 2007–present: Continued advocacy for remaining refugee cases in the Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia.

  • 2007–present: Initiated a training program for young social activists in Vietnam.

  • 2013–present: Successfully lobbied the Canadian government to accept Vietnamese refugees under humanitarian grounds with two conditions: (1) a private sponsor must support them for the first year, and (2) VOICE must cover all travel and immigration costs.

At the end of 2013, VOICE raised nearly $500,000 USD to aid victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and to rebuild two schools in Ormoc and Coron. Starting January 12, 2014, VOICE representatives joined a human rights advocacy delegation for Vietnam, alongside NGOs such as the Vietnamese Bloggers Network, Dân Làm Báo, The Path of Vietnam, Traditional Hòa Hảo Buddhism, No-U Vietnam, the Association of Political and Religious Prisoners of Vietnam, and international organizations like ISHR, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and CIVICUS. This campaign coincided with Vietnam’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) before the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2014.

On June 22, 2014, VOICE member delivered a statement before the UN Human Rights Council on behalf of 10 Vietnamese civil society organizations. He highlighted government retaliation against UPR 2014 participants, arrests and detentions of human rights activists, and violations of national and international law by the Vietnamese government.

On March 27, 2015, VOICE co-hosted the Vietnam-Philippines Civil Society Conference on South China Sea disputes, bringing together Vietnamese democracy activists, the University of the Philippines’ Maritime and Law of the Sea Institute, and Philippine civil society groups to seek non-governmental solutions.

In April–May 2016, VOICE partnered with Đông Yên parish to deliver 35 tons of rice to fishermen’s families affected by the Formosa environmental disaster in Kỳ Anh district, Hà Tĩnh province.

On October 27, 2016, VOICE held the “Thương Về Miền Trung II” fundraising night, raising about $80,000 USD to aid victims of historic floods in Central Vietnam. The funds helped build 9 flood-resistant floating houses in Quảng Bình, 8 in Hà Tĩnh, and 6 in Thừa Thiên Huế.

On July 12, 2017, prior to the 14th Australia–Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue, VOICE, invited by the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organized a human rights advocacy trip with Nguyễn Thị Kim Liên, mother of political prisoner Đinh Nguyên Kha, and other civil society groups.

On September 2, 2017, the “Tibet and Vietnam Human Rights Conference” was held at Dieu Ngu Temple in Westminster, with participation from VOICE, Tibetan government-in-exile members, and other guests.

At 5 PM Geneva time (10 PM Vietnam time) on September 19, 2017, VOICE Europe Program Coordinator delivered a speech before the UN Human Rights Council, closing VOICE’s UPR 2017 international advocacy campaign. The delegation met with officials in Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and the Czech Republic, offering proposals to help Vietnam improve its human rights practices.

On June 27, 2018, VOICE premiered the documentary “When Mother’s Away” at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok. The film had 50 screenings in 14 countries (including Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, the U.S., Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Denmark, and the Czech Republic) and was translated into five subtitle languages (English, French, Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Czech).

“When Mother’s Away” is VOICE’s first documentary, co-produced with Vietnamese director Clay Phạm. It portrays the life of blogger Mother Mushroom (Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh)’s family after she was sentenced to 10 years in prison under Article 88(1) for “propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.” Featured in the film are her mother Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Lan and her two young children, Nấm and Gấu. The film aims to highlight her story as a representative voice for all prisoners of conscience in Vietnam. It is also the first documentary about a Vietnamese prisoner of conscience.