Project to increase public awareness about community-based natural disaster risk management has been approved by the Prime Minister, in a move to step up efforts to mitigate and prevent natural disasters at the nation’s 6,000 most vulnerable places.
The 12-year project, which begins this year, will improve the effectiveness of disaster management through the participation of both municipal authorities and the at-risk population.
The project will create a network of permanent workers and volunteers and aim to educate at least 70 per cent of the vulnerable population about natural disasters.
The project will place high priority on creating a map that details at-risk areas to improve disaster forecasting, search and rescue teams, and post-disaster support.
The Government has integrated natural disaster risk management at the community level into its socio-economic planning by funding 55 per cent of the project’s VND998 billion (US$56 million) budget. The remaining 40 per cent will come from foreign aid and 5 per cent from the people.
According to Le Cong Thanh, acting head of the Department of Hydrometeorology and Climate Change of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, one of the project’s implementing agencies, the promotion of education and public awareness is as effective in reducing the impact of natural disasters as capacity building, small-scale mitigation, and early warning systems.
"Local disaster risk management is organised most effectively when responsibility is born jointly by municipal authorities and the community. They should be prepared to live with the possibility of disaster and develop their knowledge about how to limit damage," said Thanh
"Community-based natural disaster risk management, however, is unable to stand alone. It should be part of the national system to ensure maximum effectiveness," he said.
Located in the tropical monsoon area, Viet Nam is one of Southeast Asia’s most high-risk areas for natural disasters like typhoons and floods.