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NORWAY CONTINUES TO SUPPORT VIETNAM’S DISASTER RISK REDUCTION EFFORT IN THE
CENTRAL COASTAL AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS. More than 33,000 people in 17
disaster-prone communes of Ha Giang, Lao Cai and Nghe An provinces are provided with
knowledge, skills and facilities for disaster prevention and response.
From September 6-9, 2015, the Vietnam Red Cross Headquarters organized kick-off
meetings for the Second Phase of the Disaster Risk Reduction Project 2015- 2017, which is funded
by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Norwegian Red Cross. The meetings took
place in 3 project provinces of Ha Giang, Lao Cai and Nghe An.
With total tentative budget of NOK 6 million (equivalent to VND 16 billion) for 3 years from 20152017, the project aims to increase resilience of the target communities against the negative
impact of disasters, therefore reducing the loss of human life, property, heath and livelihoods. The
project is implemented by Vietnam Red Cross with close coordination and support of the local
People’s Committees of the 3 provinces. The selected communes have high level of poverty,
ethnic minority populations and vulnerability to disasters. The project will directly benefit about
33,000 people, including local authorities at district and commune levels, Red Cross staff at
national and local levels, community members, village heads, teachers, students, parents and
Commune Emergency Response teams, etc.
Following the successful model of the first phase (2010- 2014), the project focuses on 2 main
components: 1) capacity building for local commune authorities and Vietnam Red Cross chapters
in three provinces for better support of target communities in the face of disaster risks and
impacts of climate change; 2) Provision of knowledge, systems and facilities in place for the target
communities so that they are well prepared & able to respond to disaster risks and ensure their
development. Project also gives support priority to most vulnerable groups, including women,
children, people with disability, elder people and local residents in high risk areas. “If the project
is well planned and implemented, its impact can be felt for generations in these disaster-prone
provinces”, shared by Mr. Gideon Tesfai, the Program Coordinator for Asia, Norwegian Red Cross.
During 3 years from 2015 to 2017, 1,200 people who are from local authorities at commune and
village levels, local Red Cross staff and volunteers, teachers will be provided with technical
trainings in such topics as VCAs, CBDRM, DRR, CCA, WATSAN, health & hygiene, PMER, first aid,
rescue, etc. The selected people will participate in exchange activities outside their project area,
be given equipment for management, communication and training, such as computers, cameras,
sound systems, etc. After conducting VCAs, Vietnam Red Cross will help establish Disaster
Management Plans for 17 communes, contingency plans for high-risk villages; set up Emergency
Response Teams, village volunteer networks and the early warning systems. DRR messages will be
disseminated to 17,000 villagers and 10,000 teachers & students. About 5,000 people will be
benefited from project support for family latrines, water facilities, livelihood and re-location.
Public mitigation infrastructure as well as equipments and facilities for disaster preparedness and
response will also be provided for the target communities.
The project is expected to further contribute to the development of a Disaster Preparedness and
Response Strategy of the Viet Nam Red Cross and the government’s “Community awareness
raising and community-based disaster risk management” programme approved by the Prime
Minister in Decision no. 1002/QĐ-TTg dated 13 July 2009.
The Climate Risk Index by Germanwatch revealed that from 1990-2010, Vietnam ranked 6th out of
10 countries most affected by natural disasters in the world, with annual loss of 445 human lives,
1.8 billion USD (PPP) and 1.2% GDP. Annually in Vietnam, there are millions of people who need
assistance to overcome and recover from the consequences of disasters. Over the next 30 years,
Vietnam will be one of the 30 “extreme risk” countries, most vulnerable to disasters and climate
change. Disasters in Vietnam are increasingly complicated in terms of scale and frequency, causing
unpredictable phenomena. Consequences caused by such a wide range of disasters in Vietnam are
huge obstacles against poverty reduction efforts, socio-economic development, and therefore
slow down the sustainable development of the country.
The first phase of the project was implemented by Vietnam Red Cross in 34 communes of Binh
Dinh, Phu Yen and Lao Cai provinces from 2010 to 2014 with total budget of VND 37.5 billion.
During the 5-year implementation, the project reached over 100,000 people in the 3 provinces, of
which 40,000 people benefited from infrastructure and facility improvement support; 1,600 local
government and Red Cross staff, Red Cross volunteers, 842 teachers and 18,000 primary school
students were provided with knowledge and skills on DRR prevention and response.
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Trần Thu Hằng
Disaster Risk Reduction Project Manager
Vietnam Red Cross Headquarters
82 Nguyen Du, Ha Noi
Mobile: 096 241 1611