Vietnam Launches Nationwide Campaign to Strengthen Support for People with Meritorious Service
Hanoi, The Gulf Observer: The Vietnamese Government has reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing care and support for people with meritorious service to the revolution, launching a nationwide campaign aimed at mobilizing broader public participation in assisting war veterans, families of fallen soldiers, and other beneficiaries ahead of the 79th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day on July 27.
Addressing the 2026 National Conference Honouring People with Meritorious Service in Hanoi, Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng described caring for those who sacrificed for the nation as a consistent policy of the Party and the State, as well as a shared moral responsibility of society. He urged government institutions, businesses, organizations, and citizens to continue improving welfare and living conditions for beneficiaries and their families.
The conference, jointly organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Public Security, Nhân Dân Newspaper, Vietnam Television, and the Hanoi People’s Committee, brought together senior government officials, Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, Heroes of the People’s Armed Forces, Heroes of Labour, revolutionary veterans, former youth volunteers, and relatives of martyrs.
According to Acting Minister of Home Affairs Nguyễn Tiến Hải, Vietnam has officially recognized more than 9.2 million people with meritorious service, including over 1.2 million martyrs, more than 650,000 war invalids and equivalent beneficiaries, over 132,000 Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, and more than 320,000 resistance fighters and their children affected by Agent Orange/dioxin.
The government announced that amendments to the Ordinance on Preferential Treatment for People with Meritorious Service have been introduced ahead of the 80th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day in 2027. The reforms expand eligibility for benefits, increase standard monthly allowances by 8 percent effective July 1, 2026, and strengthen efforts to search for and identify the remains of missing martyrs.
Officials also highlighted the success of the nationwide “Paying Gratitude” movement. Between 2020 and 2025, the national Gratitude Fund mobilized more than VNĐ3 trillion (approximately US$114 million), enabling the construction of nearly 36,000 gratitude houses, repairs to almost 31,000 homes, and the provision of more than 57,000 savings accounts for beneficiaries.
Prime Minister Hưng acknowledged that significant challenges remain, noting that more than 175,000 martyrs’ remains have yet to be recovered and around 230,000 martyrs’ graves remain unidentified. He called for intensified efforts to improve support policies while accelerating the nationwide 500-day campaign to search for, recover, and identify the remains of fallen soldiers.
Government figures show that authorities have so far recovered 1,482 sets of remains and seven collective graves, cleared 8,462 hectares of land contaminated by unexploded ordnance, collected DNA samples from 71,491 unidentified graves, obtained approximately 243,000 biological samples from relatives of missing soldiers, and integrated around 66,000 DNA profiles into the national population database.
During the conference, recovered personal belongings of fallen soldiers were returned to their families, while Heroic Vietnamese Mothers and other representatives of people with meritorious service received commemorative gifts. Businesses and commercial banks also pledged hundreds of billions of Vietnamese đồng through the Vietnam Fatherland Front to support programmes benefiting people with meritorious service.
