21 July 2011

Viet Nam Ministry plans to implement a community-based disaster risk management programme in 6,000 communes by 2020

Source(s): United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Asia and Pacific

The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dao Xuan Hoc said the Ministry is working with relevant national and local departments to enact a law on disaster risk prevention and reduction, clearly defining the roles of the Government and to assure that citizens had access to information on disaster risks.

He also referred to the Ministry’s plan to implement a community-based disaster risk management programme in 6,000 vulnerable communes by 2020. Storms, floods and drought are the most common hazards that affect the country.

Speaking at the national launch in Ha Noi of the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction, the Deputy Minister said Viet Nam, with the help of the international community, had gradually improved public awareness of natural hazards and skills to mitigate their effects.

Andrew Maskrey, coordinating lead author of the UNISDR report, suggested the introduction of a new risk management model which established a public investment and social welfare plan to manage the risks, promote community-based disaster risk management programmes, and enhance the responsibilities of local authorities.

The 2011 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR11) highlights the political and economic imperative to reduce disaster risks, and the benefits gained from doing so. GAR11 is a major initiative that contributes to the Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA), a 10-year plan adopted by 168 Member States of the United Nations in 2005, through monitoring risk patterns, trends and progress in disaster risk reduction, while offering guidance and suggestions to government and non-governmental actors on how they can work together to reduce disaster risks.

A 1m sea-level rise could displace more than seven million residents of the Mekong delta, and a 2m sea-level rise could double that number, according to a 2009 study by the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network in New York, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and other groups.

Since 1998, authorities have been trying to relocate 200,000 households - about one million people - to less flood-prone areas. Viet Nam currently suffers damages worth an approximate average of 1.4-1.5% of GDP every year.